Growler, AZ

Well, with a three blisters on my right foot, I was barely able to crank out 10,340 steps today, which was only 4.53 miles.  But, that's okay.  Things should improve soon and I will be back up to my 5.5 mile per day average again.  In the meantime, what can we see along the way? 

I crossed "Growler" on the map today.  Here's a Google ground-view of Growler.  Growler may have been a whistle stop on the old railroad.  It likely got its name from the Growler mountain range, near Ajo, AZ.  The Growler range was formed by folding and faulting, and the Growler valley runs adjacent to the range.  The Growler range, was named by "Frederick Wall who discovered and named Growler mine after John Growler, an early miner."  "Frederick Wall was a well-known prospector who had frequented the area of southern Arizona since at least 1874 (when Arizona was just a territory).  Virtually nothing is known about John Growler for whom the mine, pass, and mountains are named."  The Growler Mine, also known as the Copper Hill Group, was an intensely worked source of copper sulfied, as well as lead sulfide, silver, and gold lode.  The tallest peak in the Growler range is 3,235 feet.

I found a fun fact in history about the railroad along which I am walking.

With the proliferation of railroad building in the early 1870s, federal reports (funded by the railroads themselves) contended that even the building of railroads increased rainfall. These same reports predicted that with the planting of more trees transported to desert areas like Arizona by train, “We are of the opinion that inside of five years owing to these changes the thermometer will never have occasion to go above the 95 degree mark.”

It was 106 degrees today in Growler.

The Mohawk Valley

I walked another 5.14 miles in San Diego today, according to my fitbit.  On the mapped route to Washington D.C., that continues my "journey" along the northern edge of the Mohawk Valley, as you can see above.

"The Mohawk Valley is a valley in the lower regions of the western Gila River Valley in southwestern Arizona in the western Sonoran Desert" (Wikipedia).  (That's where I still am in my slow trek towards Phoenix on the map.) I've been searching for why the Mohawk Valley, the town of Mohawk, and the Mohawk range are named "Mohawk," since the Mohawk Indians are in New York.  What I've found so far is that Mohawk was established as a railroad station in 1877 at the Northern end of the Mohawk mountains.  A post office was established there on June 25th, 1890, by George W. Norton, the postmaster.  Before that, in 1864, someone named, "Poston," said of Mohawk, "Mohawk station with its misplaced name," so apparently he too felt the station was oddly named.  Mohawk Valley seems to be named for Mohawk, which seems to be named for the mountains.  The Mohawk Mountains were originally named "Cerro de San Pascual" by Anza on his 1774 expedition.  But, how they came to be called the "Mohawk" mountains is still a mystery to me.  Perhaps someone from New York, where the Mohawk tribe is, decided to name the mountains in Arizona the Mohawk range.

The Mohawk Valley along the Gila River proper contains the agricultural communities of Wellton, Noah, Roll, Tacna, and Mohawk. This river stretch of the valley is mostly east-west trending, and extends northeasterly upstream to the adjacent Hyder Valley; to the west the Gila River turns northwest through the Dome Valley which lies between the Gila Mountains and the Muggins Mountains Wilderness on the northeast. (Wikipedia)

The southern portion of the Mohawk Valley is an extensive plain extending south, and uphill towards Sonora, Mexico and the valley extends, on its eastern end, southwards, ending at the Tule Desert and the Sierra Pinta on the west; the eastern side of this southern stretch of the valley is bordered by the Mohawk and Bryan Mountains. (Wikipedia)

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If you were driving in your car in my neighborhood in San Diego, you probably wouldn't even have noticed this white agapantha.  Even if you were walking, as I was, you might not have noticed another every-day detail.  Do you see it?  Here, let me magnify it a bit. Do you see it now?

Yes, that's right, the bee.  "Oh...it's just a bee," you might say.  Well, actually, it's not "just" a bee, it is also a "pollinator."  Everything we eat depends on pollinators, even meat, because without pollinators, the plants that feed the animals we eat would not reproduce.

