2/22 Even More Willow Beach

 Long story, but the State of New Mexico cancelled my February camping reservations because of the coronavirus.  I also had not done laundry for five weeks because I did not want to use a commercial laundromat.  So, I drove back to one of my favorite places along the Colorado River.  I even ended up in the same site as I had been in just three weeks before

 

 

And yes, the bunnies are still there.  There is new growth on the clumps of grasses that were cut back, but when you are a very small rabbit, you need to be creative.   Note the big ears on these guys.  Helps to cool them in the hot desert!

 This bunny at a nearby campsite took advantage of a rock to reach the succulent new grass.

Almost all federal, state, and county campgrounds rely on paid or volunteer camp hosts who live in RVs in the campground.  They do light maintenance and help campers are when needed.  In very hot places, the campground will provide a structure to help keep the sun off the rig and make it cooler.  This campground installed a super-sized structure with mesh side curtains.  (There is a 40' Class C bus hiding under this one.)  The camp host built a storage unit across the entire back end so as to provide even more sun protection.  The front is open and mesh still allows a lot of fresh air.  This is actually one of the nicest sun protection structures I have seen in campgrounds.

 

 

My foot is finally healed from my late December bike ride in Napa, so I got my bike out and rode down the hill to the visitor center/store.  The campground is a long way up a slope to protect it from floods that destroyed the original campground in 1972 and killed 19 people. 

 

 

The road down to the river goes over this "wash."  A wash is a sort of dry river where water flows safely during heavy rains.  It does not rain very often in this area, but when it does, it rains a lot.  And this wash drains a couple of square miles of mountains slopes.  The roadway is on the left, behind the piles of gravel.  

One interesting fact is that this is the ONLY road getting to and from the campground and the rangers' residents.  So, when this floods, we are all going to have to just sit and wait for it to empty.  They do keep heavy equipment around because it is also possible the road will be washed away. 

Notice the piles of gravel in the middle of this photo?  This was removed from the road the last time it flooded. 

In spite of the bareness of this area, it really is a beautiful place. That is the Black Canyon of the Colorado River in the distance.

You can rent a kayak or even a boat, or bring your own.  The river is clear and cold here, so very nice in hot weather.

And the marina, looking upstream.  Hoover Dam is about 13 miles this direction.  Almost all of these boats are rentals.

This is looking downriver. 

The fishery in the distance.  You can just walk in and and look around during daylight hours.

You can sign up for a float trip from near the base of the Dam all the way back here to Willow Beach. I did that last fall.  It is very large raft, and you will not even get your feet wet.  They provide box lunches, water, and a portapotty, which they put behind a bush at a stop about halfway down.  Only problem is that desert bushes are not exactly dense enough to provide much privacy! 

This was taken from the picnic area about halfway up the road to the campground.

 

 

This is the road out of the marina back up to the highway.  This is one of two short sections that keep getting washed out by rain, but you can see the piles of gravel that were removed from the roadway.  I was told that they have the money to build a new road, but they have not yet decided where to put it so it does not get washed out every few months.  

Back up on Highway 93, there are two scenic view areas.  You can see the river in this photo, but the campground and marina are hidden behind the hills just this side of the river.  

A couple of closeups of the river and marina area.