KOFA and Sunniva's Accident in Palm Canyon

To Front Page

KOFA, Arizona, April 2003

During spring break in April 2003 we made a camping trip to Arizona. We crossed the California/Arizona border at Yuma and took the highway north from Yuma towards Quartzsite. The first two nights we camped in the KOFA nature preserve east of the highway from Yuma to Quartzsite. After that we drove on to Quartzsite and from there we continued northeast to Lake Alamo, which is an artificial lake in the middle of the desert created by a dam completed in 1968. We camped two nights also at Lake Alamo before returning to San Diego.

On this page you see pictures from KOFA Nature Preserve.
Click HERE see pictures from Lake Alamo.

Click any photo to see a larger version.
Then, click the Back button to return to this index page.

Day 1
At one place along the highway north from Yuma there were bright white and purple fields contrasting with the adobe colors of the dry desert. We took a walk in the fields and enjoyed the flowers. A lone Mexican worker told us the name of the flowers: larchspur. The night was near and about halfway to Quartzsite we took a dirt road into the KOFA Nature Preserve where we made camp.

Day 2
Next morning. View of our camp from a hill nearby.

Later in the day we drove the dirt road in the background towards the mountains 10-20 miles to the King OF Arizona Mine that has given the area its name. The mine and 200 acres around the mine are owned by "Doc" Birdick, whom we met and talked with. A handful of people live in cabins and trailers around the mine. So, while the Kofa Nature Preserve is public land, the 200 acres about the mine are an island of private land

This typical view of Arizona desert with Saguaro cacti we shot near Doc's KOFA mine.

"SAGUARO (Carnegiea gigantea) is the largest cactus in the USA, commonly reaching a height of 12 metres and an age of up to 200 years. It is one of the most characteristic plants of the Sonoran Desert."

The Saguaro cacti impressed by their size. Other smaller cacti impressed by the beauty of their colorful flowers.

In the KOFA Nature Preserve we also hiked up Palm Canyon, a very narrow canyon with side canyons in which there are groves of palms. These palms have survived from a time long ago when the area was wetter. The palms have survived because in the narrow canyons they are protected from the sun most of the day.

In the background on the desert floor you see the winding road towards the mouth of the canyon. We hiked up in the canyon beyond the path, climbing boulders. In this photo we are on our way down. I am behind the others. Ingela turns and takes a photo of Sunniva standing on a rock.

The next photo is the one Ingela took. You can see me taking my photo to the right of Sunniva's right hand.

I continued towards Sunniva. Sunniva is an avid and skilled, but sometimes -- as we were horrified to find -- too fearless a climber and jumper. I had had my mouth in my throat and had warned Sunniva over and over. Now as I proceeded down behind her, and saw her preparing to jump to the next rock -- to the left of Eyvind in this photo -- I started to warn her "Nej. Det vete sjutton ... " but before I could finish the sentence she jumped. As she landed on the sloping face of the rock she lost her footing and fell to the left -- her left -- turning around in the air and landing on her back ...

... landing on her back within centimeters of the sharp rock ledge by her right hand in this photo. She landed on her back in the bush, with the nape of her neck on a branch. As I hurried to pull her up she said: "Don't be angry at me!"
We were shocked how close we had been to losing Sunniva. Only when we got our devoloped films back did we realize that both Ingela and I had taken a photo a moment before Sunniva jumped.

Once we realized that Sunniva was not seriously hurt we stayed to analyze what had happened. After the previous photo Sunniva was too shocked to continue cooperating. Therefore, in this photo, it is Ingela who shows where Sunniva landed. In the lower left of this photo is the take-off rock. Sunniva aimed to land on the tip of the shaded triangle below and to the right of the center of this photo.

