Took the Interstate 40 to Topock, Arizona.Found a little hill between the river and the elevated railroad tracks and parked and took this photo. This shot is of the beginning of the Havasu Wilderness area. On the other side of the tracks, behind us, is the Topock Gorge Marina. Took the Arizona 66 to the Marina and then on to Catfish Paradise.
Need to take a picture at the Marina. That little body of water is Topock Bay.
Catfish Paradise
This little place was nearly deserted.One man was just launching a small fishing boat, and another was fishing from the end of the pier. Visited with a nice man sitting by his camper, reading. Said his dog Amanda was about to have puppies. Told me they were catching more bass than catfish. This place has a nice picnic area and beautiful old trees to park under. Looks like a great place for Gaby and I to go for a walk.
Between the Marina and Catfish Paradise there was supposed to be a road, South Dike, that passed between Topock Marsh, Lost Lake and Beal Lake. It was closed to traffic. Drat. Started back around to Needles to take Levee Road to see if we could get at the lakes that way.
Just stopped to take this shot on the way back to the Arizona 95, where there is bridge to go back to Needles.This is looking back toward the California side of the river. I'm thinking by the map this is Goose Lake. Going to go to North Dike Fishing Area to see if we can backpack around Powell and Goose Lakes. This is at the north end of the Refuge. It was such a beautiful day, only around 90, after a week with one day reaching 123. It was so cool we just kept going. Some lightning off in the distance.
Tried backtracking down Levee Road in the Topock direction on the Arizona side of the river. Gravel road, sometimes a little washboard. Entered Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. A lot of the drives down to the river had cables across them. Got to the end, probably at the other end of the road we wanted to take out of Topock. This time there was a big gate. Double drat!! On the turn-around back, found a little dirt road that went right along the river bank, very cool, but people were using it for a dump. We left at sunup, so we had all that done by 8. Shoot it is still cool. Too early for cheeseburgers. So off we headed for Havasu Lake, California. Took the 95 toward Vidal and Blythe, passed right by our house.
Took the cutoff off the California 95 to the Havasu Lake California Casino and Marina.Entered the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation. This photo was taken from the little bluff where the Chemehuevi Valley Elementary School is located. It is in the Needles Unified School District, so I thought I should take a look. If I had taken the shot a little more to the left, I would have gotten Lake Havasu, Arizona in the photo. It is huge. Had to do a turnaround at the Marina and Casino to ask directions to the school. Went back to "town," no Golden Arches, no Burger King, and Gaby and I decided it was time for our cheeseburgers, so we had to scram. I'll go back another time so we can walk around the Marina area. On the way into town I noticed a dirt road that went to a little mountain on the right. I thought it might be the road to the Blue Agate Mine, the one the Needles Rock and Mineral Club has a claim on. The road was just the way they described it, ok for awhile, then you need fourwheel drive, but is short enough for you to walk the rest of the way. Can't wait for the first meeting in October to see if I was at the right place. Went back to the road and then I noticed a dashlight was on "O/D OFF.'' The rest of the way I was a little worried. Then I realized I had reached for a coughdrop and must have hit the O/D button by mistake. Got our cheeseburgers in Needles and went home. Gaby knew when we got home to Needles. This was our first trip without BJ. I know, life goes on, so I decided to make this little blog about Gaby and me and our adventures around Needles. Hope to explore the Colorado River and the buttes and mountains. Don't know how far we will get, but we sure are having fun. The End
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