2/10 Willow Beach Campground

Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get this post finished before the internet dies.  This is one of my top five campgrounds west of the Mississippi, but it has one BIG problem--because it is so isolated and surrounded by mountains, it has absolutely no cell service.  For me, that also means I have no internet service because I get my internet through my cell provided, Verizon.  

The campground managers give you a coupon for free internet for one device, but the problem is that their router is working on solar power stored in batteries.  Mostly, but not completely, the system works well during the day when the sun is shining, but after dark, the batteries often lose power before morning.  Luckily, a lot of the campers here have Star Link through a satellite system.  I have investigated this, but I already have two Verizon mobile hotspots from the years I spent teaching college classes while traveling.  They work well, most of the time, assuming I have decent cell service, but without cell service, I am relying on the iffy internet this place has.  I could switch, but at this point, I am not sure how many more years I have on the road, so I will make do with what I have.   

Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed I can get all my photos uploaded!  🤞  I am working as fast as I can to beat the dying router batteries! 

I assume you have already read the post from yesterday.  When you reach the end of the canyon, you will finally see the Colorado River.  The beige building is the visitor center and marina boat rental facility.  They have a few snacks for sale, some shirts, and a lot of kayaking or boating stuff.  If you are camping, you need to stop here to check in.  

 

  

If you head straight past the visitor center, you will find a fishery, but I did not go there this trip, so no photos of it.  But if you ever do come here, it is worth a walk or short drive to check out all the young fish growing in the big tanks. 

If you are heading to the campground, you need to turn right after checking in, and head uphill through the large parking lot, following a two lane road that will take you uphill.  The campground is about 200' higher than the river because several people died in the 1970s in a large flood that wiped out the original campground, which was down by the river.  No flood can possibly reach the new campground!  

Hidden under what looks like a building is the campground hosts motorhome.  Since the temperatures can get extremely hot in summers, most campgrounds in desert areas in the Southwest provide structures with roofs to shade camp host's rigs.  The people who are camp hosts in this campground have been here almost 10 years, so they have added canvas sidewalls and front and back walls that keep them relatively cool.

 

Campsites here are very large and paved, and they also have electric, water, and sewer hookups, which is a real luxury.  They are expensive, but if you are over 62 and have a national park senior pass, you get a substantial discount.  

  

Here are a couple more typical campsites.

 

 

Sorry for the different size photos, but the taller ones were taken with my cell phone. 

 

 

And here are some of the tent sites.  

 

 

 

 

 

The ranger's homes are located even father uphill.   

 

 

Since the campground is on a slope, they have provided a little walkway that zigzags down the hill from the restroom/shower house that also contains a small laundry.   

Very nice restroom and shower facility.

This is a rock on the edge of my campsite patio.  I have been tossing out a couple of handfuls of bird seed every day, so this is the part of the flock that waiting for me to feed them. 

 

 

It is amazing how fast these little guys can eat every grain I toss out to them.  Usually, there are also a couple of flocks of Gambles quail, but they don't seem to be around this year.  I assume maybe this is due to the drought--no rain for almost a year.  There are a lot of hummingbirds because the camp host has put out several feeders. 

 

 

Need to look this bird up because it does not look like the others.  

The other "wildlife" here is a very pretty feral cat that the camp hosts feed and care for.  They call her "Meow-Meow" because even though they feed her, she spends a large part of her day going from RV to RV loudly and endlessly saying "meow-meow, meow-meow, meow-meow."  She is mostly Siamese but with longer fur than usual, but she is very wild and will not let anyone get near her. 

 

One other problem with this campground is that the road from the visitor center to the campground doubles as a flood control system.  In other words, it is assumed that when a flood comes, the road will turn into a river and keep campers trapped until the rains have subsided.  Luckily it does not rain much here, and this roadway does provide a fantastic view!

This is a fairly small campground, and relatively expensive if you do not have the senior pass, but it is really one of the beautiful areas I have camped in.  The mountains may not  have much vegetation on them, but Big Horn Sheep, desert cottontails, and a lot of other animals manage to live here.