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The crops along the way in Arizona's Mohawk valley would not reproduce either.  Here's a list of all the agricultural products that come from the Mohawk valley: Alfalfa hay, barley, sorgum (for feed lots), wheat, bermuda (for grass seed), specialty seeds (such as lettuce, okra, onion, cauliflower,broccoli, and alfalfa), cotton, citrus, lettuce, melons, nuts, safflower,cattle, and sheep.  And all of them depend on pollinators for their survival, either directly or indirectly.

For over two decades, biologists have been concerned about the decline in pollinator populations, especially those that migrate across landscapes and between regions. These flyway habitats are threatened by destruction, degradation, and fragmentation due to land conversion, herbicides, pesticides, and exotic plant invasion. The nectar corridor that extends from southern Mexico north to the Intermountain West of the U.S. and Canada is of particular concern. Lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris curasoae), rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus), western white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica mearnsii), and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), and other migratory pollinators move seasonally along this corridor traveling between the tropics and their northern breeding/birthing grounds. These types of migrations have been termed "endangered natural phenomena." (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum)  

So, the pollinators are not only feeding us, but we are feeding (or killing) them because of the plants we choose to grow as crops, and how we manage the land and crops, particularly with the use of pesticides.  We are all interconnected.

Pollinators are "keystone species," linking the fate of many other species scattered over large landscapes. Continued conservation of these species will inevitably benefit overall regional and global biodiversity and the future well-being of humans. There is consensus among biologists that many migrant stopover sites have already been lost, migratory corridor habitats have been converted or fragmented, invasive plant species are out-competing native floral resources upon which these migrants depend, and many of the flowering plants these migrants visit are suffering low seed set due to pollen decline. The four species of pollinators that were the focus of this project are surrogates for the countless other migratory pollinator species that will survive only if we have a clear understanding of their biology and migrations and implement effective conservation plans. (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum) 

the

Across the Tracks in Tacna/Wellton

I walked 5.28 miles around my neighborhood today.  I have a sore hip and a blistered foot from yesterday's walk by the beach.  Apparently, walking on concrete with sand on it is more difficult than walking on a smooth surface.  But, enough complaining.  I signed up for this cruise and I'm going to enjoy it.

I spotted this flower in a neighbor's yard on my trip back from the grocery store.  I think it's a bromeliad, specifically an "aechmea fasciata," but I might be wrong.  Did you know that some bromeliads are edible?  In fact, I bet you've eaten one, because the most common bromeliad is the pineapple.  And who grows the most pineapples?  If you said "Hawaii," well, you would be wrong.  About 60 percent of the world's fresh pineapple exports come from Costa Rica, the Ivory Coast, and the Philippines...and you and I would both say, "I did not know that!"  Well now you and I both know.

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5.28 miles from where we left off yesterday in Arizona, on the mapped path to Washington D.C., the path comes to some railroad tracks.  The late 19th and early 20th centuries in Wellton and the surrounding areas are tied to the Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) railroad.  Founded in 1865 by a group of businessmen in San Francisco, the Southern Pacific was created as a rail line from San Francisco to San Diego. By 1883, the line extended all the way to New Orleans.  The best history I can find of the railroad in this area is on the  Elton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District website. (see below)

The Southern Pacific line was built easterly from Los Angeles, and reached the bank of the Colorado River opposite Yuma on April 29, 1877. After completion of a bridge over the Colorado, the first train entered Yuma on September 30 of that year.

After some delay, surveying and grading resumed, and the first rails were laid eastward from Yuma on November 18, 1878, requiring a workforce of 1300 men. Normal progress was one mile of track per day. This was slowed somewhat by rock excavation required in going around “Cape Horn”, a name given to the north end of the Gila Mountains near the present heading of the Wellton-Mohawk Canal.  (There is a fascinating history of the canal, well, and drainage system in this area.)

It is likely that surveying and grading crews came through the present site of Wellton (Railroad Mile 37 east of Yuma) in December, 1878, but not likely that rails reached the site of the town until some time in January, 1879. Elton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District website.

