Friday Oct 21, 2022 - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - Day 2

 

Slept like babies last night. The bed is so comfy we love the end of the day. Very few people camping here so virtually no neighbors. We are close to the bathrooms so one last trip last night to brush teeth, etc. The bathroom is very clean, everything in great shape, with lights that go off on people detection and a timer to turn them off after you leave. The National Park Service, as always, does a great job spending our tax dollars on simple stuff that works.

A 4.6 mile hike this morning after eating a couple of hard boiled eggs. We hiked to Victoria Mine which was active from 1890 to 1899 and then off and on until the 1930’s. Gold, silver, lead and some copper, not sure how much of each, but being so remote, it was expensive to ship stuff via pack mule (no railroad) so I am guessing silver and whatever gold came with it since they are worth so much per pound or ounce.  The mine site looked like they dug a bunch of shafts, some remnants of a boiler were scattered around, the usual collection of tin cans here and there, the stone remnants of the store, a makeshift road out (wide enough for wagons so I am assuming the road is original, more research required..).

That walk with my new toes stretched things for me, but everything still works and I am pleasantly exhausted tonight. 

Back at the van, we made a proper cold breakfast (yogurt, bananas, cold cereal, etc) and then packed up and drove to Ajo. We first stopped at the ranger station to upload the blog which took a bit since the wifi was crappy. We met a retired couple who were watching the 15 minute movie and intently making notes on some kind of forms. They told us after that the park service has a "not so junior ranger” program for not so junior people, and they planned all their vacations around visiting national parks and scavenger hunting, using the form that the park service mailed them (they called and requested them).

They both had vests with park service patches (like the boy scout and girl scout ones you and I got way back when, hers was in the car), so they were having a ball. 

On the way to Ajo we drove up Alamo Canyon (3 miles and back on a dirt road). Remote camp sites at the end of the road with no services (but we don’t need no stinking services). So a good note for another trip.

We are thinking because it is so warm here (high of 91 yesterday, low of 65 last night and high of 89 today, low of 65 tonight) that we should come back here in January when our Bisbee weather is at its lowest temperature.

Ajo is currently a city of around 3,000 people and it had a copper mine, much like Bisbee, until the 1980’s when it closed. Ajo was another Phelps Dodge town (the company that owned Bisbee) and when the Bisbee mine closed in 1975, a lot of the miners went to Ajo to work another 10 years.

Ajo was a completely scratch built town so all the streets are designed in a pattern like a bird spreading its wings. The plaza downtown is beautiful, nicely painted and kept up nicely. They are struggling a bit if you wander around the back streets (empty houses, second homes, etc.) but they have a coffee shop, tourist info office, a couple of art places and tchotchke shops, all very well kept. So struggling tourism but home town proud. We will come back.

After Ajo, we drove back to the park with a lot of other traffic. We decided to go all the way to Lukeville, the town on the Mexican border, which consists of a gas station/ convenience store/restaurant kind of place right next to the border crossing. We asked the guy running the cash register where all the cars were going, and he said Rocky Point. All of those cars with Arizona plates were heading to Rocky Point on the Sea of Cortes, 60-70 miles from the border for the weekend. The closest place to enjoy a beach.

After Lukeville we headed back to the park and took another 5 mile road back into some remote sites inside the park. Then back to our site to watch the sun go down and watch some refreshments go down as well.

Then hot (solar) showers and cook something for dinner.

Lots of snoring going on in Sally Ann tonight!!