MOGOLLON RIM AND CAVE

On Nov 9 the Jeepers Creepers took their first run of the 2016 - 2017 season in a six vehicle caravan led by Jerry and Nancy Grout. The announced destinations were the Roosevelt Lake Overlook off the Young Road and the cave on the Malicious Gap Road in the Mogollon Rim country. The  Young Road is designated as a state highway, no. 288 . It is paved for a few miles, semi paved for more and smooth gravel for most of its length. It is a scenic road to drive if you are not in a hurry. This is the third time the group has taken this run in the 11 years I have been an active member.

The first time we visited both, the second time we visited the overlook but could not find the cave for not going far enough on Malicious Gap Road,  and this time a third of the group visited the cave.

 

Our coffee break was in the Miami city park. Above are Bill and Mickey Wilkinson, guests of Austin and Mary Ellen Hulcher.

Other members making the trip are shown below: first row, Jerry and Nancy Grout and Jay Olson, with Diane Olson behind him in white;

second row – the Hulcher group and Denise Carlson; and third row,  Steve Carlson, Bill and Mike Carter.

 

 

 

We crossed the Salt River as it empties into Lake Roosevelt. This view is upstream.

 

 

Here is the entrance to the Lake Roosevelt overlook, FR 488. We passed it so we could have more time looking for the cave.

 

 

We passed the rugged Sierra Ancha mountain wilderness area.

 

 

If we looked over our shoulders on the way up, we would have seen the light brown  overlook area in the middle distance.

 

 

Continuing, we had a traffic delay for work being done on the road, apparently to remove landslide material over the road. The backhoe loaded two large trucks with loose material while vehicles waited, so the delay was considerable.

 

 

After we turned left on the Malicious Gap road, FR 609, Jerry found a great spot for lunch. Here we are packing up after lunch and patrolling our area to leave it pristine for the next visitors.

 

After the group broke up, Austin Hulcher was the one who found the X on the ponderosa to mark the short trail to the cave. The X was augmented here with paper to make it more noticeable.  The landmark is 10.5 miles from the intersection of the Malicious Gap and Young roads.

 

Here is the proof that I hiked down to the entrance to the cave. At the upper right is the edge of the  flat area where the marker tree is located.

The group split up near here – the Grouts, Carlsons and Olsons found a good road (FR 416) to descend to Lake Roosevelt and exit the area through Punkin Center,  the Hulchers and Carters continued to Young and had dinner in Payson, and I returned the way we had come.

MAYAN PALACE RESORT AND PUERTO PENASCO

Late in October a  group of 15 of us from Mesa drove to the Mayan Palace resort at Puerto Penasco Mexico, better known as Rocky Point to us gringos.  It is a 5 hour drive from the Mesa area. When driving into Mexico,  getting Mexican automobile  liability insurance for the period of the visit  is a good idea.

Next to the original buildings of the Mayan Palace resort is a new 5 story building, part of which is developed as a companion upscale resort, Mayan Grand. One of its amenities is the Lazy River, a circular canal –  shaped swimming pool where pumps keep the water circulating so that guests on large inner tubes can float around the circle. It is open only to guests at Mayan Grand and those who have listened to a timeshare pitch there.

 

 

Mike and Barbara Williams in Lazy River.

 

 

Puerto Penasco  was a sleepy fishing village on the Gulf of California which became a popular resort area. The beaches are quite wide, particularly at low tide. Above in the distance is Bird Island where tour boats take gringos for bird watching and snorkeling.

 

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Left to right, Laura,  Arla, Barbara behind post, Mike and Jo at a palapa on the beach. I had fun flying a traditional  kite there.

 

 

Here we are gathering our strength after downtown shopping  on a warm afternoon.

 

 

Above and below are views of the main souvenir shopping area taken from a second story balcony.

 

 

Next was dinner at the Point restaurant  built on pilings in the  downtown area.

Left to right around the table – Tom and Elsie Holz, Arla Olson, Barbara and Mike Williams, Jeff Clyde and Jo Strong.

 

 

Five of us rode in our Prius one afternoon to town (20 miles) to shop and have dinner. Above far left is the main old shopping street extending toward the port  with the seafood markets at the far end.

 

 

These shrimp for sale are over 3” long.  

 

 

Here we are at dinner at the Lighthouse restaurant on a high bluff near downtown.. Here are Arla Olson Jeff Clyde, Jo and me.  The restaurant specializes in sea  food, and three of us had shrimp prepared in various ways with spices.

 

Back at the resort, we had some beautiful sunsets.

 

VISIT WITH WEDLAKES, COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT, RIDGWAY RAILROAD MUSEUM, AND FALL COLORS

 

On our way to the San Juan Mountains for our annual visit, on September 28 we met the Wedlakes in Grand Junction for a little sightseeing and a fine lunch at their home. We parked the motor home with Jeep attached in a parking lot at a closed supermarket and they met us in their car.

