A Walk With Birds, Food & Art -> Patagonia, AZ

Patagonia Lake State Park at sunset -> it was still as glass, but teeming with bird-song

We’ve made it to our most southerly point for the rest of this year. That point is a quirky little community nestled in a  in a riparian corridor (riparian being a rather fancy term for ”by the water”) between the Santa Rita Mountains and Patagonia  Mountains in SE Arizona. It’s an artsy, eco-friendly kind of place that’s very much in synch with the nature around it….and in Patagonia alot of that nature pertains to birds.

A green respite for weary desert eyes

A Gila woodpecker

We headed out here a few days ago to lounge away the week-end in Patagonia Lake State Park. The main draw for us here was the lake -> a 2 1/2 mile long man-made lake that would give our desert-weary eyes a well-deserved green rest and doggie a well-deserved few days of frolicking in the water.

The bonus was the birding, a side-effect I didn’t quite expect (given how little I know about birds) but one that became a welcome addition to the experience. This spot is literally teeming with birds providing an almost constant background song at your campsite. And a stroll along the 3 mile on-site birding trail takes you deep into green trees, relaxing creeks and lots of colorful and pretty specimens fluttering and chatting in the trees. Quite lovely!

Signs of spring on the trail!

But that’s not all there is here. Patagonia is quite the little art and food spot. Within a teeny 3-block downtown area there’s at least 4 art galleries, several restaurants, a yoga studio, a coffee shop and an excellent organic food market (Red Mountain Foods). There’s not alot here, but what they got is all good stuff!

Given such a lovely selection we dug in and engaged ourselves in several excellent outings.

At Birders Haven with Jil&Tom…what a neat little place!

On Saturday our buddies Jil&Tom came by to take us on some birding and sample the fare at the rather iconic Velvet Elvis restaurant. We had a lovely walk in the park, an outstanding lunch with hibiscus-infused margaritas (drool!) and afterwards they took us to a local birding secret “Paton’s Birders Haven” -> a local house set-up with chairs and feeders for anyone to enjoy. We sat for a good hour watching the birds and learning about them from the other folks in the garden. Even for a non-birder like me this was rather a cool experience, and I dare say I learned a few things (who knew it was possible?)

Harshaw Ghost town…at least the ONE building that’s still left here

Road-trip in the Coronado National Forest

The surrounding area also lends itself to some lovely road-trips and a bit of hiking. Nearby Sonoita Creek State Preserve has at least 30 miles of hiking trails, while the Coronado National Forest just south of Patagonia has some lovely driving trails. We completed a loop starting in downtown Patagonia at Harshaw Road, driving past the old ghost town of Harshaw (nothing much left here except for a single house and a rather colorful graveyard), down FS 49 and back along a picturesque ridge on FS 214 to FS 58 to Harshaw Creek Road (FS 139). If you’re feeling adventurous along this loop you can even stop off at FS 4649 and hike or 4WD to the top of Red Mountain. As an added bonus there are lots of excellent boondocking spots along these same roads too. Fun to scope out and plan for future stays!

Afternoon at the lake

The only downer of our whole week-end? The State Park was full to the brink with tons of kids and people. It was almost an assault on the senses after our peaceful days out in the boonies. Thankfully our site was mostly away from the crowds and we were able to find solitude on the trail and our drives, but after a few days of people overflow we both yearned to be back in the grasslands. So, that’s where we’re going. See ya back in the boonies, my friends…

Hibiscus-infused margaritas…yum!!

With Jil & Tom at the Velvet Elvis

The cute “butterfly garden” in Patagonia

Colorful downtown Patagonia

The graveyard at Harshaw

More spring flowers

Afternoon light delight

Polly suspiciously eyes a cow on the birding trail

Back In Time To The Heyday Of Gold -> Hedges/Tumco Ghost Town

“One in every five miners who came to California in 1849 was dead within six months.”
Quote from a writer of the Sacramento Bee

Paul poses by the old hospital in Hedges/Tumco

We’re in the heart of some of the oldest gold mine history in California and y’all know how I love those wild west stories. This is my kinda hard, crazy history filled with the dreams of fools looking to make it rich. Last year we did some local prospecting around our boondocking site, but this time around we decided to make the trek ~5 miles north to the ghost town of Hedges/Tumco, a site that takes us right back to the start of it all.

