Tuesday Sherri and I went shopping and for a Valentine's Day lunch in Ajo. I have not posted pictures of the quaint town, there are some very nice areas. Below is a picture of the Catholic Church taken from across the plaza. Looking the other way is the old train station, which is now shops.
The only spot I could get a picture of the old copper mine was into the sun.The copper mine is no longer in operation. Even with the high price of copper the percentage of ore in the rock is not sufficient to reopen the mine, so Ajo is stuck with a large hole. Turning 90 deg. is the Indian Catholic Church, which is now a museum.
We had a good lunch at a Mexican restaurant, being from Albuquerque we are rather snobbish about Mexican food. So, lunch was good not great :)
Wednesday was a hike day for the boys. Brian, Jim and I set at 7:30am to hike up and over Grass Canyon, down the north fork of Alamo Canyon.
The hike is a loop, to cut off a couple of miles at the end Hilda dropped us off and took the picture. We left my truck at the Alamo Campground. The first picture is Montezuma's Head, where the author Ed Abbey wrote about climbing to the top one drunken evening. The next picture is looking up into Grass Canyon and the saddle, over the top.
We hiked up and over and the view on the other side was beautiful.
This entire hike is not on a trail so bushwhacking through the sage and cacti gets mentally tiring. This shows how steep it is to reach the wash. It was nice to reach the wash where climbing up and over boulders was tough but easier than bushwhacking.
It had rained a 1/3 of an inch Tuesday morning so the tinajas are full of water and algae.
It was a great hike where we didn't see another person all day. After almost eight hours of bushwhacking and climbing over boulders we were glad to reach my truck. We will have to do it again soon.
This week Sherri and I are heading off to Tucson for three days/two nights to shop, eat, service the truck and look for RV parts. I have been asked to give my evening program in the Ajo plaza on Thursday evening, there will be an ad in this weeks Copper Mountain News. I don't know if there will be 25 or 250 people who will come and watch. I am looking forward to giving my program in the historic plaza.
We had more rain on Thursday(rain is always welcome in the desert)and this morning we had fog, which doesn't happen very often. It made for a neat picture.
Great hike, just can't imagine doing all that bushwacking;o(( But of course, you get the reward of having the place to yourselves!!
ReplyDeleteWish we could see your program. Maybe you can take it on the road;o))
I had to laugh at your comment that you'd have to do it again "soon" after an 8 hour hike over boulders and bushwacking. Not seeing another person does definitely sound great. I love Ed Abbey. He's a hero of mine in spite of his "proclivities" so I'd love to see any place he once was.
ReplyDeleteSherry
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