Redefining The Desert

Webster's says;

Main Entry: desert
Pronunciation: de-z-rt
Function: noun
Results
1. arid land with usually sparse vegetation especially such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually.

b. an area of water apparently devoid of life
2. wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract
3. desolate or forbidding area

Holy smoke! We've had about five straight days of steady rain here, it sure doesn't fit the definition of "desert" we find in the dictionary.

Gila County Sheriff's deputies were going door to door out here, warning people that evacuation might be eminent due to the potential of heavy flooding in our area. It was a wild week, the rain didn't stop except for a brief time yesterday when the sun broke through just long enough to show us that it was still up there where it belongs. We were lucky to escape relatively unscathed, happily evacuation wasn't necessary, although we did have the Jeep loaded with things we might need to survive a few days away from home. There were times we did get a bit nervous, particularly when the "dry" wash behind our house began to flow like a small river, we've never seen water in it before. Pinto Creek, the larger wash near us is roaring along the way to the lake along with every other formerly dry wash and riverbed in the area.

We've had more rain in five days than Arizona normally gets in an entire year. The mountains have gotten record breaking snows in some areas and even some ski resorts are closed because there's too much snow!

Growlph, our picky little Schnauzer has to be forced to go outside, he despises getting his paws wet, the poor little guy prefers to hold his business rather than risk getting wet. He's been wet and dry so many times, we're sure he's going to mildew if the rain doesn't stop soon. Ah, there's nothing quite like the essence of a wet dog. (Eau de Schnauzer?)

Our electricity was out for a few hours on and off during the week and yesterday, we had no phone service outside of our small calling area..no internet...Egads! We managed to stay snug, dry and warm in front of our wood stove so all in all, we have no real complaints.

Many major roads are closed for various weather related reasons including some interstate highways in the northern part of the state. The Forest Service has closed quite a few back roads due to unsafe conditions. Anyhoo, it looks like our Jeeping may be put on hold at least for a while until the trails have dried out a bit.

The entire state has had its share of something, flooding, dust storms, hail, sleet, freezing rain, wind, blizzards, snow.... we can't help but wonder what's coming next...locusts? pestilence? famine?

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Here are some pictures we took this morning between the raindrops, it sure doesn't look deserty to us!

The Ray Mine

It's a beautiful day today, clear, cool and sunny. We decided to take a ride to an area we've passed before but never had driven through. It's a big circular route leaving from Globe and heading down to Superior and then across to Winkleman and back up to Globe. It's all paved highway, no backroading today.... about 90+ miles or so.
We've read about the Ray Mine being the second largest open pit copper mine in the state and wanted to see it first hand. Wow, what a gruesomely awesome sight it is! Huge doesn't begin to describe it, the photos can't show the true enormity and scope of the operation. Although we don't consider ourselves to be "tree huggers" or extreme environmentalists, we can't help but ponder what impact such an undertaking has on the environment, even the signs at the scenic overlook at the mine tell about sulfuric acid being used in the processing of copper ore. We watched as giant dump trucks crept back and forth dumping load afer load of mine tailings, leaving concentric mountains in place of the ones Mother Nature had previously put there. Yep, the world needs copper, lots of it and it's got to be mined somewhere...but.......sigh

The little dots in the center of this photo are giant dump trucks



A huge shovel and a $20,000 truck tire. (so the sign said) and a frustrated Schnauzer who wanted to piddle on the truck tire but couldn't because it was fenced off.

Mother Nature didn't intend for mountains to look like these

Thousands of feet deep into the open pit

Lots of copper is being hauled from this site

Jeeping The Pinal Mountains

Great Day! Yesterday we went Jeeping with some good folks from the Casa Grande 4-Wheelers Club, Bruce & Judy, Bill & Maureen, Russ & Jackie, as well as a cheerful Border Collie named Socks.

We headed out with no particular destination in mind except to explore some of the areas in the Pinal Mountains, south of the town of Globe. The Pinals offer a range of vastly differing scenery ranging from lush pine and Manazanita forests to desert plateaus thick with barrel cacti, creosote bushes and scrub. Altitudes were mostly high, some close to 8000 feet, offering gorgeous, sweeping views of the mountains surrounding us.

The roads were fairly good with the very notable exception of the trail leading from Pioneer Basin up to Pioneer Pass. We've always been told that this trail in particular could be a problem, especially in bad weather. Fortunately, the day was clear and sunny and the trail was dry. After taking a long, bumpy trail we came upon a house and an old mining camp. The lone resident, a "different" fellow, a true hermit lived there with only the company of his dog, many miles away from the nearest civilization. Bruce stopped to chat with him and ask about the road conditions ahead. I don't know what was said but just past his place the trail turned ugly. We had to make the choice of attempting it or turning back from whence we came. We decided to attempt it. Since we drive a mostly "stock" Jeep while the other three are built more for this kind of terrain, we were a bit concerned about whether we could make it through without any carnage to our Jeep, but our worries proved to be unfounded. Ralph's Jeep driving experience served him well, we made it through with only a relatively few groans, stiffled screams and gasps from me....good job Ralph!

It was nice meeting new people and making new friends with the same interests as ours'...to enjoy the scenic beauty the backroads of Arizona has to offer to fellow Jeepers.

Ready to hit the trail

There's the road far below





Sweeping views of the Pinals

Howdy folks!

Challenging to( say the least)

NOT a road well traveled!

Pioneer Basin

We were rewarded with this spectacular view