They suited us up in slickers, hardhats, battery packs and lamps. Then we straddled a mini train car, to take us down the narrow tunnels deep into the mine, or “the hole”, as our guide called it. He should know, being a 3rd generation miner, who spent 31 years working underground.

The site is Bisbee, in southern Arizona, and we’re at the old Queen Mine — no longer active, except for tours. Bisbee was a huge mining center, primarily for copper, but they also got silver, gold, turquoise, and various other minerals. There are 2300 miles of tunnels criss-crossing, level over level under the hillsides. Over the life of the mines (about a century), they produced over 8 billion pounds of copper. Billion! That’s a lot of ore.

The tour got off to an exciting start when the train derailed before most of us even got into the tunnel. It seems like these guys are used to it though, and they were able to quickly lever the cars back onto the tracks. We were just happy the derailment happened outside, rather than far underground!

Then it was a jerky ride deep into the mine, with occasional stops where the guide would point things out to us, and talk about what mining work was like — both in the old days and now.

The saddest thing was the mules, that used to pull carts of ore from the depths of the mine. The mules were kept in the mine for 12-15 years, and not allowed to see the light of day. The thinking then was that if you let them out, they wouldn’t want to go back. (And who could blame them?) So there were stables underground, and these poor mules lived in the chilly darkness most of their lives. Many went blind, and only after they couldn’t work any more were they allowed out.

Fortunately, today’s mining practices are a lot more humane, safety conscious, and environmental than back then. But it’s a job I’m sure glad I don’t have to do. An hour in the mine was enough for me!

If you’re ever in Bisbee, consider the Queen Mine tour a must-see. And dress warm! The mine was a cool 47 degrees, so shorts and sandals = shivering in the hole.

I just got back from a Tucson hike with our sister company, Sol Journeys. What a wonderful way to spend the day!

The hike is in the heart of the Sonoran desert. In fact, it’s very close to Saguaro National Park, where the forest of tall saguaro cacti always reminds me of Deadwood, South Dakota.

Why, you might ask? Tucson isn’t a whole lot like the Black Hills. But my memories of Deadwood from childhood, are of coming over a hillside covered in charred tree trunks, with all their branches removed by a forest fire. Coming over the hill on Gates Pass Road, with the saguaro “tree trunks” covering the hillside, brings that deep memory to the surface. It’s there for a moment, then it’s gone and I’m back in the desert again.

Anyway, back to the future… or at least back to this weekend. We had hikes for different activity levels, and then ended up with a gourmet picnic, featuring southwest goodies like dried beef from a famous local restaurant.

The piece de resistance? Getting a massage from the talented May, a masseuse with the nearby Canyon Ranch spa. Being out in the desert on a sunny day, with fresh air, exercise, fine food and a massage. Highly recommended!

Sol Journeys — Taste of the desert hikes

Bush, that is.

Creosote bush is the most common shrub in the Sonoran desert around Phoenix. When it rains, they release a powerful fragrance, and the desert takes on their characteristic scent. When it’s not raining (most of the time), you have to sniff it out yourself. The right sniffing technique* turns a “what’s the big deal” sniff into a “wow”.

This is one amazing desert plant. It’s common in the hottest US deserts, and ranges into South America. It can live where temperatures frequently top 120, and where rainfall is non-existent for over a year at a time. In drought, it uses only special smaller leaves, that can survive losing 77% of their moisture. They protect their territorial water rights by allelopathy — they poison their young. Mature plants release a toxin through their roots to prevent offspring from growing too close.

A fascinating plant, and it smells nice, too! Perhaps a bit overpowering, and it might not sell well as a perfume, but as a fresh desert scent, it’s wonderful.

The sniffing occurred when I was out looking at rock art. I also ran across a flock of Gambel’s quails on the trail. Unfortunately this didn’t turn into a great photo of either quails or creosote (the bush on the right), but you’ll get the idea.

* So what’s the technique? 1) Sniff normally, so you have a baseline for comparison. 2) Cup your hands around a branch of leaves, and breathe on them, like you’re fogging a mirror. 3) Sniff again — wow!

This only works with creosote bush. If you’re looking for a glue-sniffing technique, you’ll have to go back to Google. If you’re ever in Phoenix (perhaps at the start of our weekend getaway Sedona tour?), give a creosote bush a whiff!

As an Arizona resident, my jaw dropped when I read this in an article from the Sedona Verde Valley Times:

Coconino County learned a painful lesson when the topic of water was brought up in a land-use approval process and permits were denied. Even though water was not the reason for the denial, developers appealed and won; claiming water use was discussed during the approval process.

Yavapai County will not make that mistake, according to Supervisor Davis. It is a no-no to talk water in our state at most levels.

The gag order is based on an antiquated-Arizona water law dating to 1933 when the Arizona Cotton Company sued the State of Arizona and won a judgment establishing, ‘first in use, first in right.’ In other words, ‘take what you want with no limits.’ This law still stands.”

How can it be that here, in the driest state in the nation, with a population that’s booming, it’s ILLEGAL to talk about water usage in land-use discussions?? It’s mind-boggling. Fortunately, there is a recent bill that will enable many counties or cities to avoid the gag order, but others will remain in the dark ages, unable to even raise the topic.

