Finches and Cardinals and Quail, Oh My!

3/10/07

I'm sitting here at the computer and as I glance out the window, it's hard to pay attention to the monitor. Jean bought us a Gold Finch "Thistle Sock" and within a few minutes of hanging it in the tree, we've been inundated with Finches. (thanks Jean, now we've got more mouths to feed)! We enjoy putting seed and nectar out for the birds, they're so entertaining to watch. Last Spring, we had a Cardinal family who raised their young at our seed block....hmmm....makes me wonder if the Cardinal kids will grow up thinking all food comes in block form? Here are some pictures of of our critter visitors.

Jeepin' FR 225 & Fr 1078

3/3/07 

We did some good Jeepin' today with Jean & Larry. There's a road not far from home that Jean's been curious about so we set off on a nice ride. Along the way we stopped at a few curiosities to check them out. We've got no idea what the structure is that you'll see in the pictures. We've photographed similar structures before but nobody seems to know what it might have been used for. Nearby was a cave with water in it, it looked like a spring but it was hard to tell for sure. It possibly could have been a flooded mine, or a fresh spring coming from inside the mountain, it would be interesting to return to check it out wearing some hip-length waders.

At the end of FR 1078 we could see large open pit mining operation but we couldn't get close to it because the road became impassible. Larry went on ahead in Old Blue to see if it could be done...uh Larrrryyyy NOT a good idea. The road was really tippy, rocky and narrow and he had to find a way to turn around. Jean and I stayed at the bottom of the hill with our eyes closed and Ralph went up to watch the carnage .... fortunately there wasn't any, but Ralph said that was the closest to turning over as he's ever seen a vehicle. Whew, all turned out well, no Jeep flops. It was a great ride and now we have something to tease Larry about. (check out picture #13)

 

Bye Bye Blue Bird

Well, it's the end of The **Blue Bird Mine as we knew it. The Forest Service is doing a classic reclamation of the site. The old cabin is gone and soon, the adits to the mine shafts will be closed forever.

We were able to go today to watch the proceedings and bid the Blue Bird a fond good-bye.

The first hint that things were really proceeding was the road, it was like a super highway by comparison to what the road was like on previous visits. No more off-camber, tippy, stomach churning, seat grabbing, turns...the "pucker factor" has been eliminated. Bulldozers have been through and cleared the road to enable a 10 ton dump truck to have access. They've hauled in huge culvert-type metal pipes that are fitted with bars, these will be used to plug the mine adits, still allowing bats to enter and exit.

We thought it would be a sentimental touch to leave a bit of ourselves in the mine for future generations of would-be explorers so we put together a time capsule. In it we put a book of my poetry, a letter to whomever finds it, some current currency and coins, a newspaper and a few other assorted goodies....wonder if it'll ever be found...?

It's understandable to some extent to see why the government implements these changes, but on the other hand the mine tunnels themselves are rich in history and many of them have been around long enough to take on an almost natural appearance with stalagmites and stalactites beginning to form. The Blue Bird for example took on sparkling jewel-like reflections when the beams from our lights glanced over the faceted Azurite and Fluorite walls and ceilings.

We now have an old wooden chair from the Blue Bird sitting in our den, it was to have been hauled off too, we're lucky enough to have a piece of history.

The Forest Service will leave in place the ore conveyor as well as the ore chute for future explorers to marvel at. The mine's tunnels will be sitting, barred to entry so people will be left to speculate what it must be like deep within the dark and silent recesses.

Goodbye Blue Bird, Old Gal, Rest In Peace.

 

**To read previous journal entries about the Blue Bird Mine, click on the  "archives " link.

*** update:10/29/07

We just learned that the total cost for the Blue Bird destruction...errr..."reclamation" was $79,000. The cost of history lost...priceless.  

Looking for Pittsburg Mine

2/27/07

We didn't want to waste such a beautiful day, so we decided to take a local rancher's advice and see if we could find The Pittsburg Mine. It's located along the Tonto Creek and once hauled out Magnetite and Hematite along with some Gold. He told us that since the mines were in a ravine right along the creek, the ore was hauled up from the mine by a cable car device and said he thought the mines and cable were still visible. The rancher gave us directions which we didn't have any problems following but the road got a bit tippy and rocky so we only went part of the way to the mine, we'll return at a later date when we've got another Jeep to go along with us. Along the trail we found the remains of a small homestead, not much left but some broken glass, a few pottery shards and a covered well, along with parts of an old vehicle, probably 40s or 50s vintage.  The buildings were mostly gone, just some wood and rusty sheet metal. Behind the homestead in a sandy wash, we found paw prints and a huge hairball from a large cat, probably a Cougar.(I took a picture of the hairball too, but decided it would be bad taste to post the photo)  

It was a nice ride, nothing scary...yet.

