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Old 02-20-2009, 09:58 PM   #1
Manual Garcia O'Kely
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 96
Default Quartzsite/Quartzfest

Don't know if anyone went down this year. I did, but it turned out to be a bit of a mistake - I was improperly prepared by failing to ask good questions...like "are there any sort of toilets there" for which the answer is a resounding NO. Bummer.

A couple of the pay locations near the site have pit toilets but basically the federal lands are intended for the self-contained.

The camping is very ad-hoc - essentially it's a large open area and if you can drive to it, someone has probably camped on it. Fires are not a problem, although most people seem to go inside with darkness - these are the ones with large campers and many of whom live there all winter.

And boy, do some people get out of hand! I mean that in a good way for the most part. I saw one Amateur camp that had a portable room 2x bigger than their rig, which was not small either.

Roofs of large RV's completely covered with solar panels, several of the 400 watt wind generators as well.

The weather? It was awsome for the 3rd week in January, I got a tan, did some operating portable. I was solo since it was a radio trip.

The shopping was a mixed bag - I got one day of shopping in and did not get everywhere. Just south of 10. But it was interesting. I got a lot of good rocks for the XYL's projects, as requested.

So, provided you are willing and able to go self-contained, it's worth a trip at least once, although it's a dusty, tree less place. The stars were bright as a reading light.

Surprisingly, I saw no yayhoos, no loud drunks or brawls, no gunfire [THAT surprised me]. It's a pretty well contained place considering you are camping with about 200,000 of your best friends. Apparently they are going to have a WalMart not to far away next year.
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