Kofa 12-30-06 (36 images)

Needing a break from the rat race, I decided the 3 day New Years weekend was as good a time as any to get the hell out of Dodge. The destination of Choice: Kofa. It's a 665,000 acre wildlife refuge established in 1939 to protect the Desert Bighorn Sheep. No paved roads, no facilities, and no sense of time... my kind of New Years bash.

I entered the refuge on Castle Dome Road about 10 miles northeast of Yuma. My first stop was the Big Eye Mine. I spent about an hour wandering around checking out the mining remains and cabin. The trail out to the mine is an out and back deal. So I headed back out the same way I came in. I made it a little ways up the McPherson Pass trail before dark. Found a great spot to set up camp.

Day two was set aside to hike the Yuma County highpoint (my 4th AZ county highpoint), Signal Peak. From camp, I headed north out of the Castle Dome mountains into King Valley. Signal Peak is in the Kofa mountains, which make up the northern boundary of King Valley. After eyeing the peak from a distance, I was actually a little intimidated. It just seemed pretty damn high and gnarly and rugged. I made my way around to the north end of the range. After eating a little something, I shoved off to tackle this beast. The hike is a little over two miles long with an elevation change of about 2000 feet, but it certainly seemed like a hell of a lot more than that. But the payoff... forget about it. The views were incredible. I signed the register, took some pics, then headed back down. I made my way north to Pipeline Road before dark. I was tired from the hike, so I set up camp at one of the first spots I saw.

I spent the next day just cruising around random trails on the north end of the refuge. All I knew was that I wanted to exit the northeast corner of the refuge at a decent hour. I ended up making it out to I-10 at like 2:00. So with some extra time on my hands, I decided to make another stop on the way home at the Harquahala Mine site. It's just north of I-10 in the Little Harquahala Mountains. There are some remains of buildings and mining equipment, and a cool little cemetery. I continued north through the mountains to the little town of Salome. From Salome I took the Salome-Buckeye highway back down to the 10, then back home.

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