(1879 was also the year when Tombstone, Arizona, was founded.)  Tombstone is a historic western city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory  (This is in SE Arizona). It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. The town prospered from about 1877 to 1890, during which time the town's mines produced US$40 to $85 million in silver bullion, the largest productive silver district in Arizona. Its population grew from 100 to around 14,000 in less than seven years. It is best known as the site of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and now draws most of its revenue from tourism. (Wikipedia)

The original alignment of the railroad was in and along the valley of the Gila River from the old mining community of Dome, at the north end of the Gila Mountains, (on the old Butterfield Stage route) to the present site of Wellton. The flood of 1891 washed out several miles of this alignment, after which the railroad was moved to higher ground along the mountains and mesa, approximately in its present location. (Elton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District)

There was considerable difficulty with locomotive boiler scaling, caused by brackish water obtained from the shallow wells along the railroad right-of-way. In an attempt to get good water, several deep wells were drilled at one particular site. This location became known as “Well Town”, hence “Wellton”. A post office was established at Wellton on August 4, 1904.  (Elton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District)

Tacna, AZ

My 6.12 miles today put me on the map along the Mohawk Canal Rd, close to the intersection of E County 5th and S Ave 38 E (shown above) in Wellton, AZ.  Here's a street view of where I am. CLICK HERE  I think I am still in Wellton, but nearer to Tacna, AZ.

Tacna is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 555 at the 2000 census. (Wikipedia)  By the image of the sign shown to the right, the road to San Diego is 230 miles.  I guess I took the short-cut across Baja, so I've only walked 206 miles.

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I did my walking today from Mission Beach to Pacific Beach, San Diego.  You can see anything along the beach boardwalk.  Never-mind the numerous people walking their dogs, running their dogs, dogs pulling people on skateboards.....I saw a man with a black cat on a leash!  I saw a man on in-line skates, playing a portable electric guitar.  I saw a man juggling flaming yo-yos...no really!  I saw a cockatiel on a woman's shoulder who was saying "Hi!" to everyone who passed by.  It makes these photos of the Wave House and beach volleyball seem pretty mundane!

If you're coming to San Diego, you can stay at one of the many hotels in Mission Valley and drive to Mission Beach in minutes and access free parking (the cheaper option), or you can rent one of the many houses along the beach boardwalk, only steps away from the beach.  Of course, if you are right on the beach....you have to deal with beach people all day and night.  I like being able to leave the beach and go back to a quiet hotel.

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There's just not a lot to see our talk about in the area where I am on the map in Arizona.  However, not far Southeast of me is the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.  The visitor's center is 41 miles South of Gila Bend in Ajo, AZ, where they can give you more information and you can get road and wilderness permits.

There's lots to do around the Ajo region.  There are only 4 hotels in Ajo, so book early.  The La Siesta Hotel was said by a recent reviewer to be "the" place to stay in Ajo. Expect desert charm, not big city amenities.

Wildlife Observation & Photography:
The best times to see and photograph wildlife are early in the morning and late in the evening. For the best viewing, be patient and quiet. The historical El Camino Del Diablo and Charlie Bell roads are open to hiking. Be prepared for the refuge’s rough roads. Though watering holes are good places to watch wildlife, please do not linger as wildlife depend on them for their survival. For an easy nature fix, be sure to stop by the headquarters to enjoy the pollinator trail (and pollinators that use it!) complete with bird blinds and a pond.(Cabeza Prieta)

Interpretation and Education:
Learn about the Sonoran desert’s best kept secrets through interactive displays at the visitor center. Behind the visitor center, tour the interpretative pollinator trail complete with bird blinds and a desert pupfish pond. (Cabeza Prieta)

On the second Saturday of each month, enjoy a spectacular sunset and amazing view of the valley floor from the refuge’s auto tour to the top of Child’s Mountain. Contact the refuge to learn more about tours, programs and other ways you can enjoy Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.
(Cabeza Prieta)

Primitive Camping:
Visitors are encouraged to camp at one of the designated unimproved campgrounds. No reservations are necessary. Camping is limited to 14 days within any given 28-day period. No camping is allowed within ¼ mile of any game water source. You must bring your own wood as there is no gathering of local wood. Each site has a stationary table and grill and extra wood may be left at campsites.
(Cabeza Prieta)

