POST #21-41

 North To Lake Mead and Hoover Dam

 ...we head north on the first leg of our trip back to Montana

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On March 29, we said our goodbyes to our friends at Morenga Palms RV Park near Wenden, AZ and started another leg of our northward trip home.  Our plan for the day was to get to the Boulder City, Nevada - Lake Mead area.  We had no campground reservations for there which can be a challenge these days.  It was about 227 miles, sunny with temps in the 80's.

Here is a sped up  Lo-Resolution video of part of the drive...

For a Full-Resolution  copy of that video, CLICK HERE...

The Boulder Beach Campground was full, so we went back up the hill and stayed overnight in the parking lot of the Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino...

It was a good place to stay and the view from the parking lot was spectacular!

 

We had dinner at the Lodge , hiked around a bit and turned in.  Tomorrow we will get down to the campground early and get a spot.  We have our eye on a great one! 

Until Next Time!

 

POST #21-40 

Looking For Gold Mines!

 ...we search for abandoned gold mines deep in the AZ Outback!

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On March 27, Razr Driver Jim and I went on an exploration to try to fid an abandoned mine we looked up on the internet, the "Hidden Treasure Mine." We headed south again, deep into the Harquahala Mountains south of our RV Park.

On the way we found and stopped to check out a hole in a mountain far above the road.  The rock formations here have been complexly folded, faulted, and intruded by igneous rocks.. in the drone videos to follow you will see the effects.  The first  drone video flies up about 1200 feet and out about 800  feet to the hole in the wall.  The video is sped up 4X and the drone was flown as fast as it would go.  Here's that video in Low-Resolution...

For a Full Res Video for the flight to the Hole In The Wall, click HERE .

Then we flew it out to try to locate the Hidden Treasure Mine...We found it, drove over and climbed up to the entrance.  Here's a Lo-Resolution video... 

For a Full Res Video of the Hidden Treasure Mine, click HERE .

Here is a satellite photo showing the mine entrance, where we parked and some tailings piles.

When we got to the mine location, we had to climb this very steep hill of loose mine tailings... 

 

 

Then we found this entrance and cautiously went in aways...

Found this door...

Opened it up and went in a bit further...

To here...This is far enough!  I read that it goes in another 200 feet or so.  Its would be very dangerous to proceed!

That's when we saw the bats!

Time to go!  We  picked up a few bags of dirt (to pan for some gold at home) closed the door.  It was a great view from the mine entrance!

We then worked our way down the hill to the Razr and went back to the RV Park with our diggins! 

The mine was very cool.  Some info is HERE and HERE.  Here's story I found about the mine...

The one mine that not many, if any, knows much about is the Hidden Treasure Mine. George Campbell was a good friend of the owner of the Hidden Treasure Mine and their mining claims were very close together.  If you go to the mine there is a lot of the workings still there. At the top of the mountain you could see a tunnel that ran right through the top of the peak and out the other side. This was a pretty big mine works, with quite a few employees in its hay day.

Sounds like a thousand other mines in the desert southwest. But it has a different ending than most. Most old mines just ran out gold, the vein petered out, or it just wasn't worth working anymore. This is what happened to the Hidden Treasure Mine. It supplied a good living for the owner for years, but got to a point where it just wasn't worth working anymore. The owner told George of his plans to shut it down and lay off the employees. He told George there was one more shot he wanted to make in the back of one of the tunnels after the men were gone, as he didn't think it would amount to anything and he couldn't afford to pay them anymore. George told him that if he needed any help to let him know, not expecting to hear from him.

 This is where it gets interesting, as this never happens! A couple of days later George gets a call from his friend, he needs help! So George meets him at the mine and he takes him into the mine to where he had just blasted out the back stope (the back wall). George couldn't believe his eyes, there was a round vug about 6 ft. in diameter lined several inches thick with gold. Vug -- a round hole, much like the hole inside of a geode in solid rock. Now they spent days getting all the gold out. This was his buddy’s retirement. George wouldn't accept anything for helping him. This should give you an idea of what this area's geology is like. Think there might be more there?  Sure sounds like something worth looking at!

We will go through our "paydirt" later to see what is in it.  if it's interesting, next winter we will bring the metal detector and a gold pan or two and play gold miner!

We will be leaving Morenga Palms tomorrow as we continue our way north.  Next stop, Boulder City, Nevada to camp at Lake Mead.

Until Next Time!

