Arizona City

Hilda and I wish you the very Merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year

Arizona City, AZ

After the hottest summer on Arizona record, things are just beginning to cool down for the fall, and new adventures await. Hilda and I have a new friend who shares our passion for trail rides and forays into Arizona history. Her name is B.J. and Hilda has decided the two of them are sisters and to heck with me. Oh well, I’ll just have to accept the fact that I’m out numbered when decisions are made about the next trail ride.
The urgency of photographing historical sites and people was driven home in a profound way the past couple of months. First I read that one of the “Wind Talkers” I photographed (Found on the “Native Americans” page) had passed away in July. Then, Russ Opitz informed me that about a month ago, he and a friend had gone to see Mattie Earp’s grave site only to discover that someone had stolen the marker (Found on the “Cowboys” page). So, with a new fervor Hilda, B.J., and I will set out this season to make as many trips as possible to document all we can of the people and locations that made Arizona what it is today.

Four Peaks and the Apache' Trail

The weatherman predicted a 50 percent chance of Monsoon storms over most of Central Arizona for this past Sunday. Undaunted, we pressed on towards another trip over the Four Peaks mountain range to Lake Roosevelt. Yes, the skies were black and at times a stray rain drop or two made it all the way to the ground before becoming instant vapor. Very ominously a Western Diamond Back slithered across our path, the first I've seen since moving to Arizona four years ago. As we crossed the last ridge to Roosevelt Lake, the view was breathtaking and by the time we reached water's edge for a picnic, the sun was peaking through the clouds.
I attempted to get Hilda to go swimming, as she hadn't been that close to so much water since two years earlier at Lake Nacimiento. Even though she had been a real "water dog" then, that was then and this was now, and she wasn't having anything to do with all that wet stuff.
From the lake we traveled back on the Apache' Trail, which was originally built for workers and supplies to create Roosevelt Dam beginning in 1903 and completed in 1911. Much of the "road" appears to changed very little since 1903. Nearly forty miles of steep, winding, single lane dirt road passes through dense forests of saguaro and ferocactus. On this trail, on that day, we passed more trucks towing huge trailers and boats than I've seen on most interstate highways.
On passing through Tortilla Flat, Goldfield, and Apache' Junction we intersected route 60 and made a beeline to the outskirts of Superior. Just a very short trip back another dirt trail less than a mile from route 60, is the grave site of Mattie Earp, Wyatt's second wife. There it was, in the middle of a hill overlooking a majestic valley below, a carefully tended to and thoughtfully decorated monument. In this place one could touch the Old West.
Once again, Hilda and I were very reluctant to return home.

June is here and the Desert is heating up for another Summer. So, Hilda and I are taking trips to cooler places. Saturday, June 1st, we headed to the Four Peaks trail north of the Superstition Range. Sandie and Steve led the way with Hilda, Bruce, and I following. As always, the Arizona scenery was spectacular, with the added bonus that every minute brought cooler temperatures. There's so much green this year and the Saguraros are still in bloom.
At about 1 pm we arrived at Rosevelt Lake and had lunch while Hilda went swimming with Blue Harrons and White Cranes.
After lunch we drove south along the lake to Tonto National Monument and I saw the Salado Cliff Dwellings for the first time. I could almost hear the Salado Indians going about their everyday chores. Both Hilda and I were very reluctant to leave these peaceful, cool, and beautiful sorroundings and return home.

It's been a couple of months since the last entry, not that HIlda and I haven't been shooting anything, we've been shooting everything in sight. This past weekend we joined the Casa Grande 4 Wheelers on a trip into the Mineral Mountains over a trail leading to the Ajax Mine. Did I say trail? Actually, it's a creek bed filled with rocks and boulders, some as large or larger than my Jeep. At the end of the "trail" are two abandoned mines, the "Ajax" and "Orphan Boy". I haven't been able to discover what was being mined, but apparently whatever it was played out very quickly and the mines were abandoned.
Driving back from the mines, our group took an upper trail which was significantly easier than the creek bed, and spied the more adventurous members of the group tackling the extreme rocks in the upper Ajax trail. Over looking the creek, on the western wall of the canyon, is the remnants of the original trail used by the miners to get back to the Ajax. Using a 75mm lens, I captured a pretty good panorama of the old trail, which you'll see in the "Landscapes" gallery.
Hilda had another dispute with a Cholla cactus and several hundred burs, but I managed to pull all the cactus quills and cut out the burs. By the time we got home, Hilda crashed for the night, completely exhausted from all the day's activity.