Hello Family & Friends,
We headed out for a trail ride on New Year's Eve with a group from North Ranch, it was a cold morning and the day remained pretty chilly as well -- the sky was partly cloudy so we had sun/clouds/and wind during the ride. Darrel was mostly the photographer for the journey as I drove most of the 25 miles, which sounds like nothing, BUT in a UTV across rocky terrain, it can wear you out.
This was the sky at sunrise, we had loaded the UTV (on the left) the night before
Beau was ready to take off -- we were departing from the front of the park at 8:30am
Had to snap just one more of the sunrise, which would think that we were going to be greeted with sunshine, but see those clouds that are purple and pink? They stayed with us all day!
We headed out from a staging area (parking lot) where there were lots of people dry camping and getting ready for trail rides too -- we wondered if going on New Year's Eve was a great idea??
We stopped for the first "potty" break in a wash before heading on the the next stop.
We were in washes that seemed almost like canyons, surround by walls of rock and then we'd catch a glimpse of the formations around us.
Lots of craggy rocks and Mesquite trees.
Here's our group at what they call the "Chinese wall" which was built by a prospecting couple to dam up the wash to look for gold -- it has been there a long time.
That is me in the stocking cap in front -- it was a very chilly ride (I won't say cold, since the Midwest and others are even colder).
Here's part of the wall, it goes down 25 feet or so, a big tree (someone called it a live oak, but it looked like a cottonwood to me) growing alongside the wall, it has made a bridge over the wall with one of its branches --- where you can see me!
A closer shot of the "tree root" bridge -- yes, we are in Arizona, even though it looks like I was ready to pick up a snow shovel. I don't think the day warmed much up over the 50 mark, but we had a steady wind most of the time which kept it chilly.
Next stop Dragon Mine, you can see the foundation of it in the upper right, we hiked a ways down into the wash and poked around -- found a rock with Mica layered in the corner.
This site actually had homes where the workers stayed, we marveled at the amount of concrete that was used to create the structure, thinking maybe hauled by mules?
We ate lunch at Dragon mine before continuing on the journey.
The UTV in front of us stopped to take a picture of a wild burro that live in the area, that big brown blob is the burro, Darrel was hurrying to capture it as we were afraid it would disappear. Not a great picture but that is what it was.
It is amazing how skinny the saguaros they are this season since the desert is dry -- I didn't realize that they would do that but you can tell a difference, they look more like pencils than fat cigars. I wonder if they will bloom? -- more on that in the spring??
On to Anderson Mill -- not sure what was "mined" or "milled" there but it was a cool site to visit. These hardy people used about anything they had at hand to construct this site. You can see the ingenuity they possessed to get it built on the edge of a wash.
We had a great ride with four other couples (and we practiced Social distancing in the outdoors) and really enjoyed their knowledge about the area. We plan to go back again to check it out as there are so many more trails to explore. We arrived back home around 3:30pm and were bone weary and dusty -- clothes headed to the washer and both of us headed to the shower.
I am glad the next day was New Year's Day -- we pretty much vegged and I was doing computer work. It was funny because New Year's Day was sunny and warm, so we joked that we sure know how to pick the day for a ride : )
Sending blessings from the AZ desert.... and wishing you a Happy New Year!
Love,
Susan & Darrel
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