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On the Way
Our trip to Yuma had two goals – go to what could well be the last SWAG Mega geocaching event and visit the Territorial Prison State Park that we missed the last time we have been here.
The hotel, unfortunately, while looking good before booking is a bit tired with some partying going on which luckily is drowned out by the sound of the heater that is going all night – quite cold in Yuma this time of the year.
Day 1
In the morning we go downstairs to get some breakfast which consists of a bag with a couple muffins, a snack bar and a small orange juice bottle.
The major goal of our visit is to take part in the 18th Yuma Mega Event which is preceded few smaller events and today we start with the 8th Yuma Discovery event, a favorite of us.
The first stop on the Discovery tour for us is at the Yuma Proving Ground, outside of Yuma, at the outdoor museum full of military hardware. It is the second time for us here but still we enjoy the stop and walking through the decomissioned hardware.
From here we start on the way back to Yuma but first we have one more stop on the Discovery tour that we actually saw as we were driving to the Proving Grounds, the Little Chapel. It was built in 1995 to “Stop, Rest, Worship” then damaged badly by a storm in 2011 that crushed its steeple and then reconstructed.
From the Little Church we continue on towards Yuma following the same roads we took initially to get to the military base. Luckily Google Maps is up to the task and leads us back correctly to the next stop on the Yuma Discovery Tour .
In a change from the first stops this one is at a metal sculpture shop which is quite large and has lots and lots of different sculptures. We enjoy walking through it and finding the information needed for the tour due to some friendly geocachers and on we go to the next stop.
The next interesting stop is The Peanut Patch. It has an unexpectedly interesting store with lots of local products besides peanuts. We buy some fudge, chocolate covered coffee beans and a few other snacks and all of them are very good, quite a worthwhile stop.
Then we stop at the botanical garden. The information needed is outside and soon found and then we decide to enter the garden but notice it is actually paid entry. Given that we do not have time for a thorough exploration we decide to skip it but still enjoy the dove tree (our name) from the outside.
Now it is time for a brief respite from the Yuma Discovery Tour so we decide to visit a Farmer’s market to buy some vegetables and maybe find something for lunch. We have some luck with the first part of our plan but no luck with finding something for lunch so we have to go with our second choice, finding a restaurant nearby.
We choose a Hawaiian fast food type restaurant and it is surprisingly good and with no one else around we also feel safe to eat inside which is quite a rarity for us in the last two years.
Next we continue on the Yuma Discovery Tour with a few stops in the downtown area. One especially gives us the fits as we simply cannot find the info as requested but we find something similar. We find out later when returning our sheets for the prize that it was one of the more difficult ones and we did it correctly, phew.
With the tour done it is time to return to Martha’s Gardens to receive our prize, a geocoin, and to treat ourselves to a date shake. We work on the shake while sitting at the tables just outside of the store but it is getting cold so we decide to save half of the shake for another day and retreat to the car.
We are still hungry after all this searching so for dinner we eat at an Indian restaurant that is within walking distance of the hotel and is very good and full we retire for the day.
Day 2
Today we start with the same breakfast however at a more reasonable hour before finishing packing and checking out.
And then it is on the West Wetlands Park where the Mega Event is held. There are already quite a few people at the event and after signing the log we wander around finding the Arizona reviewers responsible for publishing caches and the contingent sent from headquarters to attend one of the first Mega events after Covid started.
We wander around buying some new caches to place and also taking part in a bingo game based on identifying cachers that did specific rare feats, like visiting 10 countries, which is a good way to get to know other cachers.
Of course we do not neglect looking around for birds or other wildlife and are rewarded with a flock of pelicans flying over the event area – cool!
Even the small pond next to which the event is held is full of waterfowl mostly ring-necked ducks, mallards and double-crested cormorants.
The last part of the event that we take part in is the adventure lab where you have to follow a few waypoints and give an answer based on each location. Usually the labs have at most 5 waypoints but for the event geocaching HQ allows 10 waypoints and we decide to follow them along a trail that parallels the Colorado river.
