Valley of the Names, AZ

Yesterday we decided to go and visit friends that had camped out near Yuma, AZ. While staying here at our place for a few weeks they had told us about the “Valley of the Names”

part of "Valley of the Names"

It is very close to "Picacho State Recreation Area", on the banks of the Colorado River,

Rocky peaks near the Picacho State Recreation Area

a place that we had visited many years ago. 

We loved to visit the place but after more than 10 years after all-terrain vehicles used the access roads those are badly rutted and riddled with "washboard pattern" for miles. 

Rattling over the 18 miles (29 km) to the campground would have loosened every screw and bold in our vehicle.

camping in a wash

It was enough for us just to go those few miles to our friends place.

According to an article about this tourist attraction I found in the “Smithsonian Magazin”  (for the whole article and more photos click on the link) 

it reads :

'No one knows for sure how the markings began, although a common theory is that it all started when General George S. Patton set up Camp Young, the headquarters for the Desert Training Center, in the early 1940s. It was there that he prepared soldiers for battle as part of the North Africa campaigns of World War II, gearing them up for desert warfare.

Passing through today, there’s little evidence that this desert was once home to the world’s largest military installation, with its boundaries spreading like tentacles across Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. After the war, the military relinquished the land to the Department of the Interior, and today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the approximately 1.4 million acres of public land including what is now known as the Valley of the Names.'

Upon arrival our friends invited us on a quick tour in their 4-wheel driven all-terrain vehicles 

Inside in Dan's all-terrain vehicle

and off we went. They are much better in this uneven terrain than our van.

Today, the area they were talking about, "Valley of the Names", 

covers about 30 acres (about 12 hectares). 

Pam and Tim's vehicle

Everywhere people have used rocks,

 

bricks or painted pebbles and written names and dates in the desert sand. 

One section is dedicated to the memory of beloved pets. 

I am not sure if all of  this is for memory only. 

Some places looked more like a type of graveyard to me.

But it sure was quite a sight!

The valley is close the "Yuma Proving Grounds" which is a military training centre.

Aircraft V22 Ospreys

and close by a couple of US V22 Osprey air crafts seemed

 to traine "start and landing" in the desert. 

For sure they did kick up a lot of dust!

After our excursion we all sat down to enjoy each other’s company 

and in due time we were treated with a scrumptious lunch. 

Tim is serving up 

Cheeseburger with all the trimmings. 

Cheeseburger! Yummy.

What a wonderful afternoon among friends! 

Thank you guys!

German translation

____________________________________

Gestern besuchten wir unsere Freunde im "Tal der Namen".

Dies ist eine Touristenattraktion deren Ursprung sich bis vor die Zeit des zweiten Weltkriegs zurückverfolgt werden kann. Wahrscheinlich haben damals junge Soldaten , die hier im Training waren, ihre Namen und das Datum hinterlassen wollen im Falle das sie den Einsatz in Afrika nicht überleben sollten.

Mittlerweile ist diese Gegend bei jedermann populär der einen bleibenden Eindruck von sich und seinen Freunden oder Familienmitgliedern hinterlassen will. Mit Steinbrocken, bemalten Kieseln oder Pflastersteinen werden die Namen und Daten in den Wüstensand geschrieben. Einen Teil des 12 Hektar umfassenden Gebiets sind sogar geliebten Haustiere gewidmet.

Ob das alles nur der Erinnerung dient schien mir fraglich, denn manchmal sah es eher aus wie eine Art Friedhof.

Die Wüste rundum ist immer noch militärisches Übungsgebiet und wir sahen wie zwei Boing V22 Ospreys bei ihrem Start-und Landungstraining eine Menge Staub aufwirbelten.

Nach dem kurzen, erlebnisreichen Ausflug saßen wir noch eine Weile zusammen bei einem kühlen Bier serviert zu super leckeren Käsefrikadellen.  

Was für ein Tag! Vielen Dank an unser liebe Freunde!