Jeeping to Alamo Lake

Hi Blog!

Friday, February 1, 2019, was our first full day in Wikieup, Arizona. We decided to take a Jeep drive out to Alamo Lake. The 45 mile drive took us into the heart of the BLM South Kingman District. In order to reach the valley where Alamo Lake is located, we had to go up and over the shoulder of Aubrey Peak (5,078). We gained over 2,500 feet in elevation. Shortly after leaving Wikieup, we found this double crested saguaro.

As we continued our journey, we entered a forest of Joshua Trees. When Mormon settlers first saw the plant they dubbed it the “Joshua Tree” because it reminded them of their bushy-bearded biblical leader, who reached his hands up in pray. When Territorial Governor John C. Frémont caught sight of it during an 1844 trek through the Mohave Desert, he called it “the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom.” We think they are the coolest trees ever!

As we began our climb up and over the shoulder of Aubrey Peak, we took a minute to look back from whence we came.

Parts of the BLM land are still leased to ranchers who graze cattle where they can. This photo is called, "Cow Framed by Joshua Trees."

This is the first time we've seen Joshua Tree flowers. The flowers appear from February to late April. The semi-fleshy fruit that is produced is green-brown, elliptical, and contains many flat seeds. Joshua trees usually do not branch until after they bloom, and they do not bloom every year. Like most desert plants, their blooming depends on rainfall at the proper time. They also need a winter freeze before they bloom. Once they bloom, the trees are pollinated by the yucca moth, which spreads pollen while laying her eggs inside the flower. The moth larvae feed on the seeds, but enough seeds remain to reproduce. We counted five flowers on this Joshua Tree.

While U.S. 93 has been named "Joshua Tree Parkway of Arizona," its not until you get out into the desert that you really see massive amounts of Joshua Trees. We felt we saw more Joshua Trees in our drive to Alamo Lake than we saw in all of Joshua Tree National Park in California.

As we drove along, we noticed we were being watched. Perched in the Joshua Trees next to the road was a pack of Harris's hawks. While most raptors are solitary, only coming together for breeding and migration, Harris's hawks will hunt in cooperative groups of two to seven.  This is believed to be an adaptation to the lack of prey in the desert climate in which they live. Luckily, Jeepers are not part of their diet.

Driving through the desert lets you see the geology all around you. We made several stops to explore the different rock outcrops. Here Dave demonstrates the "King of the Mountain" pose.

As we came down in elevation, we left most of the Joshua Trees behind and began seeing more and more saguaros. There's no telling how long this sentinel has stood guard.

After two and half hours of bibbling about the desert, we finally arrived at Alamo Lake. Off in the distance you can see the campground in Alamo Lake State Park.  We came in from the north, across from the state park.  There is no direct road connecting the two sides of the lake because of a lack of bridges crossing the Bill Williams River, which was dammed to form Alamo Lake.

After having our picnic lunch, we took off on foot to explore the lake shore. Here Dusty enjoys relaxing on the beach. He earned it after climbing up and down a mountain and crossing dozens of washes.

With all the recent rain Arizona has received, the lake levels are up, but nowhere near their historic high-water mark. We weren't sure we would be able to drive directly to the lakeshore, so we didn't bring our kayaks. Rest assured, we will be back next week to put the boats in the water.

There was plenty of evidence that wild burros were in the area, but with the bright sun, we were sure they were off resting in some shady wash. We did find an unusual skeleton. We think it might have been a rabbit, but there wasn't much left to be sure.

As we mentioned, there were dozens of washes to cross. We thought the red rock in this area was impressive. We also saw a coyote cross the wash, but it was just to quick for us to get a photo.

On the way back, we spent more time looking for the coolest saguaro. We think this guy wins the prize!

This rock stands guard over the pass that leads back up Signal Mountain.

The Bar S Ranch still grazes cattle in the area. Windmills provide the power to pump water into the cattle tanks.

We have another week here in Wikieup and are looking forward to getting back out in the desert. Stay tuned.