Sunday, March 2, 2008
5:48:00 PM EST
4-wheelin'...
We got up early yesterday and went 4-wheeling! Glen's family used to go out into the desert and mountain areas and picnic, camp or just relax by getting away from the city, on weekends. My siblings and I used to do the same with our grandparents. Just being outside, sun shining, breeze blowing...makes the stress of "life" just a little easier. Its easy to see how we are so insignificant when we are in nature.
Copper Creek is where we went to yesterday. It's east of Mammoth, AZ, in the Galiuro Mountains. The area we were looking for is private property (or so we thought), so we had to ask permission to access the gates. We arrived in Mammoth, and met the property owner, we had to sign a waiver, saying that we wouldn't disturb the cattle (its a working ranch), hunt, camp, or hold them liable if anything happened to us. It was a beautiful day...mid-60's, blue skies...
This is what is left of one of the mines. Copper Creek Mine was an acitve mine founded in 1880, copper was the dominant mineral, but silver and lead were also present. The town had about 500 people, 50 buildings, a doctor, post office, stage line and the Sibley mansion. We were actually looking for the mansion, as Glen has visited before, and could visualize it in his mind, but hadn't been back to the area in over 30 years.
Someone spray painted Save Copper Creek on the base of the building! Guess graffiti is everywhere these days!
This sign is faces the fence we had just entered. So there is no exit unless you have a key. The landowner was telling us that renegade miners/mining companies have been known to trespass illegally, even being choppered in, to drill on her land, and can stake a claim if they find anything. Not sure how it works, but someone can stake a claim on land that doesn't belong to them, if the landowner does not own the mineralrights...and most landowners do not own the mineral rights on their property! Isn't that crazy?? She told us that for yesterday, we should encounter no one, except maybe drillers, who did have permission to be there. Just getting to this point, the road was very rough, and we had already engaged the 4-wheel drive to get here.
Glen climbed up to see what was up there...a fenced off hole.
The lighter color dirt are actually mineral deposits from the mining operation. Even though this hasn't been a working mine for many, many years, its easy to see the irrepairable devastation it leaves on the environment! I'm not a tree hugger, but I think the mining companies should be required to "put things back" the way they found them.
The turquoise in the rock is chrysocolla, a hydrous copper silicate. This pic doesn't do it justice...the bright blue just pops! You can see plants growing out of the rock!
You can see a drilling operation on the bluff. By this time, we are 3 hours into our trip, and the only other people we have seen are 2 cowboys on horseback with about 10 hunting dogs. Turns out they were lion trackers! Yikes!
We got to the bottom of the canyon, and there was a nice stream of water. As I got closer to take pictures, I saw this waterfall and dam. It was so beautiful!! The water was nice and chilly.
All of the lighter color, that looks like rock, are actually the roots of a big giant cottonwood tree! It was massive...and the roots were exposed, probably due to flooding.
Glen is taking a coffee break! Yeah, he's packing, but you know, we live in a time where protecting oneself is absolutely necessary. When we first started hiking, I was uncomfortable with the gun, but with all the illegal activity in area, drugs and people smuggling, we really need to protect ourselves. We stay away from the border as much as possible, and prefer to hike north and east of Tucson.
We drove up behind the dam, and there was a really cool camping area, below
This tree is massive!! The area looks like it has been previously camped in, and we may just go back ourselves. Glen doesn't think I'm a camper-girl, and maybe I'm not, but I'd love to try it. We used to go with my grandparents all the time when we were young. We'd wake up in the morning to some warm water my tata would have so we could wash up and brush our teeth. There would be bacon and potatoes sizzling over the campfire, and he'd ask us how we wanted our eggs! I always slept in the camper though, and Glen is talking about sleeping under the stars!! What?? Ok, but I would like the option of going into the truck if I got scared!! Then there's the whole bathroom thing...
Finally came upon Childs and Atwilkle Mine. This is a bridge that goes between the mine and the road. The bridge is rickety and it fenced off.
I'll bet Indiana Jones wouldn't even attempt this!
Another bridge and loading chutes. By this time we're 5 hours into our trip and besides the lion hunters, we hadn't seen a soul since! Here we encountered 3 people, and they said there were 40 more behind them!! We finally met them at a wash, drinking beer, on ATV's (no helmets!).
There's gold (ok, copper) in them thar' hills!! We're on our way out, and I'm pointing to the Galiuro Mountains...can you believe we were in that mountain range??!! We never found the Sibley mansion, but the beauty of what we did find is forever etched in my mind.
You can see the mounainside dotted with the spring flowers that bloom from the winter rains. The whole area was a-bloomin'. In a couple of weeks, the colors will be intense, and will blanket the area.
Hope you enjoyed the trip with us! Talk soon...
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mpnaz58
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3/8/08 1:31 PM
Mik