Bruce and Connie wanted to take us for a ride to the Coke Ovens that are situated on a ledge out in the mountains just north of Florence Arizona. We have heard stories about this ride as far as its difficulty and some of the scarey ledges you need to traverse up and down and how rough the ride is. I really wasn't sure I wanted to go but our friends convinced us it was worth the trip. I must say i didn't sleep all that well the night before as I am a bit of a wimp as I was already worrying about whether I had the nerve to do this ride or not. Our friends Ann & Trent and Sharon & Craig weren't able to come and as an after thought, I think their guardian angels were on their shoulders that day! Connie and Bruce, Doug & I, Molly & Dale and Harvey and his friend Les went on the ride. As it has been so long since we have had rain, it was VERY dusty out there. Even wearing goggles and bandanas, we nearly choked on the dust during the ride. We started the trip out, riding at the rear and even keeping way back from the rider ahead, the dust was terrible! It was the hottest day we have had so far this winter - it reached 81 degrees!
I had to throw in a couple of pictures from a ride we did with Trent and Ann 2 days before the Coke Oven ride. We went out and traveled the washes looking for dead ironwood that we can use for clock bases. I just loved the dead honey mesquite tree against the sky and clouds.
We would just drive into a wash and then hike up it looking for both rocks and dead wood
This was the start of our ride to the coke ovens. Even as far back as we were you can see the dust. There wasn't a breath of air to help move the dust on
The first part of the ride was pretty good except for the dust so I was thinking people had exaggerated the difficulty of this ride
It started to get a bit on the rough side but nothing scarey, just a bit of a jolt to the spinal column!
As usual, the views were beautiful and I was enjoying our ride - little did I know what was ahead!
As we came over the ridge, we could see the cliffs of Box Canyon where we had gone for a ride the precious week. It was such a gorgeous site
We started up the hill and away from Box canyon heading to the Coke Ovens
This was the last picture I took before we got to the Coke Ovens. Doug kept telling me to take a picture but as the road got rougher, I was hanging on for dear life and there was no way I was going to take a picture!! I can't believe how scarey the last part of the ride was to the Coke Ovens. We only went about 5 miles but it took us over 2 hours!! We climbed the side of mountains (no road per say) we went up ledges 3 -4 feet high, over boulders, down hills so steep with ledges ranging from 2- 4 feet high. I was hanging on so tight that by the time we got to the Ovens, my arm and thigh muscles were so sore from being so tense. My stomach was in such knots, that if I had eaten anything I think I would have thrown up, I kept telling Doug I wasn't having fun and wanted to go home! What a whiner eh? There was no way we could turn around even though I wanted him to just leave me on the trail and pick me up on their way home!! I kept saying when we get to the Ovens, I needed to make a run for a bush in the desert and i needed toilet paper. i think I was entertaining Doug although I was dead serious!
The coke ovens in the distance as we are coming down the final ridge into the Gila River valley. The ovens are up on a bluff above the river. They were a site to see. They were actually built in 1882 (I just read this on the internet!) and still look remarkable. Just to see them from here took my mind off the final hill we had to go down!
This is me returning from a bathroom break in the desert shortly after we got here! I nearly didn't make it!!
This is a piece of history I copied form the internet explaining what the Coke Ovens were about: the five charcoal kilns were built around 1882 along the Gila River by
the Pinal Consolidated Mining Company to turn mesquite into charcoal to
be used in the ore smelting process. Charcoal burns hotter and longer
than the mesquite wood from which it was derived. Smelters preferred
coke, which is derived from coal, because it would burn even hotter and
longer than charcoal. The abundance of mesquite in this Gila Valley
location was exploited by the mining company in an attempt to obtain
economic advantage. It should be pointed out that "Coke Ovens" is a
complete misnomer and "Charcoal Kilns" would be most accurate to
describe these bee hive structures.
The internet said the ovens are 30 feet high and 75 feet in circumference. I was dwarfed when standing in the doorway. It was so nice and cool inside the ovens compared to out in the sun. We had our lunch here and I must say it is a good way to start a diet! My stomach was still rolling so much I could hardly eat anything. Also knowing we had to go home the same way we came in, my stomach was still in knots. The Coke Ovens were so cool to see, though I would have preferred being dropped in by helicopter and taken home the same way!
Connie and Bruce standing above the ovens looking through to us below. We left for the trip home soon after and I must say the trip out over the worst 5miles seem not so bad as going in other than one hill we had to go up with a 4 foot ledge we had to climb while going straight up. We struggled to get up this ledge. Connie and Bruce went before us and then watched us come up. We sort of got stuck half way up the ledge and Bruce says our front wheels were right off the ground straight in the air and our rear wheels were the only thing pushing. We seemed to be sliding over to the cliff edge on my side and I was nearly sitting on Doug's lap saying "oh no, oh no" I thought we were toast but our rear wheels suddenly caught and we were up and over the ledge back onto the hill. I was a wet noodle by then and every ledge after that was nothing in comparison. Bruce says we now have our "Extreme rider's" license, like I ever wanted that in the first place!!!!!!!~
We are on the level here so I get a chance to take a picture of all the colours in the rocks
It is amazing how green the desert still is even though it has been 2 months since we have had any rain
This was one of the shale hills with ledges we had to climb that wasn't a road of any kind, we made it up this one just fine even though I was holding my breath. It really doesn't look like much in this picture but it really was a tough climb.
Doug and I were both glad after the fact that we made the trip and saw the Coke Ovens but have no plans to do this trip again. Our friends Molly and Dale say the same thing. We made a pact that we would consider making the trip again in 25 years!!!
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