Lower Colorado River

The first time I visited the lower Colorado River, I was very surprised by the growth from Laughlin (NV) down through Needles (CA) and to Parker (AZ). I've always heard ads about going gambling in Laughlin, and have heard people in LA and San Diego talk about 'going to the river' for a long weekend, but I didn't realize that what they were talking about was essentially one long stretch of suburban sprawl (and congestion) from Laughlin, NV along both sides of the river, to Parker, AZ. I start this set actually from the south end of this strip. In the next several pictures I do like most people and refer to the area as "Parker", but that is somewhat of a misnomer since the west side of the river is not Arizona, but San Bernardino County, California. The first time I visited the Parker area was on a trip to explore the Lower Colorado that I made in December of 2006. It was fairly warm, and the late afternoon sun gave the area a very nice, warm glow. It was, though, somewhat disconcerting to have been driving through the desert, and to realize there was desert all along the river, and yet feel like you were in a beach resort.

Historic El Garces railway station in Needles, CA.

Parker, AZ at sunset, taken from the California side.

North of Parker, AZ is Lake Havasu, AZ, which was a sprawling suburb but I've no pictures because I went through there at night. Further north still is Needles, CA, which clearly doesn't feel like the resort culture that's further south near Parker. Needle's has had a relatively 'desperate' feel whenever I've been through, but the city has put some effort into preserving older buildings.

Like many other California cities, Needles has a very elaborate train station dating from the early 1900's. Getting a picture of the station was not easy due to its size (see adjacent pictures.) Such very elaborate stations in remote locations seem surprising now, but were important for providing a sense of comfort for the cross-country rail traveler of that era. This station, called El Garces, was one of the famous Harvey Houses.

Parker, AZ at sunset, taken from the California side of the Colorado.

Parker, AZ at sunset, taken from the California side of the Colorado.

This is part of my set of pictures of the lower Colorado river. The area from Yuma, AZ through Quartzsite, AZ, had a generally rougher, hard-working, feel to it. In this subset of pictures of the set, I start at the southernmost point of this stretch -- the Mexican border south of Yuma, AZ. Twenty miles south of Yuma is San Luis, AZ. The area between San Luis and Yuma is almost all agriculture, and the further south you go towards San Luis, the more it feels like you're in Mexico -- by the time I hit San Luis, it seemed like the dominant language was Spanish. San Luis was very crowded with people crossing the border, and I didn't take any pictures of there. The border runs north-south for many miles between San Luis and the Yuma area, and I was able to travel along the border in that section. The border in that area has farm fields growing up to a levee, then trees on the banks of the Colorado, and then mountains on the Mexico side. The truck in this picture is Mexican border police.

Laughlin, NV taken from Bullhead City, AZ

Laughlin from Bullhead City, AZ. When this photo was taken, there were extensive suburbs being built up into the hillsides above Bullhead City, AZ

The vehicle was Army surplus, as were probably the tents. You can see two feet on the far side of the vehicle between the front and rear tires. This was a man in camouflage, with a rifle and high power binoculars. He asked me what I was doing there and looked at me threateningly, but when I asked if he was Border Patrol, he said 'no'. I had come into contact with one of the border vigilantes. I didn't take a picture of him due to the threat; this picture is through my windshield (thus the odd spots in the picture) as I was driving away.

Border vigilantes along the AZ/Mexico border (see adjacent picture)

The face of the dam from the Nevada side.

Inscription on the elevator tower on the Arizona side of the dam (each line represents a different panel): Since primordial times, American Indian tribes and Nations lifted their hands to the Great Spirit from these ranges and plains. We now with them in peace buildeth again a Nation.

The elevator towers for taking visitors down into the inner-workings of the dam (the tour requires advance reservations). The themes in the sculpting are in the adjacent pictures.

From north of the dam, on the Arizona side, looking back towards Nevada. The towers in the foreground are the intake towers for the dam. The smaller towers directly on the dam (opposite the intake towers) are for elevators that go down into the dam

Inscription on the elevator tower on the Nevada side of the dam