As we proceeded down towards the mouth of the canyon, where our car was parked, we met and talked with two men hiking up the canyon. We told them what had happened, how shaken we were, and how fortunate that we were not now coming carrying a corpse. One of the men: "Now you have an older girl."
I thought that Sunniva ignored my warning and jumped defiantly when I was only halfway through my warning sentence and before I could stop her. She has corrected me: "You warned me too late. I was leaning forward and could not stop. If I had stopped I would have fallen face down into the next rock." So, perhaps it was my warning that distracted her and made her lose her balance on landing !!!

[NOTE: All images are clickable, for a larger version]

To Lake Alamo Page

To Front Page

Day 1 At one place along the highway north from Yuma there were bright white and purple fields contrasting with the adobe colors of the dry desert. We took a walk in the fields and enjoyed the flowers. A lone Mexican worker told us the name of the flowers: larchspur. The night was near and about halfway to Quartzsite we took a dirt road into the KOFA Nature Preserve where we made camp.
*Day 2* Next morning. View of our camp from a hill nearby. Later in the day we drove the dirt road in the background towards the mountains 10-20 miles to the King OF Arizona Mine that has given the area its name. The mine and 200 acres around the mine are owned by "Doc" Birdick, whom we met and talked with. A handful of people live in cabins and trailers around the mine. So, while the Kofa Nature Preserve is public land, the 200 acres about the mine are an island of private land
This typical view of Arizona desert with Saguaro cacti we shot near Doc's KOFA mine. "SAGUARO (Carnegiea gigantea) is the largest cactus in the USA, commonly reaching a height of 12 metres and an age of up to 200 years. It is one of the most characteristic plants of the Sonoran Desert."
The Saguaro cacti impressed by their size. Other smaller cacti impressed by the beauty of their colorful flowers.
In the KOFA Nature Preserve we also hiked up Palm Canyon, a very narrow canyon with side canyons in which there are groves of palms. These palms have survived from a time long ago when the area was wetter. The palms have survived because in the narrow canyons they are protected from the sun most of the day.
In the background on the desert floor you see the winding road towards the mouth of the canyon. We hiked up in the canyon beyond the path, climbing boulders. In this photo we are on our way down. I am behind the others. Ingela turns and takes a photo of Sunniva standing on a rock. The next photo is the one Ingela took. You can see me taking my photo to the right of Sunniva's right hand.
I continued towards Sunniva. Sunniva is an avid and skilled, but sometimes -- as we were horrified to find -- too fearless a climber and jumper. I had had my mouth in my throat and had warned Sunniva over and over. Now as I proceeded down behind her, and saw her preparing to jump to the next rock -- to the left of Eyvind in this photo -- I started to warn her "Nej. Det vete sjutton ... " but before I could finish the sentence she jumped. As she landed on the sloping face of the rock she lost her footing and fell to the left -- her left -- turning around in the air and landing on her back ...
... landing on her back within centimeters of the sharp rock ledge by her right hand in this photo. She landed on her back in the bush, with the nape of her neck on a branch. As I hurried to pull her up she said: "Don't be angry at me!" We were shocked how close we had been to losing Sunniva. Only when we got our devoloped films back did we realize that both Ingela and I had taken a photo a moment before Sunniva jumped.
Once we realized that Sunniva was not seriously hurt we stayed to analyze what had happened. After the previous photo Sunniva was too shocked to continue cooperating. Therefore, in this photo, it is Ingela who shows where Sunniva landed. In the lower left of this photo is the take-off rock. Sunniva aimed to land on the tip of the shaded triangle below and to the right of the center of this photo.
As we proceeded down towards the mouth of the canyon, where our car was parked, we met and talked with two men hiking up the canyon. We told them what had happened, how shaken we were, and how fortunate that we were not now coming carrying a corpse. One of the men: "Now you have an older girl." I thought that Sunniva ignored my warning and jumped defiantly when I was only halfway through my warning sentence and before I could stop her. She has corrected me: "You warned me too late. I was leaning forward and could not stop. If I had stopped I would have fallen face down into the next rock." So, perhaps it was my warning that distracted her and made her lose her balance on landing !!!