$100 min purchase Continental U.S. only Clifton & Superior
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June 2007
-- A week-long trip east out of Phoenix, Arizona, through the "almost"
ghost towns of Superior and Clifton, up to the "sky island"
of Mt. Graham, and then to the Coronado Trail and eastern Arizona's White
Mountains. |
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Here's the route. "B"
is Superior, Arizona |
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Every
journey must start somewhere, and this one began with a customer service
nightmare at this souless enterprise. On my way out of town, I needed
to purchase a memory card for my camera. Not some obscure off-brand type
of card, but a standard Compact Flash style. All I will say is that this
company is ... dysfunctional.
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The
most horrific cattle grate I've every seen.
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Picket
Post Mountain, just west of Superior, Arizona. Site of an outpost of Camp
Pinal. Soldiers here protected Pinal City and the Silver King Mine from
Apache raids.
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Home
of the World's Smallest Museum!
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Superior,
Arizona
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Old
Sprouse-Reitz store
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Superior,
Arizona has a beautiful, well-kept main drag; the only problem is that
it's completely vacant.
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The
beauty of a decaying adobe structure,
The Magma Hotel. |
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Picture
shot through a glass store front.
A great old café all dressed up with no one to serve. |
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A
berry I'd never seen before. Let me know if you can identify this! I was
tempted to give it a taste, but thought better of it.
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An
old jail? Can't say for sure.
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Superior,
Arizona's "super" market. Note the Chinese proprietor names
displayed over the sign ... just like in the old days.
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Los
Hermanos - clearly the most hapenin' joint in Superior.
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U.S.
60 headed northeast out of Superior, headed for Globe.
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The
Apache Gold casino on the San Carlos Apache reservation.
Just look at all that glitter and glitz! |
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The
10,000 foot Pinaleño Mountains, a.k.a. Mt. Graham. We will now
begin our ascent.
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Heading
up Mt. Graham, south of Safford, Arizona
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At
about 6700 feet ... oaks, sycamores, cottonwoods, running water. Seriously
sylvan after months in the Sonoran Desert.
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Prescribed
burn. The idea is to burn small areas ahead of camper-caused or lightning-cased
fires. The idea is to mimic the natural place fire has in our ecosystem
as well as to avoid any devastating wildfires that come from too much
fire suppression.
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The
Egg.
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Know as a "biologically unique area," Mount Graham's 10,720 foot summit supports eighteen plants and animals that exist nowhere else on earth. The Mt. Graham Red Squirrel was thought to have been extinct, but small numbers of squirrels were rediscoveredin the 1970's. Their current population is estimaed to be only about 200. Smaller than most, this squirrel was isolated from others at the end of the Ice Age in the "sky island" of the Pinaleños. Their main habitat is in the spruce-fir zone above 10,000 feet. These squirrels are not nearly as vocal as others. Scientists speculate that because they lived apart from other squirrels for thousands of years, they had less need to vocalize. The University of Arizona had a plan to put up eighteen telescopes, garages, a dormitory and a visitor center over a 3,500-acre area. The plan was pared down and Congress ended up passing a controversial act that exempted three telescopes from the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. Local Native Americans have also protested the observatory. The mountain is a sacred place to the San Carlos Apaches -- it is home to the spirits who taught their tribe to hunt. In 1992, a court ruled in favor of the University of Arizona, but the Apaches appealed that decision. |
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Campsite
#1, still in the Pinaleños. I saw a Black Bear here.
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The
two mile Heliograph Trail, leading to one of the Pinaleño Mountains
summits, Heliograph Peak.
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My
lil' buddy.
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Heliograph
Peak fire lookout
Elevation 10,028 |
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Click
to enlarge to see the controversial telescopes.
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Cabin
occupied by the fire lookout guy. Built in 1933 by the Civilian Conversation
Corps.
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A
heliograph station was placed here by the U.S. Army around 1886. The station
was part of a widespread communication system using mirrors and shutters
to direct beams of sunlight. Soldiers could rapidly transmit Morse code
with sunlight among outposts and troops regarding Apache movements in
Southern Arizona and New Mexico..
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The
fire spotter let me climb up his tower about two flights.
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I
saw a black bear here. He was in a hurry, so he didn't want to wait around
to take a picture with me.
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Riggs
Lake at 8600 feet.
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This
modest but very controversial road leads to one of the most advanced,
multi-squillion dollar astronomical facilities on the planet.
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A
so-called minimum security prison at the base of Mt. Graham. Click this
image to see why this does not look like anything that could be
described as minimum!
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Now
here is a prison!
The Cochise County Jail. |
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The
Greenlee County Courthouse, built in 1911. The U.S. Government has officially
designated Greenlee County as "frontier" because it is so sparsely
populated.
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An
old jail cell, now a storage room.
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Clifton,
Arizona. The Apache warrior Geronimo was born here. The town is bound
to see more activity very soon as the nearby Morenci mine is once again
going full steam ahead.
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A
neat old drive-in in Clifton.
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The
Clifton railway depot along the San Francisco River.
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The
Clifton jail. The guy who blasted it out of the side of a cliff in 1881
turned out to be its first inmate.
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Below
this airshaft is the jail cell pictured above.
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What
used to be the main drag in Clifton, Arizona
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Union proud! |
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Copper
may once again become king in Arizona. With the skyrocketing price of
the metal, the Morenci mine is back in full swing.
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It
is impossible to describe just how big this strip mine is. These pictures
are showing probably just 5% of the total area.
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Copper
can be seen by the naked eye in Arizona's soil.
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Heading
north out of Morenci, The Coronado Trail quickly ascends to staggering
heights.
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Campsite
#2. I hung out here for a few days, enjoying solitude, tranquility and
lots of wildlife. Only five campsite in this campground and everyone was
real quiet and respectful.
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The
Egg in full lotus position.
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Seriously
excellent Ford van conversion called a Sportmobile. Makes me misty-eyed
for Fred, my long-gone '86 VW Westfalia Weekender.
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The
Blue Range Primitive Area of Arizona's White Mountains.
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Here it
is folks: full-on wolf poop! Some campground neighbors saw two Mexican
Gray wolves -- one of the rarest of all wolf species -- in at the campground
the night before I arrived. Note the flies, indicating its freshness! |
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Attack
of the butterflies! I was attacked by this marauding horde of butterflies
as I approach whatever dung pile they happen to be feasting on here. My
previous idea of butterflies as "delightful" or "fairy-like"
took a serious hit when I saw what they were so jealously guarding.
Okay, enough with the shite photos! |
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A
great trail leading out of the campground.
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Wild
strawberries! The livin' is easy.
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Whoops!
My mistake.
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A
burned tree.
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I
saw (and heard) elk in this meadow each morning.
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Hannagan
Meadow Lodge. Built in 1926, about 30 miles from anything at all. Servin'
up the best homemade biscuits anywhere. Cabins for rent and trail rides.
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Bill
McClain, chief wrangler. Check him out in the film "Miracle at Sage
Creek". A smart and fun guy, we are working together on creating
a trophy buckle for Bill that says HANNAGAN MEADOW TRAIL BOSS.
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Me
and my very old gelding, Tequila.
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If
you're ever in Show Low, Arizona, check out Lucy's Cafe for a great breakfast.
Nice family owners, good food, great prices.
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