July 22, 2015 – near Mount Ord, AZ The 4 wheel drive trip today is to check out the mercury mines off the Mount Ord exit on the Beeline highway to Payson. In 2012 there was an extensive fire in the area and burned both of the old mining structures – another piece of Arizona…
February 25, 2015 Our 4 wheel drive trip took us to an area south of Morristown, which was fairly typical of low desert terrain. We drove through the dry river bed. We did find a few poppy flowers along the way. Next we went through Wickenburg and turned north on Rincon road. This took us…
June 25, 2014 In an effort to escape the heat of Phoenix we travelled to higher elevations in the Bradshaw mountains in search of the Desoto Mine. It is northwest of Cleator off of the Crown King road. The Desoto mine was opened in 1890-1972 and produced Cu, W, Ag, Au, Pb, Zn, and Fe.…
February 22, Ruby – Authentic Ghost Town The Phoenix Camera Club traveled to Ruby, AZ on a field trip. Ruby is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ruby is 50 miles south west of Tucson and 4 miles north of the Mexican border and is reached by at least 12 miles of gravel road…
Oct. 23, 2013 It was a glorious day for a road trip on the backroads through the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona. We started at Lake Pleasant and headed north, roughly paralleling I-17 but 30 miles further west. We drove past Castle Hot Springs and numerous foundations of old buildings connected with the mining days of…
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 Today we took a Four Wheel Drive trip with three vehicles to an area south of Superior, AZ. We were on state route 77 and stopped for a quick look at the Ray copper mine, which is an unbelievable sight. The mine is an open pit about 1.5 miles long. We…
Ophardt Photos 