"Dirty Harry's" Campsite

  This day found my brother and I at Kingman Wash, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead.  We dive here frequently because of the easy get in and gradual slope.  This makes Kingman Wash a great place to take new or vacation type divers.  It's an interesting area because of the underwater topography and a small, fairly deep side cove with large boulders and decent walls.  There's actually a lot to see, especially when visibility opens up during the winter months.  We dropped to 100 feet and slowly made our way back into the shallows.  As we climbed back up the slope, we spotted something large just about twenty feet from us. 

  As my brother and I swam closer, things became somewhat creepy!  Here's why; There it was directly in front of us and at first, we still weren't exactly sure just what it was.  The way it hung vertically suspended off the bottom, it looked very much like a body with it's arms spread , covered in some kind of tarp!  We looked at each other briefly hovering, wondering what to do next!  Of course we had to find out and that's just what we did.  With courage now gathered, we crept closer and closer....until there we were right next to the "Phantom"!  Mike cut open the tarp and it was with much trepidation that I timidly poked my hand through the opening.  I felt something big and squishy!  My hand recoiled almost involuntarily!  I thought to myself, "Quit being a baby!"  Once again, I reached back in.

  I grabbed what felt like cloth and pulled it out.  It was a sleeping bag!  Thankfully, it was empty.  What we'd originally thought might be a body covered by a large tarp was actually a large tent!  It appeared to either have been a washed out campsite or may have fallen off of a boat.  As we dug around inside the tent, out popped a laundry basket and several pieces of clothing including some very sexy purple panties!  This was obviously a campsite for two and the birth control pills and two toothbrushes attested to that.  Over several dives, my brother and I thoroughly explored this site.  Among our other findings were 2 tin cups and a coffee pot, a cooler, more clothing, a large flashlight, and a 3-57 Magnum Black Hawk Ruger in a heavy leather holster with art work on the stock.  It was very similar (at least to me) to the gun that Clint Eastwood used in the Dirty Harry movies and it was loaded with armor piercing hollow point bullets! 

  We found this out when we turned the gun into the police.  My thought was "What if it was involved in a crime?"  And so off we headed to the station.  After turning the gun in and taking down our identification/information, the officer told us that the gun probably was not involved in any criminal activity.  He said this because the gun was holstered, still loaded and the cereal number hadn't been filed off.  I asked if we could have the gun back if it came back clear.  We were informed that it was no longer their policy to return weapons of any kind once they'd been turned in.  The gun would probably be melted down and used to make razor blades.  That was that.....or so we thought! 

  Returning to the tent site, my brother and I cleared the rest of the area.  We loaded our gear bags with what ever else we could find and then sent them up with lift bags.  This included several blankets, and various different pieces of small camping equipment, nothing more of any real value.  Most of the stuff that could be was salvaged, cleaned up and donated to Goodwill.  Just about a week later, my brother found out through a friend that the gun was worth between fifteen hundred and three thousand dollars!  His friend knew a gun collector who was a former police officer.  He would've run the numbers through colleagues still on the force.  If the gun came back clean (it did), he would've bought it right then and there.  It hadn't been submerged long and all the gun needed was a good cleaning and it would once again fire.  Apparently guns hold their worth very well and anything with artwork on it becomes even more valuable!  No wonder the police officer had a big smile on his face when I stupidly turned in my find!  What an expensive lesson to learn.  I'm getting smarter by the dive and at least we took pictures!

Headhunters and a "new" mystery

  Out here, you always have to watch out for personal water craft users.  They definitely won't be looking out for you!  While dangerous and at times incredibly frustrating, here's one time that surface traffic actually helped my brother and I to "stumble" right onto a "new" wreck.  When we went in, the headhunters (jet skiers) were nowhere near us.  As we neared our get out point (original point of entry), even with our Dive Flag prominently displayed, they arrived directly above us!  We were forced into deeper water, descending to get to the foot of one of the cliffs where my brother and I would then slowly ascend within inches of the rock's face!

  Because we were pushed off of were we'd originally intended to end our dive, we swam right over her.  My brother spotted her first and signaled me to stay where I was as he dropped below to investigate.  There I hung on the flag line, watching as he quickly took stock of what would become our next adventure.  We headed back up and were actually glad that we'd been forced to alter our dive plan and yes we would eventually return!

  After just about 2 months and 10 more dives, we finally were able to relocate our latest mystery boat.  In this stretch of the mighty Colorado, the river rises and falls according to the needs of it's surrounding population.  This means that what's found on any given dive out here could be in a different location to you on the next because of the possibility of depth change.  This change can be as much as ten to twenty feet.  We'd forgotten to take that into account.  Anyway, we found her again and were ready to explore!  When we got to her, my brother tied off our line and worked the wreck which lay capsized, scraping mussels, searching in vain for some sort of identification or registration tag.  I worked the large section of dock which she was still moored to.  This was a significantly sized, rectangle shaped walkway with a line leading straight to the vessel. 