 

 

They drove us up to the Colorado National Monument, an area of eroded red sandstone typical to  the Colorado Plateau, literally on the outskirts of Grand Junction. Above shows Grand Mesa on the horizon, the world’s largest mesa  we were told.

 

 

View from the Visitors Center showing the water course which eroded  this deep canyon.

 

Jerry and Jill Wedlake and Jo

Jerry and I were good friends in grade school in Beloit. We try to get together every year we go to the San Juan Mountains.

 

 

Liberty Cap formation so called because climbers plant the U S flag on the top every Fourth of July.

 

 

At the Ridgway Railroad Museum this authentic replica of the Rio Grande Southern’s Galloping Goods no. 1 is on permanent display. It is operated on a short narrow gauge track.

 

Recently the shed roof has been added to protect the cars, restored and unrestored, from some of the elements and more track was laid.

 

I love to drive the county road between Ridgway and Ouray . Most of the way it is on the roadbed of the Denver & Rio Grand RR branch to Ouray. This old mill is on the road.

 

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These views are along U S 550, the Million Dollar Highway, north of Red Mountain Pass. While the fall colors were a bit past their prime while we were there, even on a cloudy day they were spectacular. I particularly  like the ones tinged with red.

 

DAY TRIP TO MAGGIE GULCH AND CLEAR LAKE

We  parked in Ouray (7,800 ft.) for visiting Silverton (9,300 ft.) and exploring the area again.  For the first few days we had rainy mornings, with enough clearing to do some sightseeing in the afternoon. This day we drove up Maggie Gulch to its head, and on the way back to Ouray also drove up to Clear Lake. Both were in and out roads. 

 

 

Leaving Silverton on the Eureka road, we passed the Mayflower mill. It was in use until the Sunnyside mine finally closed after being in production about 30 years. The mill has been stabilized and somewhat restored by the San Juan County Historical Society for tours. The nearby Old Hundred mine also has very good tours. Despite millions of dollars being spent for drifting tunnels and building a large mill, it never was a paying mine.

 

We continued toward Eureka in the wide valley of Animas River. Tracks of the Silverton Northern railroad ran on the far side of the canyon past Eureka to Animas Forks.

 

Here we began our 3000 ft. climb up Maggie Gulch. Note the ore bucket on the cables high above the road.

 

At the end of the road a little mine machinery remains.  A foot trail begins here going to the continental divide on the far ridge.

 

This is all that remains of the mill.

 

 

 

 

Going back, our road winds down to the bottom of the canyon and continues to the right.The road at the  left goes up to another mine.

 

 

Later that afternoon Jo suggested that we visit Clear Lake.

 

 

Our road to Clear Lake winds around  after many switchbacks. This is near the top.

 

 

The South Mineral road is in the bottom of the canyon snaking its way to the Bandora Mine. The 13,000 ft. Beattie peak on the far horizon is popular with climbers.

 

 

Here is another example of green, yellow and red blending in turning aspen leaves.

 

Here is our destination, Clear Lake, elevation 12,000 ft.. The road is about 8 miles long and takes an hour to drive.

I fished the lake several times in past years, with little luck. In past years even in August there usually were snow fields going down to the lake.

 

 

Clear Lake is drained by the stream going over this unusual falls.

 

On the way down back to South Mineral Road and 550, sunlight briefly illuminated more nice aspen trees.

ENGINEER AND CINNAMON PASSES

On October 2 we made the 180 mile trip from Ouray to Silverton, through  Animas Forks, over Engineer Pass to Lake City and back to Silverton on Cinnamon Pass.There is a shorter way to go, but it involves driving 5 miles on road so rocky that the tourist jeeps avoid it. We drove it last year, and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to go the 5 miles.

 

 

Animas Forks and California Gulch from the Engineer Pass road.

 

 

View of many 13,000 ft. and higher peaks from Engineer Pass, 12,800 ft.

 

 

In the distance is the road down Henson Creek canyon to Lake City, made famous by Alferd Packer.

Google his name for a fascinating true story.

 

Good views of yellow and reddish aspens.

 

 

Good stretch of read dropping down to Lake City.

 

This creek has a short run above ground

 

Here we are descending from Cinnamon Pass bound for Animas Forks.

The aspens in the foreground have lost all of their leaves while some of  those in the background still have theirs.

 

One on highway  550 with sharp eyes,  while north of the entrance to the Engineer Pass road,  can look across the Uncompaghre  canyon to see this cabin with washing out on the line to dry and a sign reading “Antiques 9 – 5:30”

This is a continuing practical joke. I am told that someone in Ouray makes the difficult hike to the cabin every year to hang out fresh clothing, giving the impression to gullible passers by that someone lives there and sells antiques. This shot was taken with  a 12x telephoto lens.