Bicycles:
Bicycles are allowed on the public roads only, not off road or Government Use Only roads. (Cabeza Prieta)

If you're planning a trip on the El Camino Del Diablo, (route shown to the left) this is not a trip for the unprepared.  You will need permits for driving a 4x4 on this desert "road."  The "highway" has many grave markers next to it.  Don't become one of them.  Just be well prepared, and it could be a very memorable trip back in time.  Here's a good source for travel in this area.  CLICK HERE 

 

Welton, AZ

I walked another 5.29 miles, which brings me to just North of Wellton, AZ at S Ave 30E and on the service road by the Gila River.  Here's a Google ground-view of the dirt road where I am (lovely, isn't it?)  CLICK HERE.  It was 108 degrees today in Wellton.  I'm glad it was only 77 in San Diego today.

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I am thrilled to report that my friend, Katie,  has decided to join me on this "Walk Across America."  Today was her first day of walking and she passed me, walking 5.5 miles.  I'll have to catch up to her tomorrow.

You too can join us.  All you need to join us is a device to measure how many miles you walk each day (I am happy with my Fitbit Blaze), such as a Fitbit, Garmin, or even an app on your cell phone that you carry in your pocket.  Then email me your total mileage for the week, from Sunday, midnight, until the following Saturday, midnight.  You can email it to me on Sunday, even though that is also the beginning of the next walking week.  My email is bnice2meplease@yahoo.com.  Please don't spam me, or I will block you.  You can start, like Katie did, from any blogged current place on the map (you don't have to start over from San Diego, like I did).  Just tell me what your starting date is.  I will keep track of your weekly mileage totals as you report them to me each Sunday.  Our objective is to walk the distance from San Diego to Washington D.C., following

a track that I have mapped out, using Google maps, that is for someone hypothetically on foot (we couldn't walk on the freeway, now could we?).  If you walk an average of  5.5 miles every day, you should keep up with our pace, approximately.  I am fine with you walking 4.5 miles on some days and walking 6 miles or more miles on other days.  It is the average that is important.  As we get closer to Washington D.C. (We're only in Arizona, for goodness sake!), we  will adjust our pace so that anyone who is behind (like me!) can catch up.  I am hoping that others will join our little band to meet up in Washington D.C. to walk the final 5.5 miles.....which should be in October or November of 2017.

On my "real" walk today I walked from our home to the San Diego Zoo and back, which was 5.29 miles.  It was nice to see some old friends there.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is world famous, and for good reason.  It is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.  The zoo hosts more than 3,500 rare and endangered animals representing more than 650 species and subspecies; and more than 700,000 exotic plants. It is located just north of downtown San Diego in Balboa Park.

The Safari Park is another expansive wildlife sanctuary affiliated with the "zoo," that is home to more than 3,000 animals representing more than 300 species. Its renowned botanical collection represents 3,500 species and 1.75 million specimens. Over half of the Park’s 1,800 acres (730 hectares) have been set aside as protected native species habitat. It is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of downtown San Diego in the San Pasqual Valley near Escondido, California.

San Diego Zoo Global is the largest zoological membership association in the world, with more than 250,000 member households and 130,000 child memberships representing more than a half-million people. Members enjoy free admission to the Zoo and the Safari Park, a subscription to the magazine ZOONOOZ, and other benefits.  

Approximately 3.2 million people a year visit the San Diego Zoo, making it the most popular zoo in America.

We are members there and go often.  If you are a first-time visitor, and don't have much time, take the bus tour, because it will give you the grand tour and you won't have to walk up and down the canyon walks.  If you have a whole day to spend, you can easily see the whole zoo, just get a map and start out.  The entrance to the zoo is at the top of a canyon.  If you don't like huffing an puffing uphill, see everything on the top of the canyon first, walking either to the left or right of the entry to the children's zoo and reptiles to the left, or toward "Australia" to the right.  If you keep walking to the right, you will eventually end up in "Africa" and "Asia" where the elephants and other animals are.  Keep walking, staying on top of the canyon until you get all the way to the polar bears.  Then you can walk downhill, past the zebras, taking the wooden pathway to the left past the birds of prey, and finally down the hill to the leopard enclosures.  Then start up the the lower canyon to see the red panda and giant pandas, then after you exit the pandas, go to your left and you will see a moving walkway, just across from the concession stand.  Take that up the hill.  Or, you can take another moving walkway that is to the left of the concession stand (it's behind it in the trees) to go back up to the elephants again in the rear of the zoo. Use the moving walkways to your advantage so you don't have to walk uphill so many times.

