Finally Boondocking

From the beach in Ventura to the dry hills in Lake Havasu AZ. It was a great trip getting to our next destination and with no truck troubles along the way, thank the good Lord for that! After staying the night at Walmart, we arrived in Lake Havasu on Wednesday and looked for a place to set up in the boonies. My great, loving wife and co-pilot did her research and found a boondocking site on Craggy Wash rd just North of the Lake Havasu Airport. We drove past a few other campers and about 3/4 of a mile further we knew this was the place to be. After setting up camp and getting a bit of down time in, I had to get the hiking blood out of me. I looked around and determined which hill I was going to climb and after loading up my back back with the essentials, I set off to tackle my first climb.

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It took only about 20 min to get to the top as my wife and pops watched from below. It was a rewarding feeling getting to the top and felt good to finally get some exercise in.
The view was spectacular and I could see for miles.

I took some pics, yelled at the top of my lungs, “hellooooo” to my wife below and saw the next hiking mountain in the distance. (A much bigger task). After about 45 min basking in the glory of God’s creation, I headed down the hill. Once back at camp, I told Pops and Shawna of my adventure and couldn’t wait until I tackeled the “big one.”

Realizing it was still early in the day, I had time to go again. I replenished my pack and I was off again. Once I got to the base of what appeared to be a mountain straight up, and of course catching my breath numerous times, I thought to myself, oh boy, I may have bitten off more than I could chew.

But I was so determined to get to the top and yell to my love below I couldn’t turn back now. I scaled the cliff to the next level and thought, huh, hope I can get down. I had only one chance to make it due to the crevasse that was below, and if I had slipped or tripped, doom was sure to be my demise.

After a few more pics and a farewell video to my wife, I decided to go for it. Of course this was several minutes trying to talk myself into it. Up I went and after about 10 steps I looked up and it got much steeper. It really appeared that my next few steps would really make me or literally “break” me (in half). The good Lord got me this far and I was still breathing and only had a few minor scrapes, but could I do this? The wind was howling and I took two chances already to get to this point and made it, but how many more chances do I have? How much would it cost to have a Helicopter rescue me, I thought. I took another few pics and videos and asked God to keep me safe and after 15 more minutes I began my decent.

Defeated and disappointed, but not dead. The only way for me to get down and again past the hurdle that got me to this point was to jump about 7 feet to a small flat area. If I tripped or slipped, the crevasse on my left would have surely taken me. I prayed again, told my wife that I loved her In the video and made the leap! I made it and only a minor twist of my leg and a couple scrapes on my knees, but I was still alive.

I took about a half hr and relaxed and admired the view that I thought I would never see again and was enamored at it once again. Made it back to camp and was very grateful to see my loving family once again. I had told myself that I have too much to live for and didn’t want to risk my life again for just a silly climb. So my climbing adventure was over (for now) and after recuperating for a couple of days, I was searching for my next big climb!

So back to boon docking; it was more of a challenge than we anticipated. Water and power are things you should not take for granted, because when you need to conserve, it’s a bit tougher than one may think. Having to maintain the level in our grey holding tank was a concern as we neared the end of our stay. Like rinsing out toothpaste and dirty dish water would sure too add to the level, but how much more can we go once the panel says that it’s full? So we will have to do some serious thinking about how to make it work for us in the future for longer than 5 nights in the sticks! It was a learning lesson and we will certainly know what we will need and how much the next time we venture into the unknown! After a few days we really needed to see the lake!

It was hot and dry and I didn’t think they named the town Lake Havasu unless they had a lake. We took the dogs and pops and found the best spot to medal detect and just lounge a near the water!

Just across the London bridge were Palm trees, blue skies, and cool water! An oasis of solitude it was, after being in the hot, dry desert!

We will be heading to Mesa, AZ to take a hot shower and do some laundry at a good friends condo that he offered to us. Thank you Murry from AHCC!!! Off to New Mexico we go!

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