Patti is on here way down to Algadones Mexico (the port of entry south of Yuma) with Suzanne and Roy to do a little shopping. Becky and Dennis are also going there so Dennis can get some dental work done. They are all planning to meet up with Debby and Mike at a casino just north of the border for lunch and a couple of hours of gambling. I stayed home to work on this blog. Only kidding. I didn’t want to go hang out in a casino.
We went to Yuma yesterday to get our eye glasses fixed and shop at Wall Mart.
On Sunday, we took a ride out to the mountains south of the little town of Brenda. I really like that area, it has several trails and some interesting mines to explore and the scenery is beautiful.
In the group were Missy, Junior, Cindy, David, Becky, Dennis, Suzanne, Roy Patti and I. We drove east on I-10 to the junction of I-10 and AZ 60. We followed 60 to the east a couple of miles and turned south on Ramsey Mine rd. We drove over the freeway and stopped at a parking area where Dennis and Roy unloaded there Rhino’s.
While they were unloading a powered parachute flew over very low.
I bet he has a great view from up there
After the Rhino’s were unloaded, we headed east for a about a mile on a trail that follows the freeway, then we turned south. We drove over several rocky hills and up some washes.
We turned right on a steep trail to check out an old mining area.
There were no shafts here, only open cuts. and bulldozer scrapes.
From there we continued along the main trail until we came to a wash going west. As we drove along the wash I noticed a side canyon to our left. I pulled off the trail and parked. The side canyon was too narrow to drive in,
so we followed it on foot until we came to a sheer wall where we could go no further.
We returned to the vehicles and continued our drive up the wash.
About 12:00 we decided to stop for lunch.
It has become a joke within the group that whenever we stop for lunch the Canadians generally park or setup in the middle of the road. Notice David’s blue jeep above. Every time they do this of course they have to ether move there rigs or there tables and chairs to let traffic go by. This time was no different. In less than ten minutes a group of vehicles came by and David had to move his jeep to let them pas. In there defense, I think that since much of Canada is sparsely populated, they can stop in the meddle of a road up there and not have any other vehicles come by for a day or two. Not so here in Arizona. There are so many people running around in the desert here that it is very likely that some one will come by while you are stopped. One good thing about that is, if you break down or get lost in this desert, there is a good chance some one will be along to help.
We followed this wash until I saw another mine area to our left.
This one has the deepest shaft that we have so far encountered. It is even deeper than the “big hole” in the Plomosa Mountains’
The view from here is interesting.
We left this mine and continued along the wash until we came to a very rough trail going up the side of a mountain.
We took turns going up the track. I went first, followed by Dennis
Then Junior, followed by David.
Cindy decided to walk up.
The last to come up was Roy and Suzanne.
At the top we entered a wide valley with a lot of evidence of mining activity. We drove by a couple of mines and up another very steep and rocky track. It was pretty rough and we spun the tires a lot getting up it. The only one to follow us was Roy in his Rhino. Missy walked up the trail and I told her that they could drive up another trail just to the south that wasn’t as steep or rocky. After about 15 minutes the rest of the group arrived and we drove over to the most interesting feature in the area. In the past some one had exposed a bunch of “Chrysocolla”.
We wandered around the area a little bit and then drove down the easier trail.
Missy and Cindy walked.
It was around 3:00 when we got back down to the wash and we couldn’t go much further up the wash because of a wilderness area boundary so we started for home. We drove over several rocky hills and across lots of gullies to complete the loop back to the parking area. It took us about an hour and even with the time it took to load the Rhino’s, we were back at the RV park by 4:30.
Around 5:00 we went with Suzanne, Roy, Becky, Dennis, and Debby, to Best Mexican restaurant for a fine dinner.
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