On Our Way.
Got up around 5:45 and worked on the blog. Once that was done I went to the Hotel Atrium for their buffet breakfast. It wasn’t bad; they had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, fruit, oatmeal, coffee, tea and juice. Not to bad for a free breakfast.
At 8:45 we left the hotel and drove north out of Oro Valley. We met Lillie and Tom near their place and continued north to highway 77. We turned northeast on 77 and drove to the town of Mammoth.
Here we topped off and headed east into the mountains.
We stop to air down.
We drove about a mile and had to stop and sign in (controlled access).
Once we were signed in we headed out the dusty trail.
Lots of nice scenery along the way.
This kind of reminded us of the Castle Dome near Quartzsite.
Eventually the wide road became a smaller trail as it wound through the mountains and Saguaro forest.
Cottonwood Canyon.
We drove down into a very nice canyon with a live stream and lots of Cottonwood trees.
The trees are in their fall colors.
This it the first creek crossing. You can’t see the water as it is behind the first bump in the trail.
We stopped here in the shade for a break. Here you can see the small creek.
After the break we continued out the trail.
Cactus.
Patti got a picture of this Century plant. She thought it looked like a starburst.
We also saw a rare Crested Saguaro.
Lots of Trails.
Once we got back in the mountains we could see trails going every where.
We drove up this trail to a dead end.
That rock up there had a nice seam of Chrysocola.
We turned around and headed back. I didn’t notice these settling ponds on the way up.
Mining Areas.
There are lots of mines back in this country. Here we are driving past a huge tailing pile.
A little further down the trail we came to this mine. It looks like they were getting material from up the steep mountain and loading it by the creek notice the bridge they put across the creek.
Moving Along and Graffiti.
After spending a few minutes checking things out here, we continued along the trail.
We saw several places where people have written on the rocks along the trail.
I’m not sure what this means.
Lunch.
It was very cold today with a strong north wind. We needed to find a sheltered place for lunch. We drove down into this canyon…
and crossed another creek.
We continued along until we found a spot where the wind was a little less and stopped for lunch.
While we were there we were bussed by a large military jet plane.
A Silted in Dam.
We had our lunch at the end of the trail. After lunch we turned around and headed back and turned off on another trail. We passed this old dam on the creek.
There was no pond behind the dam as it was all silted in.
Farther down the trail Patti got a picture of this bent tree in fall colors.
More Mining.
As we drove along we came to this mining area. We noticed this crack in the mountain where the miners dug out a seam of ore.
In the bottom of the canyon we could see this abandoned building. I think it must have had something to do with the operation of the mine. I don’t think any one would build a house in the bottom of a wash.
More Cactus.
As we were leaving this area we noticed these Pin Cushion Cactus.
A little further along, Patti spotted this Century plant just starting to sent up its stalk.
Mining Stuff Every Where.
As we drove along it felt like everywhere we looked we saw evidence of mining.
Holes blasted in the hill side.
Tailing Piles and concrete structures.
Locked Gate.
We drove past the above Tailing pile. The map we had said that the route went this way.
We came to a sign that said…
Of course, we being the intrepid explorers we are, we ignored the sign and continued out the road. After about a mile and a half we came to the Locked gate.
I guess we will have to go out the way we came in. I think the state did this so you can’t make a loop through the mountains. You have to come out the way you came in so you can sign out on their list.
Here we are on the way out.
Going Home.
On the way home we stopped at Bubb’s Grub a Barbeque place for dinner. The ribs were really good.
Okay that was our ride for Tuesday.
On Wednesday we are going to do The Charouleau Gap Trail.
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