On the Trails

This week we spend the week exploring the back country near Kingman, AZ.

Monday

Murals near Chloride

We toured some ghost towns and mines of the Cerbat Mountains. As we went over mountains and through washes, we ended up at the town of Chloride which is an old silver mining town which never quite died.  Not far from here we visited the murals painted by Roy Purcell.  These murals are amazing as they are painted on  cliff walls.  Although they were originally painted in 1966, they have been recently restored resulting in very bright vibrant colours.

Tuesday




Korean War Memorial

The burros in Oatman

Today we travel to Oatman, another old mining town which is still very much alive but more from tourism than mining.  Every day at noon they have a gunfight on main street by volunteer actors who collect donations for the Shrine children's hospital.  There are several burros (descendants of those used in the mining days) that wander through the streets of town looking for food.  To get to Oatman from Kingman we travel the historic Route 66 which remains much the same as when it was built in 1926 - narrow and winding as it passes through the mountains - but incredibly pretty. As we leave the old highway for heading across country, we were treated to several sightings of wildlife - a couple of burros running along the mountain edge, some mountain sheep grazing up in the mountains, and a tarantula, slowly crossing the road.

Wednesday
Today we went through Canyon Pass.  We drove down to Bullhead City, and came back across country.  Some of the trails were somewhat rocky, the views were unbelievable.  As we pass the craggy rocks of the mountains, we go over Union Pass, but rather than taking the highway, we take the by way and see sights not available along the well-travelled road.

Goldfish in a spring near the top of the mountains

Thursday

The huge pine trees

We were able to have a quiet day as we helped our American friends celebrate Thanksgiving.  At noon we had a huge turkey dinner with the biggest variety of salads I have ever seen.  Once again, Mother Nature treated us very well as we has clear skies, warm temperatures and little wind.  The day was spent eating, visiting, and generally taking it easy.

Friday
Back on the trails we went.  Today we had a long trail over the Borianna Mine Road and up to Copper World - both old mines.  As we drove along the trails we crossed the Hulapai mountains and reached an altitude of over 7,000 feet.  We went from desert scrub to a variety of cacti to large juniper trees to large, tall pine trees.  The trail was very scenic and at the end we even saw some elk!!

As we travel along an edge

Saturday
The last day on the trail and we decided to traverse a ridge in the Cerbat mountains.  Again, up the mountain we drove although not as high as the one on Friday,   We drove past several old mining sites where only some old timbers remain.  Apparently any salvageable steel has been scavenged so many sites have very little to resemble the days of old.

Oops - glad it's not us!!

The week was a great week.  It gave us a chance to make new friends, and visit with old.  We came through the week with nothing but a bit of desert pin-striping; however, that was not the case for everyone.  One poor fellow made a slight mis-calculation of the trail and ended rolling it.  I have attached a photo of what not to do.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we are going to Peach Springs, AZ where we will drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and dip our feet into the Colorado River.  From there we will continue on Route 66 to Seligman, AZ and stop in at the famous Road Kill Cafe.  More on that next time.

The Tarantula

I have changed the comment section (I think) which I hope will work much easier.  We look forward to hearing from you.  Until next week, have a good week and take care