Havasu Spaceship or Leaping Lizards?

By Bobbi Holmes

                As I write this I am at our office on McCulloch Blvd, waiting for the start of the annual London Bridge Parade. But, the parade is not the only annual Havasu event slated for today, tonight is the lighting of Cupcake Mountain.  That’s where the Leaping Lizards Rock Climbing group makes a trek up Cupcake Mountain, and lights its ridge with flares.
                Some of you may not know of this annual event…and when I first learned of it…well….I suppose you could say it was a little embarrassing…for me.
                Cupcake Mountain (which resembles a cupcake) is located on the California side of Lake Havasu.  You can see it clearly when you look southwest from Lake Havasu City. 
                I grew up at the old Road’s End Camp (aka Havasu Palms), located 6 miles south of Lake Havasu City, on the California side of the lake.  From there, Cupcake Mountain was located behind us.
                When I was a teenager there was no lighting of Cupcake.  That was a tradition that began after I moved away from Havasu, before our return.  When my family (my husband, two children and myself) moved back to Havasu we were living at Havasu Palms.  I had never heard about the annual climb.
                It was October of 1991.  We were managing Havasu Palms, and the Road’s End Restaurant (located at Havasu Palms) was closing for the season after that weekend. It was probably around 9 p.m., and I was driving up the dirt road from the Havasu Palms Store to the Road’s End Restaurant.  In the backdrop was Cupcake Mountain.
                Now, before I proceed with my story, you need to understand how remote we were at Havasu Palms.  The closest community is Parker Dam, some 12 miles away, over dirt road, and through washes and switchbacks.  Basically, we were situated in the middle of a remote desert wilderness, and Lake Havasu City was across the lake.
                As I drove up the road, my husband and daughter drove up beside me, and pointed in the direction of Cupcake.  There I saw a crescent shaped series of lights rise slowly over the ridge and hover there. What did it look like?  Like a space ship.  You know, those  kind in the science fiction movies, round with lights along the ship’s perimeter.
                People often wonder what they do….."what if"….How would they react in certain bizarre and unexpected circumstances, and of course, unless that circumstance actually happened, they can only guess.
                Well folks…WHAT IF a space ship flew to your backyard….how would YOU react?  I know how I would react (this is where the embarrassing part comes in) because for a few moments, I thought…I believed…I was pretty darn sure that thing was a space ship!
                After all, in those split seconds, it never entered my mind that a bunch of crazy hikers would climb some mountain in the dark, in some very isolated and out of the way place, and take the time to all hold up flares.  Who thinks stuff like that???
                Nope, for me, it those few seconds, it was a space ship. And I wasn’t terrified (which now that I have thought about it would have been the appropriate response) but rather excited.
                I sped up, beating my husband to the restaurant, jumped out of my vehicle, ran to the front door, threw it opened, and yelled into the dining room for everyone to come see. (Fortunately I did NOT announce there was a space ship in the back yard.)
                The first one who made it outside was our bartender, who nonchalantly glanced up to Cupcake and shrugged as she mumbled something about the Leaping Lizards.
                Huhh??????
                That folks was my brief encounter with a flying saucer, and my introduction to the lighting of Cupcake.

Bobbi Holmes, October 27, 2007