Ghosts of the past. View of the Hedges/Tumco town.

Yours truly by the massive cyanide vats that used to process gold ore

Gold has always been a draw in these hills. In the 1600′s the Spanish explorers discovered gold in the Sierra de San Pablo Mountains (now known as Cargo Muchachos), and in 1780 established the first mission in Yuma. The Spaniards exploited the area, but war and strife followed leaving the ores largely undeveloped until much later….right up until 1849. It was the start of the gold rush, one of the biggest migrations in the history of the US. The “49′ers”, as history would remember them, were the very first, the most hardy souls that led the chase. These idealistic madmen named themselves after Greek mythology, the “Argonauts” -> a band of heros in search of a golden fleece.

And seek they did, oh yes they did. In 1849 Fort Yuma was established followed by the railroad in 1877, and hundreds of thousands of prospectors on the western trail. Most of the early migration went further northwest, but by 1880′s interest revived in the Tumco valley and the first claims were opened here.

Ellen poses by the remains of the old saloon

Site of the old cemetery

From there it was a typical gold rush story. In 1894 the valley settlement named Hedges had established ~31 tents, a large stamp mill capable of crushing 100 tons per day and over 12 miles of water pipeline. By the turn of the century the town had grown to one of the biggest mines in the state with 500 people, 100 stamp mills, a school, a church, two cemeteries and massive cyanide plants for ore post-processing. Then, as quickly as the riches had amassed they disappeared, things turned downhill and by 1909 the town was mostly abandoned. Interest re-surged briefly in 1910 with a new set of investors who re-named the settlement Tumco, but it was a short-lived dream that shut down again only a year later.

After this time the mine saw several years of sporadic development, but never quite reached the heyday of the early 1900′s. It was finally abandoned as a ghost town in 1949, 100 years to the day after the start of the big rush.

Alex, Ellen and Paul walk the trail in Hedges/Tumco

Paul checks out history at the Gold Rock Ranch

We headed out on our ghost town adventure with our buddies Alex&Ellen on the day the cold weather broke here in Yuma bathing our site in warm temps and gorgeous blue skies. The mine is on BLM land just a few miles north on Ogilby Road. Although most of the structures have vanished to rubble, there is a nice hiking trail with well-marked sites that take you around the whole town and gives a great feel for what it was like. The whole place is a wild, crazy, lonely spot and apart from the ghosts we were the only souls there. We spent a good hour walking around and imagining the harsh life in the old mine before heading a mile across the road to historic and quirky Gold Rock Ranch to putter around the shop, check out the history knickknacks, scope out the RV park and meet the locals.

A very, very cool ghost town which is most definitely worth the trip.

NOTE/ Since Tumco is on BLM land you can actually boondock right next to the mine for free (so very cool)! If you want more civilization the quirky RV park across the road has a dump and full hookup sites for $40/night ($20/night with Passport America).

The excellent trail at Tumco

Oh, the stories this old earth could tell!

The Biggest, Baddest Ghost Town Of The West – Bodie, CA

“Goodbye God, I am going to Bodie”
Diary entry from a little girl on her way to the infamous town

The firehouse. Bodie burned several times in its history.

Paul poses by the old schoolhouse in Bodie

It was one of the biggest, baddest, most violet, lawless wild west towns of its day. Of course it started with the discovery of gold, as all the best western stories do. In 1859 William (a.k.a. Waterman) S. Bodey discovered the yellow metal near what is now called Bodie Bluff. In 1861 a mill was established, and then, as the old stories say, the rest of the gold-seekin’ fools all flocked to the larder. By 1880 the town had over 2000 buildings, 65 saloons, numberous houses of “ill repute”, opium dens, gambling halls, a Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, miners’ and mechanics’ unions, several daily newspapers, and a jail.

And of course all the rabble, ill-seeking, wild west, trouble-making lot of folks that came with it…all 10,000 of them!

