Day 57-59 - Dragoooooooon

Spent one more day at Kartchner, did a tour in the area on the moto and stopped off at the nearest town on the way back for some supplies.  Nothing too exciting.

Next day it was off to the Dragoon Mountains, just a stone throw from Tombstone.  This is where the famous Indian Chief Cochise is buried, and the county it resides in bares his name.  The drive into the base of the mountain range is about 10 miles of corduroy gravel.  Good thing I packed enough supplies for 5 days, I wasn't driving this road more than twice (out & back).

Found a nice site for my camp, and set-up the trailer.  The Dragoons aren't huge, but they are unique.

It was late afternoon by the time I had everything set-up and unloaded, so just a short moto ride was in order.  I toured a few of the surrounding gravel roads looking for opportunities for a longer ride.  I was expecting very few people here.  I was right.  But, the nearby road was a regular route for the border patrol.  About once per hour a white & green SUV would pass by from one direction or the other.  They didn't bother me, or even ever stop me to chat - a couple of times they actually pulled over so I could pass.

That night the sky on the horizon was red (...sailor's delight), but directly above was another story.  Strong winds prevailed for a couple of hours.

 View is to the west (of course), across the valley towards Kartchner. 

What I forgot to do while in Tucson was fix the generator.  Completely forgot.  Well, same problem that night, so the entertainment stopped in a few hours when my laptop battery died.  I had my morning task booked.  A pack of coyotes howled away just a short distance from the trailer.  I couldn't spot them, but they had to within about 300'.  Their chorus only lasted about a minute, then silence.

Morning.  Out comes the generator.  Spend a couple of hours taking almost completely apart.  Cleaned the carburetor (twice), cleaned out the jets, air filter, etc.  Still won't go.  Might just be spending the night with no heat.  Oh well, off for a ride.

There was a couple of mine sites in the area I wanted to visit.  Should be a good ride with some moderately technical 4x4 roads.

The first site was about 15 miles up into the Dragoons.  A windmill, well, and a few remnants from the mining days still remained.

There was also a completely open mine shaft.  You don't see these very often in BC.  Most are filled in, or gated off.

I continue up the mountain, and the road quickly turns from decent gravel to 4x4.  And it gets steeper.  And eroded.  Time for some fun.  I open up the throttle a bit and attack the hill.  Up.  Up.  Up.  Eventually I get to the top.  It's a great view West across the valley.

A short traverse on the far side of the climb and I find a group of large boulders.  No choice but to scramble up and take in the view.

The entrance was a bit of a squeeze.

All worth it though

Leftover homage to suspension

 A few more miles of descending and I come across the second mine, and terminus point of the road.

More left-over mining infrastructure



 Steeper than it looks.

Didn't hike down this slope because I wasn't sure if I could get back up.

And, another open mine shaft - this one completely vertical.  I dropped a couple of rocks down this one, and could here them bouncing off the walls for about 3.5 seconds.  That relates into about 60 meters (or almost 200 feet) deep.  Let's knock off a third due to the rocks not taking a straight path - they bounced off the walls - and we're left with about 40 meters (130 feet).  Don't want to fall down there.

On the return I noticed the first mine shaft had a twin.  It was facing the up-hill direction, so was hidden on the way in.

These were about the best finds on the ride.  I toured some other roads, but there was nothing special.  Lots of dead ends, and some decent scenery.  Starting to run low on gas, time to head back.

That night was a cold one.  Good thing I had two big blankets.  Not a huge loss though, as the riding here was not what I was expecting.  Time to move on.