 

POST #21-39 

Back To The Arizona Outback

 ...exploring the desert - bizarre cactus - and a great RV Park!

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On March 23, we left the Tortilla Flat area and moved back to the Arizona Outback to stay at the Morenga Palms RV Park near Wenden on Highway 60.  Sunny day with light winds and temps in the 70s.  This will be our first leg of the leisurely trip home.  We shoot for about 250 each day...sometimes with a days break in between legs of the trip.  This break ay Morenga will be for 5 days.

Its a nice quiet and clean place with great neighbors!  Satellite view..

Here's a Lo-Res drone video...

For a Full Resolution view of the video CLICK HERE..  We like this Park so well that we will be staying the full month of December 2021! 

While we were there our friend Jim B., who is also from Billings and camped right next to us took me for some exploration trips out into the surrounding desert in his Side-By-Side Razr.  Its great fun! Can't believe how well these machines do on the rough trails and roads we traveled on.  And the suspension and seating really makes it a comfortable ride, considering the rugged trails!  Here's a Lo-Res video of our ride in the desert...

For a Full Resolution view of the Razr video CLICK HERE..

Jim and I will be making one more trip into the Desert this week to look for gold mines.  We will let you know how we do in the next post!

Until Next Time!

 

POST #21-38 

Tortilla Flat, Part 3! 

 ....an update of our Posts #21-37 & #21-36, more photos and video!

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At the Tortilla Campground we found there to be an abundance of hummingbirds!  More than we have seen at the other places!

Here is a Lo-Res video of some of these fun little critters!

For the full-resolution video of the birds, CLICK HERE. It was fun to have them land on our fingers! 

There were also Roadrunners near the campsite!

Look closely... there's two of them there!  I gave on a piece of bacon and he didn't share! He is a real considerate fellow!  I guess spring is the season for Roadrunner love!

We also took a drive further past the little "town" of Tortilla Flat further up on the Apache Trail, AZ Highway 88.  Here is a sped up video of the very scenic drive!

To see a full resolution video of the drive CLICK HERE. 

The road is closed at the top of the pass at the rest area due to washouts and damage to the road on Sept. 23, 2019.  CLICK HERE for the story.  For a video of the road damage, including some great drone footage, CLICK HERE.

We met a Ranger up there and asked about the road.  She says they will probably not re-open the road to vehicles, but leave it as a hiking and biking trail.  Next time we will bring the E-Bikes! There is a short walking trail at the rest area... We took a 360 with my phone at the end of the trail...

To see a full resolution view of the 360 video CLICK HERE. 

Here are some stills from the top of the pass...Click any photo to enlarge...

Here is a shot of some of the original stone work from the early 1900's...

This whole area is covered  in volcanic rocks of ash and lava produced by the eons of eruptions of the Superstition Volcanic Field... 

It was a fun trip, even though it was cool and windy!

We will be leaving Tortilla Flat on March 23 and moving back to Morenga Palms RV Park near Wenden, AZ as our last stop before beginning to work our  way North towards home.

Until Next Time!

 

POST #21-37 

Tortilla Flat, Continued! 

 ....an update of our last Post #21-36, with more photos and video!

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On March 10th, we  left White Tank Mountain Regional Park, AZ  and moved to a new place, Tortilla Campground, near the tiny settlement of Tortilla Flat, AZ -- Population 6! 

We really enjoy this area...the only "problem" was almost non-existent internet and cell coverage.  Now we are in a different location with good Verizon coverage and our Jetpack data has renewed.

The trip from White Tank was "just across town" but just across town in the Phoenix area was about 83 miles!

Here is a sped up video of the most scenic part of the trip--from the Lost Dutchman State Park area up to the Tortilla Campground..

To see a full resolution video of the drive CLICK HERE. 

We got a great spot, bordering the wash!  There is no electric hookup here, but water and sewer hookups are provided.  This is a Tonto National Forest Campground, so it is only $10 per night with the old folks discount!

This is a drone video of our campsite...

To see a full resolution view of the campsite drone video CLICK HERE. 

Here are two drone videos we filmed...

To see full resolution views of the above videos, CLICK HERE and HERE.

Tortilla Flat, just a short bike ride down the hill, is a remnant of an Old West Town, hidden among the remote reaches of the Tonto National Forest in the Superstition Mountain Range (The Supes!). Tortilla Flat started out as a stagecoach stop in 1904 and has survived floods and fires and is a popular day destination on the historic Apache Trail, AZ Highway 88.