Panorama shot of “downtown” Bodie

Bodie even had it’s own gas station

It was HUGE. Some say it became the 2nd biggest city in California, and it was desolate, crazy, and totally remote. Waaay out in the desert with blinding hot summers and deep freeze winters that plummeted down to -18°F (-27°C) this place was not for the faint of heart. There were long days of back-breaking work mixed up with gold, alcohol and guns at night.  Lawlessness ran free and a common morning greeting was “Have a man for breakfast?”, meaning  “Did anyone get killed last night?”. Oh yeah, you needed a tough skin and a quick draw to make it through this town.

The methodist chuch

But as with all the gold-rush tales, there came an end. By the late 1890′s gold-seekers were drawn away to the promise of richer strikes in Montana, Arizona and Utah and by 1915 only one mill remained. The town fell down to the last hardy remaining few, but managed to survive and (eventually) be preserved as a State Park.

The site of Standard Mill, the last standing in town

The dusty road to get to Bodie….

I’ve been wanting to see Bodie for years. I LOVE the old wild west stories and this ghost town is one of the best preserved in the country. There’s only ~5% of the original buildings left, but what’s there is simply outstanding. Old houses, mill, run-down motel, firehouse, church, equipment, saloons filled with furniture and dusty interiors containing all the living history of a moment in time. There’s a good 3 miles of bumpy dirt road to get there, but it is TOTALLY worth it. We spent a couple of hours perusing around the city, chatting with the volunteers and soaking in the atmosphere. Even my camera got into the mood, going for a retro look in processing. From the baddest town in the wild west, to the coolest ghost town in the Sierra’s, it is definitely a place you don’t want to miss…

P.S. Pooch is allowed in town, so if you can handle the bumpy drive, bring the paws along.
P.P.S. For those Photoshop junkies out there, I created my retro post-processing look using tips from this site.

Dusty interior of an old house. Lots of these preserved around town!

Now, I wonder what kind of establishment was on this road?

The old Bodie jail

Ruins of the Bodie bank

View of the Miner’s Union Hall

Paul poses in the methodist church

From Gold to Ghosts – Elizabethtown, NM

The original Mutz Hotel, circa 1896 (image from Eagle Nest State Park Visitor Center)

It’s not an exaggeration to say that much of the West was built on gold. The Moreno Valley is no  exception.  Located in remote and savage country at high altitude, the area was virtually unvisited until the discovery of the irresistible yellow stuff. It all changed when a Ute Indian traded some “pretty rocks” with the soldiers at Fort Union in 1866. The ore was traced back to the west slopes of 12,441 ft Baldy Mountain and gold was discovered. Within a year a thousand mining claims had been filed and Elizabethtown or “E-Town” was born.

Remains of the Mutz Hotel as they stand today

It was the typical story of the Wild West. A ramshackle village that rapidly grew to a bustling rough western mining town. By 1870 Elizabethtown boasted 7,000 residents, seven saloons, three dance halls, five stores, a school, and two churches. With growth came reputation and lawlessness, and the Elizabethtown hosted its own set of notorious outlaws with the infamous serial killer Charles Kennedy and famed vigilante Clay Allison. The local minister, Father John Myer summed up the spirit of the place in 1868 with the words “it was a rough time. Shooting and killing were very common”.

The old church at Elizabethtown, renovated and still used today for weddings and gatherings

But the golden honeymoon was a short one. The claims dried up and by 1875 Elizabethtown was a virtual ghost town. It had spurred the growth of a local area including the development of Cimarron Pass, but most of the population was gone . These days only the ghosts remain in the ruins of the old Mutz Hotel and the memories of the Elizabethtown museum. It’s a cool little visit, just 5 miles north of Eagle Nest on Hwy 38 (don’t blink or you might miss it) and hosts Gold Rush Days every year July 3-5.

There's history hidden in 'em hills

The surrounding area also keeps traces of the its golden history with ruins hidden in the valley, and (according to my RV neighbor, Bob) the walls of an old house of ill repute (look for it on your right as you drive into Cimarron) and nuggets of gold still buried in the hills. Bob knows a guy who knows a guy who knows where it’s buried, so if I treat him right I might still strike it rich. After all, these are still the hills of gold and anything can happen out here in the West…