Ajax and Beyond

Yesterday we headed out with a group of 4-Wheelers from the Casa Grande Club. Bruce & Judy, Bill & Maureen, Sue, Russ, Tom, Larry & Jean, Ralph & I, and of course, Growlph.
Although some of the Jeepers had been to the area outside of Superior, running through to Florence Junction, Ralph & I hadn't been there before so it was a new experience for us. Bruce headed the run since he was familiar with the trail but he wasn't expecting the changes that had occurred during the heavy rains we've had this winter. The trail was bumpy to say the least. Off camber and tippy in quite a few places, we found some of the dry washes with running water but none of the water presented a problem during the crossings. Our destination was the old Ajax Mine, a silver mine active on and off from 1915 to 1948. A minimal amount of gold and copper were also mined there. The mines are still there, along with the large concrete ore loader, an impressive structure. We could only imagine what it must have been like there when miners hauled truckloads of ore over the narrow, dangerous roads.
Since this is one of the first weekends we've had without rain, lots of people were on the trails, ATV's, dirt bikes and all kinds of four wheel drive vehicles shared the trails with us, making it interesting when we met someone going in the opposite direction on a narrow, high, one lane trail. Lots of careful maneuvering was required but the skilled Jeepers made it through with no carnage to report.
Bruce also took us to see the ancient petroglyphs carved in rock by the Hohokam Indians some as old as 2000 years ago. Archaeologists are still working to interpret their meanings.
To read more about the ancient Hohokam Indians, check this out:
History - Hohokam
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It was a good run, a beautiful day spent with fellow Jeepers, good people and good friends, nice!


The mountains outside of Superior


more views of the mountains


all six Jeeps taking a break

Stretching our legs and taking a break from the bumps

the impressive ore loader at Ajax Mine


a dangerous open vertical mine shaft at Ajax Mine

Growlph cooling his paws in the creek

The Ralph & The Growlph

Taking a break for lunch

Ancient Hohokam petroglyphs

...more petroglyphs

Then And Now...

We took a ride down the Apache Trail before the rains come again tomorrow. The trail was in unusually good condition having been recently bladed after the last rain storm closed the trail for a few days. Perhaps people from Phoenix and snowbirds had the same idea we did because the traffic on the trail was exceptionally heavy. There have been times we've had the entire route completely to ourselves but this time it appeared everyone from Canada, Michigan or Minnesota decided to enjoy the beautiful weather as well. It's entertaining to see people's expressions of terror as they descend Fish Creek Canyon with its sheer 900 foot drop offs just outside their car windows.
Back in the early 1900s until it burned in 1929, Fish Creek Lodge offered a resting place for road weary travelers. In his book "Images of America," (great little book, we highly recommend it) Richard L. Powers offers many old photographs of the lodge as it appeared through the years, fist with mule teams and horses parked outside, then in later years, automobiles and tour buses. There isn't much left to see at the old lodge site, just a few old crumbling foundations and lots of broken glass bottles. We speculated that it must have been a tradition for travelers to break bottles after they were finished with whatever contents the bottles held, at any rate, old glass littered the ground.
A few wild poppies were beginning to bloom giving us a glimpse of what should be one of the best wildflower seasons ever. Now, I guess we'll hunker down and wait until the next storm passes. Dry desert, yeah, right...

You can read more about the Apache Trail here:
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Apache Trail Arizona Map Attraction Guide AZ Tours

Tour buses lined up outside Fish Creek Lodge


The Superstition Mountains looming high above
with a wet weather waterfall running down the side of
the mountain.

View from the lodge

Fish Creek Canyon

Not much remains of the old Lodge