The entire reason for this trip to Southern Arizona was to drive this old route through the desert.
The road is labeled as a rugged, high-clearance, four-wheel-drive route. Our original plan was to tackle it in our Subaru Outback Wilderness…
…but there was no way we could fit all of our gear in the Subie…
…we took the truck.
The 130-mile roadway begins back in Ajo on a road that skirts the tailings of the town’s copper mine.
The first stop was Bates Well where Henry Gray, last of four generations of ranchers, lived until his death in 1976.
We soon reach the boundary of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. A permit is needed to travel beyond here. Nearby sits a Border Patrol Station.
We signed in and continued on our way down the Camino, which was nicely graded out here to facilitate Border Patrol activities.
Several primitive campgrounds lie along the route through the wildlife refuge…
They aren’t much, but they do offer picnic tables…
…and flat ground to roll out the sleeping bags.
The difference between eastern and western campers is that easterners like our friends prefer to sleep in a tent at night…
…while we prefer to bunk outdoors where we can watch sunsets from our sleeping bags…
…and gaze up at the Milky Way after dark.
Our first night’s campsite lies near Papago Well. The blue flag flying above the tank informs anyone out in this parched desert that water is available here.
It may not be of Evian quality, but it can save the lives of folks, whether they are here legally or not.
