Saturday:
The Wednesday Jeep group had a potluck at Becky and Dennis’s on New Years Eve.
Many of the people were away for the holidays so it was a small group.
We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and everyone brought something to share. As a result we all ate to much.
After eating, we played cards until around 8:00.
Patti and I went home to watch the ball drop in New York at 10:00 mountain time. Shortly after that, we went to bed.
”Old Folks”
Sunday:
A Hard Rain.
It started raining about 2:00 am and rained hard until around 6:00am.
We hung around the RV reading and relaxing until around noon when we decided to take a ride over to see Denis and Sue to find out if we were going on a ride with them on Monday.
On the way to their place we came to a road block.
The road was flooded where it crosses the Tyson Wash.
We turned around and went to Main Street so we could get across the wash on the Main Street bridge.
Here is what the wash looked like as we crossed the bridge.
Remember, the wash is normally dry. This is from only about four hours of really hard rain.
We visited with Sue and Denis for a while and found out that Frank was going to lead us on a ride on the California side of the Colorado River. We planed to meet at the fire station at 9:30 Monday.
When we left their place we went to Jo Ann and Dave’s to let them know what was going on.
After a short visit we went to the gas station and topped of the jeep.
Monday:
The Ride.
We were all at the Fire Station by 9:30 and got on AZ 95 heading north for Parker, AZ.
We crossed the river and turned west on Hwy. 62.
We followed 62 to the inspection station at Videl Junction.
After going through the inspection station we headed north on
US 95.
We drove north for several miles and turned east on BLM trail
# 660.
We wouldn’t have even seen the turnoff if Frank and Lise weren’t really good with their GPS.
After pulling off the road we stopped to air down.
It was very cold out with a stiff breeze so we didn’t spend much time BS’ing.
As soon as the tires were aired down we got back in the jeeps.
We headed east into the desert.
There were lots of clouds hanging over the mountains.
One nice thing about driving in the desert after a rain is that there isn’t any dust. Although there were a few small puddles to navigate.
The down side to that is the jeeps get a little muddy.
The Gold Hill Mine.
Our first stop was at the Gold Hill Mine. This mine had some long ditches that looked like they were dug with a backhoe or an excavator. We walked around the area for a while and found a vertical shaft.
After a while we continued our ride.
Along the trail we stopped to check out another deep shaft. I don’t know what the name of this mine was.
We drove through a long wash with steep sides looking for a place to stop out of the wind to have lunch.
It was very cold and the wind was blowing down the wash so we didn’t stay to long after eating our lunch.
The Heritage Trail.
After lunch we continued through the wash…
and got onto the Heritage trail (BLM # 634).
The Gold Standard Mine.
We turned off the trail and drove up another wash and came to the Gold Standard mine.
There was some nice Crisocola in the ceiling of this tunnel.
This mine had a really nice tunnel that went into the mountain for about 500 feet.
There were a couple of side tunnels but they were partially blocked so we didn’t follow them.
Near the end of this tunnel is a air shaft that lets in light and a nice breeze
A geocache.
It turned out to be a geocache.
This was a fun mine to check out.
Another mine.
We stopped to check out another mine. I don’t know the name of this one. This mine had one vertical shaft and was covered over with an extremely strong steel cover. You could probably drive a bulldozer over this thing and not even bend it.
There were a lot of collapsed buildings and other junk around this mine as you can see in the background in this photo.
BLM Trail #679. The Parker to Needles Wagon Road.
After a while we got back on the trail. This trail is the Parker to Needles Wagon Road. In the old days this was the only way to get from Parker to Needles. I can’t imagine going over this trail in a horse drawn wagon. It must have been a hellish trip.
The American Eagle Mine.
Our next stop was the American Eagle Mine.
There was another deep vertical shaft here. At one time it was fenced off but the walls have since collapsed.
Here you can see the fencing and other lumber that has collapsed into the hole.
This mine appears to have been a rich Copper mine judging by the amount of Crisocola and other blue-green rock on the walls of this shaft.
The D&W Mine.
Our next stop was the D&W mine. This mine was different as it still had the superstructure that was used to raise the ore to the surface.
Usually these structures are gone and you have to try and visualize what they looked like.
The Twin Load Mine.
The next mine we came to was the Twin Load Mine.
This Mine also had a long tunnel that we explored.
Work for 80?
At the entrance of this tunnel some one had written “Work For 80” with spray paint. I have no idea what that means.
The tunnel went back about 100 feet. This was the only tunnel that Patti has gone into and she went all the way to the end.
At some time in the past there had been a door or a gate at the entrance to this tunnel but is is gone now.
You can see the light from the air shaft at the end of the tunnel in the above picture and the one below.
There were a lot of colorful seams in the rock at the end of the tunnel.
In the picture below you can just make out some red, yellow and black seams running together.
Heading home.
After this mine we headed for home; the weather was still cloudy and cold but no rain fell.
The Wagon Road ended at highway 62 about 7 miles west of Parker. We stopped to aired up here and headed for home.
It was a really fun ride and the tunnels were some of the best we have seen in a while.
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