YUMA AZ?

[TrainChaser]

Does Yuma have any BLM or FS land around it? WITH SHADE??? (I've been living in the PNW for 20 years, so the GLARE gets kind of aggravating...)

 

[mockturtle]

Lots of BLM land. Shade? In the winter you don't need it, if you have solar, you don't want it.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Make your own shade with shade cloth or a tarp. 

We enjoy Yuma.

 

[Almost There]

Does Yuma have any BLM or FS land around it?  WITH SHADE???  (I've been living in the PNW for 20 years, so the GLARE gets kind of aggravating...)

Living in northern forest until last winter had the same effect on me, so I went out of my way to fix it.

I found some shade just about every where I went last winter. Well, except for out on the BLM land near Ehrenberg but I just moved down to the river there. Oh, and during the RTR but I was okay for a couple of weeks at a time.

Okay, I had the only tree for forever in some spots......

And it was even more glorious when I moved uphill into the pine forests come spring...

There are trees, you just have to hunt them down a little more and/or be prepared to move in a hurry when someone vacates a camp site that is more desirable than the one you had been using. At Fortuna Pond I basically had a choice of lakefront property in the sun or second row back in the trees but that was because all the treed lakefront were taken!!

 

[wayne49]

Complaints about too much sun in winter? Wow.

I was on the BLM land near Ehrenburg in mid December last year. I parked to get more sun. Precious.

Down in Fort Lauderdale and below, yes, there is too much sun.

 

[Almost There]

Complaints about too much sun in winter? Wow.

I was on the BLM land near Ehrenburg in mid December last year. I parked to get more sun. Precious.

Down in Fort Lauderdale and below, yes, there is too much sun.

It's not about the 'too much sun' so much as it's about the lack of trees!

Coming from, and loving it, a land of rocks, water and forests to the stark, dry and open areas of the AZ desert is a grand contrast for about a week, then some kind of starvation sets in and us 'tree people' start looking for something more than the next large cactus. For me, even a single tree that only gave shade for an hour or two a day was a vital necessity.

Don't get me wrong, I love the desert for it's wide open vistas, the different plants and the weather in the winter time! I adored sitting high on a bluff above the red rocks of Sedona watching the countryside for miles and miles. I thoroughly enjoyed walking the desert roads each morning looking at all the different things I could find. It's just that it seems my soul is tied to the tall pines, erratic boulders, rock outcroppings and the multitude of lakes.

 

[MrNoodly]

It's not about the 'too much sun' so much as it's about the lack of trees!

...For me, even a single tree that only gave shade for an hour or two a day was a vital necessity.

Most desert washes have mesquite and tamarisk trees.

 

[mockturtle]

I spend summers in the PNW, where my family all live, and the rest of the year traveling. Winters, I am usually around AZ. I grew up in a forested suburb in western WA and think trees are somewhat overrated. Nothing is as gloomy as a heavily treed camp site on a drizzly, gray day. The PNW is full of them.

 

[TrainChaser]

Beautifully put, Almost There!

MockTurtle: "Nothing is as gloomy as a heavily treed camp site on a drizzly, gray day."

That's very true, but I don't need the trees then!  I grew up in the opposite place, SoCal, so I needed a change.  Now, after 23 years in WA, the constant glare of bright sunlight can be... what?  Unnerving?  An old friend calls it Sunlight Overload Condition (SOC).  AlmostThere and I just need a place to retreat from it when it gets too bright.  And I can't sleep well unless the temp is under 60F.  *Sigh*  I'm SO demanding!

 

[wayne49]

Life is different in the deserts. There are Joshua trees above a certain altitude in the higher desert.

Most life in the desert is lived close to the ground. There is a lot of life out there.

It requires a different mindset.

The openness that goes father than the eye can see. 360 degrees of horizon. Day and night.

The flat desert can produce double sun sets. The usual one where the sun is setting in the west and another complimentary on the clouds on the opposite horizon.

Sagebrush (spice sage), Creosote, and other bushes have their niches.

Wild flowers. Super blooms. Or sporadically dispersed on the desert floor.

Tarantulas. I haven't seen yet. Halloween is when the tarantulas do their mayfly thing.

Jack rabbits, roadrunners, and wild burros.

I came from Minnesota and do understand the lakes and forest thing.

Now I understand deserts.

YMMV

 

[highdesertranger]

you had me until the feral burros. highdesertranger

 

[MrNoodly]

So you wouldn't enjoy it here?

 

[TrainChaser]

Some places are just too BRIGHT, Mr.Noodly... sun from above, sunlight reflecting from salt flats.  OVERKILL!  Please, moderation in all things.

 

[wayne49]

you had me until the feral burros.  highdesertranger

Why you no like los burros?

They keep to themselves as far as I can tell. I am used to equine scat or road apples.

I saw a pair that looked like "show" burros. Taller, smooth coats, holding their heads up regally and watching me as I rode past slowly.

I also forgot to mention the varieties of cactii and the varied cactus flowers.

 

[wayne49]

Some places are just too BRIGHT, Mr.Noodly... sun from above, sunlight reflecting from salt flats.  OVERKILL!  Please, moderation in all things.

I haven't taken my van out on the dry lakes. I love dry lakes with my motorcycle. It is so smooth and you point to where you want to go just  like in a boat on a wet lake.

There is a large dry lake (seasonal) near my property in Crescent Valley, NV. Straight east for less than a mile and there I am.

 

[highdesertranger]

the feral horses and burros don't belong out there and they are tearing up the environment. they are notorious over grazers and tear up delicate desert springs. they call them wild, then people fawn over them and force the government to have all kinds of programs that cost millions for an animal that's is not supposed to be there. feral horses and burros are no different than feral dogs and cats. rant over. please don't try to convince me otherwise. highdesertranger

 

[Headache]

A couple of family members spend the winters in Yuma and summers up here in WA. I've left WA before for more sunlight and am doing so again. Yuma is a big snowbird city. I prefer things a bit on the desolate side myself. Stopping in for supplies wonderful, but longer than a day or two and I start getting antsy for quiet and solitude. Good luck with your search down there. In the city limits the locals like to keep the joint "clean" so they don't appreciate van campers very much but if you work at a 24 hour store you may be able to hide in plain site in the parking lot.

 

[wayne49]

the feral horses and burros don't belong out there and they are tearing up the environment.  they are notorious over grazers and tear up delicate desert springs.  they call them wild,  then people fawn over them and force the government to have all kinds of programs that cost millions for an animal that's is not supposed to be there.  feral horses and burros are no different than feral dogs and cats.  rant over.  please don't try to convince me otherwise.  highdesertranger

Thanks for the reply.

Probably part of why the gov picked up the burros on the side of 95 close to CA and moved them north and across the highway.

Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge might have been under pressure from the burros on this side.

I know the burros quickly carve hard paths as they move around an area.

 

[VanForNow]

What about Tucson AZ as a wintering place? Pros and cons in your opinion?

 

[gnarledwolf]

For me, Arizona is all about the sky. I've never seen such beautiful skies as Arizona has. Besides being warmer than the north, that's one of the only reasons I'd go back.