little explore trip in western AZ

[RHINO]

i've been wanting to do some exploring in an area not many folks visit.
i invited a buddy of mine who has never done a big multi day remote trip like this before, he had a blast and admitted its not something he would have done and appreciated me bringing him along, and i of course was happy to have him.




first stop, the remains of greenwood az. not much info on it but the residents had a great view right on the shores of the big sandy river.

next was signal, pretty big copper town with a good cemetary, notice the dates on the oldest headstone.

 

[RHINO]

i noticed something with the binoculars on a distance mountain, we went to investigate and found our first nites camp spot. its an old mining cabin that is preserved well enough it serves as a community spot so long as its taken care of, i was impressed it hadnt been too badly vandalized. at about 3k elevation it made for a nice nite in the desert day time heat.

the next morning we continued on, here are some random shots of the area and the remains of keenan camp.

 

[RHINO]

found this windmill water pump in perfect working condition, tank was full of water, reeds and bees.

then came the bill williams river and the el paso gas company above ground gas pipe bridge, its a big structure.

stumbled on this cemetary that i think was a single family, the graves progressed smaller, maybe an accident when the wagon went off the road or something, looks like two parents and three kids.

not everyone who ventures out here makes it

 

[RHINO]

then came the town of swansea, the BLM is doing a good job of making this place accesible for those interested, with a self guided walking tour and plenty of info on the various workings of town along with some restoration work, its really worth the trip and these pics are just a fraction of whats out there,, i dont wanna ruin the whole thing.

make sure to pack your rig lightly when wandering the desert

can you see the natural arch?

 

[RHINO]

next up is our final destination and camp spot for saturday nite. this is an old solar observatory used from 1920-25. supplies were brought up via 5mile pack trail on back or by donkey. elevation is 5800ft and the floor below is about 1500ft. needless to say it was one heck of a pack up this mtn. in the 80's a local utility built the road up and installed microwave towers. the pack trail is still there and used by adventurous hikers, at the bottom is a decent interpretative center for info on the observatory and a warning that 4x4 is required to go up. temps at nite were perfect, just a bit brisk, a welcome change from the 100*F day temps.

so there you have it, my first real trip report.

it was a great time, we covered a little over 120 miles of dirt and saw nobody out there the whole w/e.

hope you all enjoy.

 

[crawler#976]

Good stuff!

I really enjoy that area around Swansea and the remains of Ft. Bowie. Used to go out there to watch the Parker 400 back when it went thru Swansea. The last time I was out at the Bill William's crossing it was almost like quick sand, and I wondered if I was gonna make it across...

Mark

 

[viatierra]

Nice report!
I'm glad someone's not afraid to explore the desert for a whole weekend although it is still pretty warm out. Was that last spot the observatory on Harquahala peak?

 

[RHINO]

yup harquahala peak

mark, still plenty of sand, dry but deep.

 

[dlbrunner]

Nice! I have wanted to get out that way for a while.

Great photos

 

[Don-Key]

All I can say is WOW!!! That is way cool for sure. Looks like it was a great adventure