 

You asked for it.....

Well, some of you have asked for pictures of us. (*you may be sorry) We've compiled an album of photos taken over the years in various locations.   

*Caution, these photos have been shown to cause nausea in laboratory animals.

 

 

 

 

 

After reviewing these photos, I'm reminded of the lyrics to an old song:

Side By Side

Well we ain't got a barrel of money...
We may look ragged and funny...
But we're travelin' on...
Singing our song...
Side by side.

Through all kinds of weather...
What if the sky should fall?
As long as we're together,
It doesn't matter at all.

So we ain't got a barrel of money...
We may look ragged and funny...
But we're travelin' on...
Singing our song...
Side by side.

Through all kinds of weather...
Drought, flood, rain and snow,
We will be together...
So it just don't matter at all...

Oh we ain't got a barrel of money...
We may look ragged and funny...
But we're travelin' on...
Singing our song...
Side by side.

Don't know what's comin' tomorrow...
maybe it's trouble and sorrow...
but we'll travel the road...
sharin' our load...
side by side.

Oh we ain't got a barrel of money...
We may look ragged and funny...
But we're travelin' on...
Singing our song...
Side by side.

When they've all had their quarrels and parted...
we'll be the same as we started...
just travlin' along singin' a song...
side by side.

Written by Harry Woods (1947) 

Richmond Basin Exploring

2/25/07

We've finally got some fantastic weather happening here in Arizona. Sunny and cool, perfect for exploring the backroads!

We went to Richmond Basin yesterday with Larry & Jean.The road is a great one for Jeeping, not too tippy, (well, maybe in a few places) some pretty good canyon drop-offs to keep us on our toes and gripping the seats. The views were spectacular.

So much mining took place in Richmond Basin, with huge operations beginning in the 1800s. The largest being the Silver King Mine. (A German prospector looking for gold traded his claims for a mule, the Silver King and Silver Nugget Mines turned out to be the most profitable silver mines ever worked)
In the book "History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888," By Hubert Howe Bancroft and Henry Lebbeus Oak, they wrote, "The Silver King lode differs from any other known, being a circular chimney of ore, with thousands of veins centring <sic> in it. The mine has a depth of over 800 feet, and though the ores are refractory, the production has been over $6,000,000. in silver". (this was in 1889 dollars)
Today, little remains of the camp which once employed up to 700 miners working the Silver King and surrounding mines. Standing on the mesa overlooking the Richmond Basin you can still see where the majority of workers and their families once lived. Vague remnants of structures and stone outlines are all that remains. Scattered throughout the Richmond Basin area are quite a few sample digs, deep, ominous looking vertical shafts, crumbling headframes, remnants of stamp mills, bridges, tailings, sample cores and roads that no longer lead anywhere.
There were several modern-day claim markers in the area, probably people still looking for gold as evidenced by the black sand piles we saw. There is silver ore imbedded in many of the tailings we found, but of course it wouldn't be profitable to try to recover it due to the high cost of silver reclamation and today's silver prices.

The Richmond Basin area would be an ideal spot to camp and take a few days to fully explore what's left. The scenery is some of the best we've seen in Arizona, mountain views, huge canyons and clean, crisp air.

Richmond Basin, 1st Visit.

2/19/07

Finally, the rain held off long enough for us to get out in the Jeep today ... whew ... we barely escaped contracting serious case of cabin fever.

We've been reading about Richmond Basin so we decided to check out the area. There are several old silver mines in the area and we knew we'd have to make several trips there to explore it fully. We weren't disappointed at all. The beautiful scenery combined with the great Jeep trails was worth the effort. The trail in was a gradual climb through a dry riverbed up into the mountains, nothing off camber or tippy. There were a few minor washouts from the recent rains, but all could be driven comfortably. There were quite a few different trails to take, but we stayed on just a couple of them, we'll go back and explore the others as soon as the weather stays nice for a few days. We'll see if we can locate on an old map the exact location of The Silver Nugget and Silver King Mines and then try to find whatever is left of them.

It was so good to be able to get out in the Jeep again. Even as I write this, it's raining again but the weather reports are calling for clearing. Somebody please remind the National Weather Service that this IS a desert!  Send us some sunshine please.