Equally astounding is that the state of Arizona has no state-wide water management plan. Shouldn’t this be a high priority, out here in the desert?

The Colorado River can’t supply ever-increasing populations in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles forever, and now Colorado wants to increase their share before it even gets to us. (Gee, maybe they’re growing too!)

Sedona currently relies on ground water for its supply, since they don’t get a share of the Colorado. All was fine, but now cities higher up like Flagstaff are digging wells 3000-4000 feet deep, which tap into the water that Sedona uses.

Read the article: Sedona no longer first on water chain

If you have any other information to share on this, please post in the comments. I’d love to hear some good news!

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We head up here a few times a year on our Sedona weekend getaways. Whenever I find items of interest for Sedona travelers, I’ll post in our Sedona category. As Arizona cities continue to grow, it will be interesting to see how they reconcile the competing water needs.

“Over here! Look, it’s a scorpion!”

My niece was excited about her find, and we all gathered round, watching the tiny scorpion scurry. He seemed terrified, and who could blame him? Having his nice cozy rock lifted, and a bunch of huge faces staring down, and somebody kept waving that stick at him! A scorpion’s life isn’t always easy.

My sister was in Arizona with her family, all down from Canada for early Christmas. After the exciting stuff (i.e. kids opening their gifts), we set out on a desert walk. The kids were exploring, and turning over lots of rocks in search of cool discoveries. Their dad was closely supervising, to ensure that no harm came to anyone or anything. I was impressed by how the kids respected nature. “Don’t hurt it — it’s a living creature. We’ll put it back just the way it was.” Such good kids. (Not that I’m biased, or anything!)

All in all, this short walk turned up 2 scorpions, a centipede, a millipede, a spent shotgun shell, plenty of ants, and all sorts of under-rock wonders I would never have seen. If Debbie and I had taken the same walk by ourselves, we would have talked a lot, but we would not have turned over a single rock!

The scorpions would still have been there, but we would have missed them. It made me think about how much else we miss everyday. The world is full of fascinating things all around us, but we’re just not paying attention.

I’ll have to start looking under more rocks.

PS. The picture is from a different outing a few days earlier, when the kids went exploring around Tucson with their grandma. Yes, it was cold even here in Arizona, but beautiful nonetheless!

The conventional story is that the ancestral puebloans (commonly known as Anasazi) who used to inhabit the four corners area of the southwestern US, did not have alcohol until it was introduced to the area by the Spanish in the 16th century.

A new study casts doubt on this, suggesting that they may have made beer from fermented corn kernels. Sophisticated scientific analysis of their clay pots has shown the presence of organic chemicals that are consistent with this theory.

Did early Southwestern Indians ferment corn and make beer?

The southwest is full of fascinating history. We visit Anasazi ruins on our Santa Fe & Taos women’s trip, as well as a pueblo inhabited by their descendants. I’ll post any related items of interest in our Santa Fe category.

I’m down in Tucson, Arizona for a very special occasion. Our Costa Rica Adventurous Wenches (aka the CRAWs) from our 2005 trip got together here for a reunion. It was a great occasion!

We had people fly in from New York, California, Canada, and more. Delores (the Tucson local) handled all the arrangements, and kept us enticed during the months of waiting with glorious desert photos. It seemed like we all just picked up from where we left off — not like 2.5 years had gone by since the last time we were together. What a wonderful group of women!

What about toucans? A couple of people sprang surprises… Lynne created a stained glass masterpiece using tiles she purchased in Costa Rica, and presented it to me to hang at Adventurous Wench. She brought a special suitcase all the way from Canada with this VERY carefully packed. Susan had gifts for everyone — Christmas ornaments commemorating our reunion. How sweet is that? You’ll notice that both of these feature toucans, which is also the trip design for our Costa Rica trips.

We had a great time reminiscing about Costa Rica, catching up on each other’s lives, and exploring the desert. And of course plenty of fine food and drink!

As one of the CRAWs who couldn’t make it said, “Adventurous Wenches, Awesome Women”. How true!

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On our Costa Rica women’s adventures, you’re bound to see colorful toucans, along with a myriad of other tropical wildlife. Maybe you’ll meet some awesome CRAWs too!

Mmming, because we were munching on fresh strawberries.

Oohing, because we had amazing views as we munched, from the top of a mesa near Sedona. The trail to get here involved some climbing, but it’s well worth the effort! Scenery like this is why Sedona was voted the most beautiful place in the country. Pictures simply can’t do it justice.

And ouching? We’d walked by some dead century plants (agaves) on the mesa top, and talked about how they live their entire life just to shoot up one enormous spike of blooms, then they die. They go out in a blaze of glory!

Just as we arrived at the view spot, one of our group stepped on a dead agave, thinking it would crumple easily. The spine was as sharp as ever though, and it stuck all the way through the bottom of her hiking boot into her foot. Then as she lost her balance, she fell against a cholla cactus. Ouch!! She said the dozens of little spikes were nothing compared to the big one in her foot. It was a doozy.

Fortunately we were able to extract the spines and get her back on her feet again. All’s well that ends well, and before we left the mesa top, she was oohing with the rest of us.

Moral of the story? Watch out for pointy things in the desert. Even the dead ones can get you!

We do Red Rock Getaways to Sedona a few times a year, and the climb to this mesa top is one of our favorite hikes. Just watch your step!