Our weekly ATV trip - Martinez Canyon

Hi everyone,

Another week gone by and we are still having fun. The weather turned as of yesterday though and the temperatures plummeted. On Wednesday when we went for our ride, it was 28 degrees. Today our high reached about 14 degrees. We are between 15-20 degrees F below normal for Apache Junction and it is going to stay like this for the next week. We actually had the furnace on today it was so cool!

We have had a pair of cardinals visit us in the backyard a couple times this past week. They are a very timid bird so difficult to get a picture of.This is the female cardinal.

They are such a pretty bird but the male is a much brighter red than the female. He wasn't around when Doug took these pictures so we will just have to keep trying to get him in the picture!

Here we are heading out on our Wednesday drive. It was a beautiful, sunny day

We are driving through the small community of Queen Creek. They have a beautiful golf course we drive along side of heading out to the mountains

We are now away from civilization and heading into the hills. You can see the road heading on up the side of the hill if you look closely

We are heading towards the far hills that are jutting out in the distance

We are staying well back from the riders ahead of us as it is so dusty

A quick stop to take a layer off as it warmed up very quickly

We are having a discussion as to where we are headed next

Our friends Connie and Bruce from Lethbridge are here now as is Connie's brother Wes so our group is bigger this week

We heading way back in the hills again and the views are just endless

We are getting closer to those sandstone out cropping's I took a picture of earlier that seemed so far away

You can see the hair turn road we are traveling, we have just come around the corner and you can see Molly and Dale coming down the hill above us

We were driving along and went under an Ocotillo bush and a branch decided to hitch a ride with us. Doug is trying to get the spikes from the branch to let loose and free up our whip flag

Doug finally has the branch free and he is trying to gently throw the branch off the side of the road without puncturing his fingers with the thorns!

We are getting even closer to the sand stone out croppings

Looking back we can see for miles

We are now pretty well at the base of the outcroppings at 3000 ft above sea level

We are stopped having a lunch break 

We look like a pretty cool group eh?

We had to get a picture with the out croppings in the back ground

We are now heading down the other side of the mountain heading to Martinez Canyon, we are around the turn and the others are still above us

You can see the road winding around the cacti

Trent and Ann look like they are driving off into the sunset!

You can see the many trails we can potentially take up ahead of us

I just love the way the soil naturally stipples to prevent soil loss when they have monsoon rains

We are heading towards another set of hills in the distance

We are just coming up to the entrance to Martinez Canyon. It has taken us 5 hours to get this far!

The scenery is absolutely spectacular as there is a wash to the right of us with a bit of water trickling though so everything is still green. The deciduous trees are changing clour so made for a beautiful palette of colours

We are actually going through the wash here and the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it is lovely and cool

A piece of old mining equipment has washed down from the old mine site to here just from the rains that swell the wash

We are in Martinez Canyon, standing at a tunnel entrance looking out. This tree just struck me as so neat looking, I had to take a picture

Martinez Canyon is an old mining settlement that had a very active silver mine in the late 1800's - early 1900's. Histery says this tunnel into the mountains was the brothel. It was very dark in the tunnel but Doug had a flashlight so we all went in and through to the back entrance. Very interesting to say the least.

This was the back exit from the tunnel

The back exit of the tunnel came out just behind the trees. It is quite hidden until you know it is there

One of the old miner's cabins still standing in the settlement

The spectacular hills surrounding the canyon.

Another old building made mostly of stone

The old cottonwood tree is leaning into the cabin but hasn't knocked it over yet

I was standing at the take-out window but no one was serving me!

Look at how the peak of the house is being pushed out by the weight of the tree leaning on the house. It is absolutely amazing that the cabin hasn't crumpled from the weight

Everywhere you looked there were spectacular ridges of red rock

The old silver processing plant. Behind it was a sluice box from high in the hills where the actual mine was and where they sent the ore down to the plant below

Looking at the processing plant from another angle. It is slowly crumbling away

Doug walking up a tailings pile towards the head of the canyon

This is just above the mine site and settlement

We are now heading back out of the canyon. It was a very treacherous drive, some scarey cliff hanging and climbing over boulders. I was amazed at what our ATV's could do.

Some spots were tight turns between boulders and then right down a steep incline. It really was fun and the adrenaline rush kept us going!

The eprson in the lead, Wes, had to direct us up and over boulders so we didn't tip and roll

Wes found a tarantula and brought t over  to show us. Needless to say I was bailing out of the ATV to get as far away from him as possible! Ugh I can hardly look at the picture let alone the real thing!!

We left at 0900 in the morning and arrived home at 5:35 pm. It was a lonmg day and the sun was setting as we made the last part of our trek home

It was a lovely way to end our trip! We all went home, showered and spruced ourselves up and then went out for dinner at a Mexican Cantina. We had a wonderful meal and were ready for bed when we all parted company!

Thursday I was back to decorating our yard for Christmas. I thought the palm tree needed some decoration!

Doug is finishing off the last few strings of lights

We are finally all done and plan on the big light up later in the evening

The Dixon's house ready for an Arizona Christmas

One of our new dwarf Mediterranean palms planted in the side yard

Our new lemon tree planted between the orange trees
That is all the news for now. I will post again in a few days as we are off to the Apache Junction Christmas parade tonight so plan on taking a few pictures.