West to Yuma

The drive from Gila Bend to Yuma is through rather desolate territory — more flat land with jagged rocky mountains sticking up through it.  The only real difference today was that it was raining.  Mostly just a drizzle, but we passed through areas with puddles.  As we approached Yuma there were more cattle feed yards and then lots of agriculture — mostly lettuce, cabbage, and broccoli. 

In Yuma we went to the BLM field office to purchase our 14–day permit for camping in Long Term Visitors Areas (LTVA).  It’s complicated.  There are different categories of BLM land.  Some is LTVA which requires a permit.  Some if free for camping.  Some has a $5 or $10 per night fee.  Since we need to do some laundry and shopping while in Yuma, we headed just north to a free area on Mittry Lake with plans to return to Yuma in the morning.  The trip there took us through farm fields in full production with some of them being harvested. 

Our campsite was right on the edge of the lake.  In the water next to the site were many coots and heron.  We didn’t explore much as it was still raining.

 

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)