Exploring more of the Babocomari wash

 I'm intrigued by this wash.  Ever since I walked it last week, I'm curious of its track.  Today I opted to explore the wash farther west, in the Sanders Road area.  Maps show private land bordering on BLM land, but it's hard to gauge without actually walking the area.

I turned south on Sanders Road from SR92, then turned west on Blackberry Lane, a rutted single-lane dirt road.  Houses here are pre-fab homes with livestock and older vehicles and other yard junk in the yards.  This road ended at private property, so I turned around and then turned south on N Blueflax place, another single-lane dirt road even more rutted than the one I turned south on.  There was no "No Trespassing" sign here, so I went through the wired gate and continued my walk south toward the Babocomari wash.

I was now on BLM land, according to my track, but there were plenty of signs of human habitat here.  I came across at least two abandoned homes.  One was a small house shrouded by trees close to the river.  A rusted bicycle was in the front, and an eroded stone path lead down to the river.  Nearby was a heap of rusted metal and a swimming pool, still full of water that the dogs took advantage of.  What happened to the houses here that they were in such bad shape?

I walked a short stretch of the flowing Babocomari river.  Here the flow was steady.  The banks were flanked by tall marsh grass, which made following the river difficult.   The dogs enjoyed chasing each other through the tall, wet grass, but I had to get away from the river as it was getting difficult for me. I got away from the river at an old bridge abutment.

I took another badly-rutted dirt road north, going past more abandoned homes.  I saw no signs of life anywhere until I came to a gate to private land with horses.  The flora here was catclaw, creosote and other prickly, dense brush.

I ended up walking a two-mile loop here. I drove around a few more side streets of Sanders road.  All of these roads were badly rutted.  I can just imagine the nightmare a heavy rain would cause to the roads.  Signs warning of "primitive road" or "Do not cross when flooded" were on most side  streets.  This is the kind of place where outlaws and outcasts live, as it's not easy to traverse these roads with low-clearance vehicles.

The weather was warm, but by the early afternoon the sky was diffused with whispy clouds, the precurose to Hurricane Kay that is making its way toward southern California and which will bring  rain our way Friday night. I'm looking forward to this rain as it's been dry all week.