Likely one of the most prominent issues in Arizona is ‘water’. Whether it’s falling from the sky, laying down as white stuff (snow), or drying up before your eyes and creating deserts, it factors into most conversations and many problem solving maneuvers. As I write this I’m enjoying sunshine and a warmish breeze in Kartchner Caverns State Park (which I will tell you about in another post). Todays accounting is about leaving Catalina SP; the how and the when.
Weather over the past week has not been too friendly. Between winds gusting and causing campsite challenges and water falling in sheets of rain, we’ve had to be more aware of our surroundings than we might be otherwise. For instance, when we arrived at Catalina, and after we’d set up camp, the resident Park Host appeared to advise us against altering anything to do with the small trench running off the rear of our parking pad. “That”, she explained, “is a trench we dug to drain water off your site.” Little did we know how much we would appreciate that wee groove.
Our second to last day was marked by watching the trench fill up and then trickle down and then fill up again. The closest the water got to Lucy was on one side only and that was two feet away, so we felt quite lucky. Our last night there was Wednesday night and the weather pattern of gusting winds and heavy rain continued through the night. Thankfully it stopped sometime before dawn and the water drainage system did its thing, leaving us with a dry parking pad.
We rose early on Thursday morning for two reasons; to leave early enough to arrive at our next destination before the high winds forecast for Kartchner Caverns SP appeared - and so as to, hopefully, book a campsite for next year (which needs to be attempted at precisely 0800 one year in advance). Now then, you may recall I told you about the flash floor warning passed on to us by another camper. I remembered it too as transiting the ‘dip’ in the road was part of actually being able to leave Catalina SP and… that is the dip that apparently floods during heavy rains. Luckily I noticed the uniformed Park Ranger speaking with our neighbouring campers and I meandered out to see what was up. It was about 0730 hrs. and Kathy was on line getting ready to press “send” at 0800. We had the truck and trailer hooked up and the ony thing left to do was to unplug the power cord and secure a few things.
Am I ever glad I wandered out to speak to the Ranger. After the usual pleasantries, I asked him how things were going. He replied “the water’s running”. I confirmed he was speaking about the wash and then asked if he thought we could still get out. He eyeballed our rig, paused for a moment, and said “yup, it you leave NOW.” “We’re leaving NOW”, I proclaimed… and the race was on,
Electrical cord unplugged, wiped clean and stowed; check. Dog into backseat of truck with blankets and toys; check. TV laid to rest on bed; check. Security bars into fridge; check. Trailer legs wound up and locked in place; check. Pieces of wood boards used for said legs stowed in truck; check. Kathy’s computer and all her workings safely stowed; check. We were ready to go in less than 15 minutes and peeled out of there before the water got much higher. The wash wasn’t as high as I had feared it would be and we managed to swoosh through it at a good clip - spraying muddy water up the sides of Lucy and definitely washing off the bottoms of both Lucy and Ricky. Then we found a side road marked “Authorized Vehicles Only” and, agreeing we were certainly an authorized vehicle, we turned into an open area suitable for parking and completed the campsite reservation process. We then stopped at the ‘Dump Site to complete the last, and most important, domestic duty… before leaving the Park and heading on our way.’
So, that is my story for today…. a little peek into the trials and tribulations of camping in the desert during unsettled weather. Thank goodness for well organized Parks and friendly staff.
Hope all is well with each of you, your trenches are clear and your washes are dry. TTFN. CJ
