BUCKSKIN MOUNTAIN STATE PARK, ARIZONA: Where I Hosted My Sixth Consecutive Bike Tour Wine Tasting Event

March 7, 2018

Let's get right down to business, shall we? Today's ride was probably the most beautiful one of the trip so far--at least in the classic sense of beauty. I really like long distance desert vistas, but I also like mountains. I also like big walls of rock. I also like the soothing presence of water. I like a lot of things. Today I got a nice dose of the mountain/rock wall/water trifecta.

I certainly wasn't expecting this section to be so much different considering I was still in the Mojave Desert, but it WAS different, and it was very scenic. I can't seem to rack up much serious bike mileage when there is so much scenery to behold and so much hiking to be done. I took a few pictures, of course. They're not high quality pictures, as usual, but I'm sure they'll be a good substitute for any weak attempt I might make at describing the scenery.

Just another long distance desert vista.

I saw quite a few of these informal RV encampments out in the middle of the desert.

I rode a couple miles of this very extensive network of ATV/dirt bike trails.

And I hiked for an hour or so in the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge in search of wildlife.

"Hey, where's the wildlife? All I see are ducks and other aquatic birds!"

Ah yes, you may have recognized my cartoon alter-ego and travelling companion, G-2, from a couple of my previous journals. I've managed to keep him subdued thus far, but I knew he would eventually make an appearance. He seems to think he's in charge of providing some "comic" relief from my generally straight-forward reporting.

The Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge is a globally significant bird refuge according to an information board I read. It's also quite pretty.

It was just a short distance from the wildlife refuge to the next highlight, the Parker Dam. I went off-route for 1/2 mile--all uphill--to check it out. There's no way I could miss seeing the deepest dam in the world.

The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong, G-2, and I took the narrow road across the top of the dam.

The Parker Dam from the California side.

As a fan of superlatives, I felt special to be at the site of the world's deepest/largest/fattest/tallest/ugliest ANYTHING. (The stupid pun didn't humor me at all, but I did get a chuckle out of "darn right." They just couldn't bring themselves to say "damn right.")

I had an option between two Arizona State Parks within a mile of each other. The first one I came to was the River Island State Park. As I biked up to the entrance station I could already see the huge RV parking lot. Ick! But it was too late for me to back out without talking to the ranger on duty.

"Is this park associated with the Buckskin Mountain Park up ahead?" I asked.

"Yes, we're her sister park . . . or she's OUR sister park . . . or something like that."

"I get the idea that Buckskin Mountain might be a little more tent-friendly."

"Don't be too sure about that," she began, "their tent sites are in cabanas. You know what that means, don't you?"

I guess my blank stare said "No."

"It means you'll be camping on cement or gravel. Here the tent sites are on grass." She sounded like a commissioned salesperson. "Go ahead and have a look."

"OK, I will. Thank you. Then I'll be right back to pay."

I rode through the RV parking lot, took one look at the pathetic tent sites bunched together on a tiny patch of grass, and concluded that the other park couldn't POSSIBLY be any worse. I exited the park without honoring my promise to come right back. I knew my gamble on moving on to the next park wasn't exactly a "sure thing." I might not win, but there was no way I could lose.

Buckskin Mountain State Park had its own RV parking lot, but the cabana sites turned out to be a pleasant novelty. Even though I was packed in tight with my neighbors, the block walls provided a decent sense of privacy. There would have been no privacy whatsoever at the cramped and crowded River Island Park. And the "gravel" that the commissioned sales-ranger warned me about turned out to be cushy pea rock. Unless I was as sensitive as the princess in The Princess and the Pea, which I'm not, I was in for a fairy tale sleep tonight. I WIN AGAIN!

A bird with bright red feathers. I had to zoom in so much that the brilliant redness is washed out. I need a better camera.

Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 275 miles (443 km)

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