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That March afternoon I sat under a blooming paloverde tree beside the Painted Desert Trail and laconically watched a pair of hummingbirds ignoring the peace of the place with their furious territorial fighting.

During lunch at Martinez Lake Resort, the waitress said, no, she didn't know it was Saint Patrick's Day, but she knew Ireland was an island. No corned beef and cabbage was on the menu. No one was singing "Danny Boy." No wearin' of the green.

Martinez Lake, on the lower Colorado River 38 miles north of Yuma, is so "out of it" Saint Patrick's Day might be overlooked even if Guinness built a brewery there.

Mostly the locals are preoccupied with watching small-screen football and catching king-size flathead catfish. Many have never heard of the Painted Desert Trail.

The exception is Smokey Knowlton, Colorado River tour guide and Martinez Lake resident for 50 years, who said, "Well, I've never been there, but I know where it's at. It's out on the refuge."

The refuge Smokey referred to is the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, and he is right. The Painted Desert Trailhead is about six miles from Martinez Lake off the Red Cloud Mine Road. A spring or fall hike there rates okay on the comfort scale; winter's ideal. In summer, you'd need a 50-pound block of ice on your back to cool and protect you.

After 10 years of hiking the trail, I thought I was the only biped aware of it. But last winter, I ran into three people benefiting from its discovery: two Canadians and one Australian.

Aussies, when they're not in the pubs, love to walk. He wore what Australians call "Japanese riding boots." They're thongs! Hardly proper footwear in a locale where most plants have thorns and some of the animals (like rattlesnakes, scorpions, and spiders), the poisonous equivalent.

Elizabeth Levy, the refuge's resource assistant, says Painted Desert Trail wildlife quickly run away from humans. There's a bighorn sheep that allows only rare glimpses of itself.

Photographer Robert Campbell says the most massive desert mule deer buck he has ever seen is a resident, but it always bounds away before he can snap it.

TWILIGHT TREKKING GETS YOU THAT 'WILDERNESS FEELING' ON THE PAINTED DESERT TRAIL

Herb Sweikart, retired automobile troubleshooter, traded 10second stares with a coyote.

I do double takes at wild burros, but they're usually gone in a second.

On the other hand, Smokey Knowlton, an Arizona trekker, having been motivated to hike the trail, reported a jackrabbit became so infatuated with his legs, he finally had to fake a kick at it to make it go away.

As the gold light of sunset spread across the 30-million-year-old maroonand buff-colored hills, one of the Canadians hastened to put a likeness of them on watercolor paper.

"How did you find this place?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she replied. "But we come back every year to test our homing abilities."

Despite being wedged between motor-oriented water recreationists on the Colorado River and the distant dampened "booms" triggered by the military on the Yuma Proving Ground to the southeast, the Painted Desert Trail has a "wilderness feel that lures you back." Everything is compacted into one mile: scenery, flora, fauna, and fresh air.

There you can think Extensive Appreciation rather than how to make crawling look dignified. You'll savor it more if you're crepuscular. Look it up!

But watch out for Smokey's jackrabbit.

WHEN YOU GO

From Yuma take U.S. Route 95 north approximately 26 miles to the Martinez Lake/Imperial National Wildlife Refuge turn-off (the first road past the big howitzers at the Yuma Proving Ground's entrance).

From Phoenix, go west on Interstate 10 to U.S. 95, then south to the Martinez Lake turn-off; from Phoenix or Tucson via Interstate 8, save at least 30 miles by cutting across Dome Valley to U.S. 95.

The drive out to the refuge is about three miles on a maintained road; to the Painted Desert Trail, another two or three miles on a single lane, often unmaintained desert road. Go slowly to avoid damage to your car's frame. Guides are available at the trailhead, but stop first at refuge headquarters, which has numerous free pamphlets on the area.

Meals are available at Martinez Lake Resort and at nearby Fisher's Landing, and rustic lodging can be had at the former.

For more information, telephone the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, (602) 783-3371.