El Camino del Diablo

We figured if we have to maintain a social distance, a great way to do it was to drive El Camino del Diablo, a 130-mile historic road which runs from south of Ajo, AZ, to near Yuma. Other than the swarms of Border Patrol, and near-overhead aircraft from Luke AFB (Barry Goldwater Range), we we by ourselves.

Conditions were perfect: the Sonoran Desert was green and blooming with spectacular scenery everywhere. And temps were 80º days and 50º nights with light to no wind.

At first night's camp, about 10 miles south of Ajo.


Today, Bandeja Well is solar powered with an electric pump.




Parts of El Camino del Diablo runs within a mile of the international borner. Border Patrol were plentiful. We accidently bumped into two Border Patrol guys at the top of a mountain, with electronics and antennas. They invited us to leave.


Bates Well


Final resting place of Dave O'Neill, a prospector who died of exposure after his burros wandered away, perhaps in 1916. By one report, the two men who buried O'Neill were friends of his, prospectors by trade, and rugged, practical frontiersmen. They divvied up O'Neill's valuables and then covered him with dirt and rocks. A couple weeks later they ran out of tobacco and remembered that they had buried O'Neill's tobacco with him. They returned to the grave and retrieved the tobacco pouch, one reporting that it "chawed just as good as if it had been in my pocket all them two weeks."


It rained a few days prior to our arrival, so there were more than a few muddy spots. For the record, dried Sonoran Desert mud (includes much of Baja) is easier to remove from a truck than dried Mojave Desert mud.


Everything in the desert was happy and blooming. The creosote bush was covered with yellow blooms and new leaves. There were blooming ocotillo the length of the trail -- ditto with the plentiful brittlebrush.


The belly flowers were also blooming.


Christmas Pass


Southeast of Yuma, we bumped into stretches of new construction road for the border wall. We saw lots of large commercial trucks on the road.


A blooming ocotillo at the mouth of Tule Tank Canyon.


Tule Tank


Last night's dinner.


Last night's sunset, near the Fortuna Mine.

Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner

Always great to see your photos!! Yeah, you have no normal constitutional rights in the "border zone" I often go to Baja with a couple of judge friends, and they remind me to keep my cool when confronted with the green migra….. "There are special rules near the border. You don't have the normal rights that you are accustomed to, so just cool it"

100 mile "border zone"

Quote: Originally posted by BornFisher

I`ve wanted to that road for a while. Did you have to get a permit? Thanks for the report and pics.