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So, on the map on our virtual journey, we are now near Welton, AZ.  Welton is a small, agricultural town of about 3,000 residents.  But, during the Winter, the population nearly doubles due to the influx of "snowbirds" from the colder regions of the United States and Canada, filling the many trailer parks in town.

Here's a history of Wellton, AZ.
Wellton, founded in 1878 and incorporated in 1970, lies 29 miles east of Yuma. Wellton (originally Well Town) was named for the time water wells were drilled to service the Southern Pacific Railroad. Most areas were settled in the 1860’s as the need arose for stations to serve the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoaches. With the railroads eventually supplanting the stagecoach lines in the 1870’s, several communities were established (Tacna and Wellton) to provide water facilities for the old steam-powered engines. As the stagecoach gave way to the railroad, so the railroad gave way to the automobile. Though rail service is still maintained through Wellton-Mohawk Valley, the current economic livelihood is based on agriculture (Town of Wellton).


So, what can you do around Welton?  The Town of Wellton website describes a number of activities.

Butterfield Park

Attractions in and around the Wellton area include the Pioneer Museum (North of Phoenix), Tina’s Atlas, Desert Hot Springs, Baker Tanks, and El Camino del Diablo. We also host the Butterfield golf course. It is a beautiful 18-hole, Par 3 course with a variety of passes, a driving range, and rentals. We also have the Butterfield park for family picnics and fun.


For the outdoors person, Wellton hosts hundreds of dove hunters during hunting season and the rock hounds love our desert surroundings.  Every year we host many events. The YRMC Wellton-Mohawk Tractor Rodeo is always a delight as well as the Pioneer Day Parade & Fiesta. The Parade & Fiesta has a BBQ, games, arts & crafts, a golf tournament, entertainment and a carnival.
 
Being so close to the Yuma and the Mexican border, Wellton is just a short drive to shopping, movie theaters, and excellent dining (Town of Wellton).

Ligurta, AZ

Well, I walked another 5.2 miles today.  It was a bit painful, because of a minor hip injury, but I got it done.  On the ground, I walked around my neighborhood and made 2 laps around both floors at IKEA, where it was air conditioned.  But, on the map, on the virtual route, I was on a dirt road just above the map pin above, and it was 105 degrees out there today.  You can see the kind of dirt road, next to farm land, that the route has me on right now CLICK HERE.

That puts me just a bit North of the town of Ligurta, AZ.  Ligurta, (also known as Gila City), is a tiny unincorporated town in Yuma County East of Yuma.  It doesn't have a lot in it, but it does have near it an American-style breakfast and lunch restaurant called Ligurta Station, (which is actually in the town of Wellton).  They can be found at 19702 E Highway 80, Wellton, AZ.  Here's the Facebook page for Ligurta Station restaurant.

The reviews on TripAdvisor  and on Yelp seem to be all positive for Ligurta Station Restaurant, noting their friendly service and good food.  But, one reviewer said that if you're driving there, be careful of the 45mph speed limit, because, apparently, the Yuma County Sheriff hands out a lot of tickets there.

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While I'm headed through the agricultural Gila River valley, on the way to Phoenix, we can take a little more time to take a look at transgender issues in the schools in Arizona.

Recently, the Arizona schools chief, Diane Douglas, blasted Obama's school transgender guidelines. “This directive is yet another example of federal overreach negatively impacting our state’s schools," Douglas said in a statement (AZ Central).  To counter the Obama administration's directive, "Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has filed suit against the federal government over President Barack Obama's directive asking public schools to allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity...." (AZ Central) "Arizona joins Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the legal challenge, and other states, including Alabama, Georgia and Utah. (Ken Paxton is facing his own legal problems right now, as he is currently under state and federal indictments).  The legal action, aimed at the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, seeks to block implementation of the president's directive" (AZ Central).