  After digging out the shape of the dock, I scraped silt off the top, getting to the original surface.  This was all done in zero to very little visibility once my brother and I started working the site.  As we worked our areas, juvenile Catfish and Bluegills started to pour out from beneath the upturned craft!  They couldn't see either and  I could feel them bumping into me in their frenzy to escape! Several times I raised above the expansive mud cloud which now covered the site in it's entirety.  This to keep an eye on my brother as he did the same for me. 

  With the expanse of dock now defined, I joined my brother on the wreck.  I found a spot on the gunwale were I could look beneath and into the upside down boat.  Reaching into it's underside up to my shoulders, I saw nothing but darkness.  Feeling around, the result was the same and I found nothing.  With the both of us now shivering in the 56 degree water, it was now time to leave.  This latest wreck demands definitive exploration and oh yes....we'll be back! 

Laws vary by location but typically state that personal watercraft users must stay at least 100 feet away in rivers/channels/inlets and at least 300 feet away in open water.  On a personal note; Everyone has the right to use and enjoy our parks and waterways but it is also each person's responsibility to know the laws in the area in which you choose to recreate.  Just please remember, when you see this flag there are divers in the water.  After all we are all out there to have a good time, we just have to remember to keep one another in mind when we do so. 

The Chuckwalla Dive

  This little dive really turned into an oddly culinarical adventure.  Read on and you will soon understand why.  The fish were all over the place in the shallows and most of my dive was spent in swimming around with them as my brother explored a bit lower, searching the murky depths.  He found a black hills gold ring, 20 dollars and a big fat Chuckwalla that'd apparently fallen from the cliff face just above us, landing right into our dinner pot.  This may sound gruesome but if they were good enough for the natives out here then why not?!  Besides, the lizard was fresh and just about a foot long.  Shortly he was bagged and put on ice in our cooler right next to the sodas.  This gastronomic adventure was quite interesting; boil, slice, gut, peel, fry and finally......eat!  What the Hell were we thinking?!

  Chuck (lizard) softened up quite nicely in the pot and my brother did the cooking.  I watched as he slit the little beast from throat to butt, right down the middle.  It was quite a sight indeed and the entrails were really interesting to look at and poke around.  Inside the stomach, there were tiny yellow flowers.  I've never seen a Chuckwalla from the inside out.  Well, now I have and the air bladders on it's sides were pretty big, stretching all the way down the entire length of his body except of course for the tail.  With the gutting done, my brother peeled back his belly skin and fried him up. 

  The smoke and odor weren't all that pleasant and it definitely smelled like raw, dead meat.  The longer Chuck (the lizard, remember?) fried , the more tolerable the atmosphere became as the smoke and now cooking lizard blended.  Soon we peeled off the tough skin and dug in.  It was sort of weird at first and up until that point, I'd never peeled a lizard before!  The meat was tough and chewy but not all that disagreeable.  It tasted somewhat like fish blended with chicken and you'd have to bag three or four of them to make a substantial meal but it was well worth it!  I've always wondered what Chuckwallas tasted like anyway! 

 

Sturgeon Virgins

  If not for my girl, I would never have gotten this awesome opportunity.  She's got the connection and that's how we got to do this really cool, trying and fun dive!  She wanted me in as a back up and comfort for her in case she needed help.  Although she had some trouble and had to get out for a while, she continued the dive after relaxing and calming herself a little.  I'm so proud of her because it was a somewhat difficult dive even for me.   With all the extra gear and the fact that the both of us were slightly underweight, it was a real workout!  Oh yeah, and a very large Sturgeon!  The big fish bumped me in the face with her snout!  Then as she made another pass, knocked me on the other side of my head with her tail fin!  As weird as this may sound, I thought this was incredibly cool! 

  My girl did very well with the Sturgeon also.  I watched as it swam right by and under her several times.  This fish is bigger then she is so I was thrilled to see her stay in the water!  As I said before, she did great!  Two friends came by to watch us dive and it was great to see them there.  They really helped my girlfriend by talking with her when she was out of the tank for that little while. 

  Towards the dive's end I dropped a five pound weight.  While my girlfriend got out and geared down, I stayed in to find it.  I looked for about ten minutes before my friend finally pointed it out to me right in front of the main window which I'd searched past twice already.  My friends were a big help and I know I already said this before but I was really proud of my hot diver girlfriend (yes they really do exist)!  By the way, the Sturgeon was about six feet long, weighed one hundred thirty pounds and was very curious!  How about that.......No longer Sturgeon Virgins!