What a nice way to spend Christmas Day.

12/26/06

We spent a very nice Christmas Day. In the morning we puttered around the house and then as the day warmed up, we went Jeeping with Larry and Jean. We decided to make it a short jaunt since we were fairly tired from the day before and our hike to the Salado cliff dwellings. We had previously found a neat road that traveled through the desert on a pretty good, although seldom used Jeep Trail. We first stopped at a small stone structure, speculating on what it might have been used for. Reaching no conclusion, we drove on to a lovely grove of pecan and walnut trees located near a spring burbling out of the ground. There was an abundance of blackberry bushes in the area (making a mental note to return there and gather berries before the bears could get them in late spring.) The next stop was at the site of Sunrise Mine, an old Fluorite mine, nothing much left to see there because the mine had been intentionally covered over.

Further on down the road we explored an old homestead and scavenged for horseshoes to take home with us. Spending Christmas Day in the back country, leaning against our Jeep, gazing at the majestic scenery and having good conversation with friends was a wonderful experience. A very good day indeed.

Christmas Eve 2006

12/24/06

I suppose by a stretch of the imagination and following the definition of what a ghost town is, these have to be some of the oldest ones around this part of the country.
The Salado Indians inhabited much of the land throughout Arizona, during 1280s up until somewhere around 1350. They were farmers and gatherers for the most part and lived in cliff dwellings carved and built high up on canyon walls. Their perches enabled them to see if enemies were approaching and also gave them a vantage point to watch for any game that might come their way. The trees and heavy brush hid the dwellings from anyone walking the path below.
We visited one of these ruins on Christmas Eve with our friends Larry & Jean, their son and two granddaughters. A nice way to spend the holiday. We drove in as far as we could then hiked the 2+ miles to the ruins. It was a bit of a scramble up the steep path leading to the ruins, but we were rewarded with a super location to explore. The walls and ceilings built into the cliffside were made of stone and mud mortar, supported by long logs. In some places we could still make out the almost 700 year old fingerprints left in the mortar. Blackened stones overhead indicated the fires the ancients used for heating and cooking. From the interior of one of the rooms, we could see that at one time there were several levels of living space. The particular dwellings we visited are located high above Coon Creek in the Sierra Anchas of Arizona. Below the dwellings, along Coon Creek, the land was flat and easily irrigated by the waters of the creek were where the Salados did their farming.

   This must have been the same view the ancient Salado Indians had

Stones and mud mortar

From the inside looking out

Wonderful colors!

From here we could see that at one time, there were several levels to the living quarters.

Vestiges

I came across this picture in my files of an old stone house we came across in Lucerne Valley, California. I was inspired by it to write the following prose.

Stone House in Lucerne Valley, California

                                           Vestiges           
Trekking through the sage and scrub we happen upon walls of stone.
A hearth which once held the warmth of kinship now holds only ashes heated by the relentless sun.
Long gone are the hands that toiled and labored to form this humble dwelling.
Blood and sweat are no longer evident in the mortar that refuses to give up its hold.
Only an empty shell sits in silent testimony to the lives it once sheltered.
Wind whistling through empty rooms is the only sound our conscious mind can hear.
We pause and listen with our hearts,
only then can we perceive the faint sounds of laughter which once must have echoed here.
A broken doll cast aside on the sandy floor,
her button eyes reflect a look of longing for a long-gone playmate.
Shards of glass bespeak a time when a cup was raised in a toast to life.
Ragged remnants of lace flutter at the blankly staring windows,
a contradictory statement to these harsh surroundings.
Rust now blankets an iron bed,
once the place to rest a weary body,
Mutely we hear the sighs of a lover and the joyous tears of childbirth.
Now, as the desert reclaims what is hers,
only vestiges of those who dwelled within these walls remains ....
Soon all will return to the greedy arms of the land which once cradled them.
© LauraA 1999-2006

Tonto Basin Gypsum Mill

12/17/06

We did a bit of local Jeeping yesterday with Jean and Larry. We visited the Tonto Basin Gypsum Mill. It was a functioning mill as late as the 1970s until environmental constraints and high costs associated with gypsum milling closed it down. It has sat decaying since the owner just walked away from it (according to locals) At one time it served local gypsum mines in the area, such as the El Oso Mine, (a favorite 4x and offroad site) Last winter the heavy snow collapsed the roof, leaving the place unsafe and open to the elements. Neighbors of the place are currently trying to get the owner to clear the property so we thought we'd take some pictures before it's gone.

No clue what this did.

Ladder to nowhere

Inside the mill, now open to the elements

Falling apart at the seams

Searching for Azurite

12-9-06

We returned to the Bluebird this past weekend with the intention of looking for some Azurite in the mine. For some reason we feel drawn to return to it time after time. Our friends Larry and Jean and a friend of theirs' Dick, from Tucson wanted to go and we were more than willing to oblige. We did locate a vein of Azurite running through a crevasse in the ceiling, however, the stone surrounding it was way too crumbly to consider picking at. Our friend Larry did find enough Azurite on the ground so we could each take home a tiny souvenir. Next time we go, we'll go in further and take better lighting. As you can see from the photos, it's a rather spooky looking place.

Something about this shot reminded of a doctor's view of a colonoscopy

This adit looks too unsafe to attempt, we opted for an upper adit with better shoring.

This is a shot of the ceiling, you can barely make out the purple and blue of the Azurite vein.