In a prepared statement, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the president "has no business setting locker room and restroom policies for our schools.''

"Deciding how to protect our children and preserve their privacy, while balancing these complicated issues, is best done locally and not by some one-size-fits-all decree from Washington,” he said.  (AZ Central).

However, the Obama administration's directives are consistent with the most recent Fourth Circuit Court rulings that affirm that a transgender student should being able to use the facilities that correspond with their gender identity.  The department has said that requiring transgender students to use a bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex amounts to a violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The court agreed with the government's viewpoint that one's "gender identity" is tantamount to one's sex.  What Mark Brnovich calls a "one-size-fits-all decree from Washington" by the Obama administration, was just a directive that was consistent with the appellate court ruling.  Apparently, Brnovich doesn't think that Title IX applies to schools in the state of Arizona.

Brnovich has the backing of state schools chief Diane Douglas who had previously blasted the administration's announcement.

"When Arizona students attend school, they deserve a safe environment that is free from bullying and discrimination, regardless of their gender identity,” she said in her own statement.

"I know that our districts and schools have policies in place to ensure that is the case,” she continued. "The fact that the federal government has yet again decided that it knows what is best for every one of our local communities is insulting and, quite frankly intolerable.” (Tucson)

Interestingly enough, state laws on bullying do not, in fact, specifically reference gender identity.

In 2014, AZ SB 1188 would have amended existing law to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its proscription against bullying in schools.  However, it did not pass.

The bill would have required school districts to prescribe and enforce policies and procedures to prohibit pupils from harassing, intimidating, and bullying other pupils, including harassing, intimidating, and bullying other pupils based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,on school grounds, on school property, on school buses, at school bus stops, at school‑sponsored events and activities, and through the use of electronic technology or electronic communication on school computers, networks, forums, and mailing lists. (Legislative Tracker)

It appears at this date that in Arizona there are two laws that pertain to bullying in schools:
Arizona Revised Statute:

• 15.02301 Against hazing, and
• 15.341 General Powers and Duties; Immunity; Delegation

Although 15.341 generally prohibits "harassment, intimidation or bullying," there is no reference to anything specifically about gender identity.  So, theoretically, if a male-to-female trans student goes into the ladies restroom, and a "cisgender" girl tells her to "get out, you're a man!" this would be allowed under Arizona's current school policy.  In fact, given the statements of Diane Douglas and Mark Brnovich, dis-affirming the gender identity of transgender students would be encouraged!

Despite Diane Douglas and Mark Brnovich's viewpoint that local authorities should be able to determine what rules should and should not apply to transgender students, the Justice Department and the 4th District Court disagree with their viewpoint.  It appears that this may have to be settled by the SCOTUS.

Both the rights of transgender students to use the facilities that correspond with their gender identity, and the right to privacy of other students could be upheld by privacy shower stalls (that could be installed) and privacy bathroom stalls (that already exist).  It's simply an added expense that may be necessary in order to comply with the law.

Prove it!

I walked 5.29 miles today, nearly catching up with my location on the blog, due to the rounding error. I can pick up the .22 additional miles tomorrow, no sweat.  So, here I am again, basically, just having crossed the Gila River.

The only place of note near my location today is the Yuma Proving Ground, just North of me a few miles.  The Army conducts tests on medium and long range artillery, aircraft target acquisition equipment and armament, armored and wheeled vehicles, and a variety of munitions.  (I don't think I want to walk there!)  The Proving Ground base is spread over 3,400 square kilometers and across two counties – Yuma and La Paz.

In a typical year, over 500,000 artillery, mortar and missile rounds are fired, 36,000 parachute drops take place, 200,000 miles (320,000 km) are driven on military vehicles, and over 4000 air sorties are flown from the proving ground’s Laguna Army Airfield. Though about 90 percent of the proving ground's workload is devoted to the test and evaluation of weapon systems and munitions, training activities are important. Dozens of units visit the proving ground each year for realistic desert training, especially before deploying overseas.