Here is a drone video showing the town and the nearby campground...

The restaurant and some of the other buildings are wallpapered in dollar bills, must be thousands of them, left by visitors over the years...

We asked in the restaurant how any one dollar bills are in the building...they figured it's in the vicinity of $400,000.00!!

This is a popular and scenic day trip for folks from the Phoenix area.  The street is lined with cars and motorcycles daily, and the restaurant and mercantile are always full. 

We were at Tortilla Flat March 10 to March 23 and have more pictures and video we will save for the next post!  So one more Tortilla Flat Post!

Until Next Time!

 

POST #21-36 

On To Tortilla Flat, Deep In The Superstitions 

 ....a hidden gem, and a new place for us!

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On March 10th, we  left White Tank Mountain Regional Park, AZ  and moved to a new place, Tortilla Campground, near the tiny settlement of Tortilla Flat, AZ -- Population 6! 

It was "just across town" but just across town in the Phoenix area was about 83 miles!

We got a great spot, bordering the wash!  There is no electric hookup here, but water and sewer hookups are provided.  This is a Tonto National Forest Campground, so it is only $10 per night with the old folks discount!

This is our campsite, shown by the arrow above and the drone photo below.  You can see the little town of Tortilla Flat on the aerial photo above.  Just a short walk or bike ride down the hill... 

Tortilla Flat is a remnant of an Old West Town, hidden among the remote reaches of the Tonto National Forest in the Superstition Mountain Range (The Supes!). Tortilla Flat started out as a stagecoach stop in 1904 and has survived floods and fires and is a popular day destination on the historic Apache Trail, AZ Highway 88.

The restaurant and some of the other buildings are wallpapered in dollar bills, must be thousands of them, left by visitors over the years...

This is a popular and scenic day trip for folks from the Phoenix area.  The street is lined with cars and motorcycles daily, and the restaurant and mercantile are always full. 

We really enjoy this area...the only "problem" is almost non-existent internet and cell coverage here.  It took like an hour each to upload the photos seen here.  We have some great drone footage and road-cam footage ready to upload, but it just wont work in this location.

So this will be a short post.  We will add the rest of the photos and video when we get to a better spot with some connectivity.  Watch for the updated post soon!  You will love the videos!

Until Next Time!

  

 POST #21-35 

We Return To White Tank Mountain Regional Park! 

  ...One Of Our Favorites ...and scorpions!!

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On February 28th we moved from Cave Creek Regional Park back to White Tank Mountain Regional Park, AZ  We got a spot with great views!  This what we see when we wake up in the morning!

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At night we can look down on the city lights of Phoenix...

We were at this park earlier, from January 11th to the 19th (Mikeys Birthday!)  It was a short drive from Cave Creek, about 45 miles with a stop at Costco for gas.  Here is a sped up Lo-Resolution video of part of the drive...

For the full Hi-Resolution video click HERE...  Rather than go over details about White Tank Mountain Park again we have attached a Link to our post of a few weeks ago with details about the park.  I also found some video from CAMPGROUNDREVIEWS.COM of the park that gives an idea of the campground...see it HERE.

It's been quite warm here at White Tank most days, with highs in the upper 80's!  And when it warms up in the desert, the desert creatures are out and about more.  We found several Scorpions....got these photos

Think this one is the Arizona Bark Scorpion, the most venomous scorpion in North America. The venom causes severe pain, numbness and vomiting lasting 24 to 72 hours.  These scorpions are nocturnal and glow under UV light.   We carry a UV flashlight with us to look for these creatures.  And we always shake out our shoes before wearing them.  For some reason they like to hide in shoes!

The desert reptiles are showing up a lot more in the warm weather.  we found this Desert Spiny Lizard on a rock near our camper...

This hawk was on the big cactus nest to our camp watching us and the boys in their tents...

It would be beyond the capabilities of these guys to haul off one of the boys...Bill and Ted are a couple of chunks!

They get so tired from layin around that they need a nap!

Whenever we come here to White Tank we like to drive over to the end of the runway at Luke AFB and watch the Jets take off and land.  Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-35 Lightning II.  Here is some video we put together of the Jets...

Full resolution video of the jets can be found HERE.

We are here at White Tank until March 10th, when we will be moving to a place we have visited, but not yet camped at, Tortilla Flat Campground.

Until Next Time!