We follow the level trail for about 3/4 of a mile getting the info needed along the way. The trail is slightly different than we remember there is a small bridge over a creek at some point and then it reaches a large beach area where the last informational stop and our turn around point is.
On the way back we notice a hawk in a tree and we think it is a Cooper’s hawk but to our surprise we find out it is a red-shouldered hawk, a relative rarity for Arizona and a first timer for us (in Arizona).
With the geocaching event behind us it is time for the sightseeing portion but first we have to eat lunch so we stop at a Wendy’s for some fast food that we eat at a picnic area below Yuma Territorial Prison SP which is our next stop. In fact we are in awe even from outside of the impressive guard tower, visible from a distance.
The views of the Colorado valley from the plateau where the prison sits are quite amazing and we stop to enjoy them before arriving at the visitor center/pay station. The entrance fee is a bit costly but then we remember that the State Park was actually saved from closing forever by the citizens of Yuma and we pay gladly to see such a historic sight saved for posterity or at least a few more years, who knows.
After entering the first stop for us is at a viewpoint overlooking the bridges to California, one historic (railroad) and one more modern (cars). Yuma in fact was famous as a good crossing spot of the Colorado River via ferry as well a major steamboat stop before the bridges were constructed.
There are only a few buildings left given that part of the prison was destroyed when building the railway as well as due to being demolished by the different groups that used the area before it was being protected. A map of the remaining buildings part of the state park can be found here, we start with the main museum building which houses the exhibits, which is actually a modern building built on the site of the former mess hall. We are surprised at how many people are visiting the site, as we were expecting fewer visitors and are relatively unhappy that few of them choose to wear masks in indoor spaces like the museum.
The museum is quite insightful with lots of information about the life inside the prison and the convicts that were held inside it. We have heard previously about Yuma prison from the movie 3:10 to Yuma but we didn’t know that it was also famous from holding one of the few female stagecoach robbers in the American Old West, Pearl Hart, which fascinated the society of the time. In fact initially the first female convicts didn’t really have a separate place to be incarcerated which led to issues that forced the governors to pardon them until the prison constructed a separate area for female prisoners.
After the museum we move on again outside to the old cell blocks which were used by different organizations like the local high school (holding classes in a cell, must have been quite cool) and hobos and homeless lived in the cells even after the prison closed. Even though the prison was “ahead of its time” with electricity and running water the cells are outside which might have made them quite uncomfortable during the summer.
Our next and last stop is the New Yard, a later addition to the prison which housed between others those that were considered a flight risk. This didn’t stop the only successful escape and a few more attempts. Right now however the only “prisoner” is a pigeon that uses one of the cells for nesting, quite funny.
Outside of the fee area there is one more historical place that we want to visit, the prison cemetery. Many prisoners that had no family were buried here, and the causes of death are quite varied. Some were shot due to escape attempts, some died due to medical conditions and some simply were unlucky like a prisoner who was allowed to do garden work due to good behavior and then was bitten by a rattlesnake, unlucky indeed.
We still have a couple hours of sunlight left when leaving the prison so we decide to spend them in East Wetlands Park which sits at the base of the prison and is rehabilited habitat that we wanted to visit more seriously for some time. It is quite similar in the beginning to the West Wetlands Park with a trail following the Colorado River bank.
Given the diversity of habitat and the proximity to the river we can see here both desert and water birds, always a good mix when birdwatching.
The trail leads us to an elevated overlook of the Colorado River which is spectacular, we are surprised that not many of the other hikers or runners are stopping here though obviously we do not complain.
From here we decide to loop back towards the car using first another section of the trail system and then following the canal back to the parking lot.
As we follow the trails we get some good views of the marshlands, they seem to be well restored and for certain are and will become an important stopover point for birds.
On the way back we see a few more cool birds, the one that we like most is a roadrunner who basically runs first towards us and then shadows us for a while likely watching if we spook anything that he can catch.
And then it is time to return home and to reality, a three hour drive where we have time to discuss and recap all the different things we have seen and done which was quite a lot for only two days. Looking forward to returning here for the next Mega event if it happens!