OATMAN, ARIZONA

 Trip to Oatman,

The original Route 66

 

The views down into the town are amazing.

It's hard to believe the rugged, narrow 2 lane road was the 

original Route 66.

 

 The town is known for the burros that were left behind 

when the miners left the territory.

They get fed at all the town's businesses

and are the primary tourist attraction.

The whole town utilizes the alternate names of a donkey/burro.

"Sign of the Times"

This was a thriving mining town with a population of 5000 in 1918,

 and  50 in 1968 after the mines were closed.

Dinner at the hotel -

The story of the dollar bills was that when the miners had a good day, they would prepay their food for the week by pinning the money to the wall, ceiling, etc..

Locals say that there have been times of removing all the dollars and contributing to charity and let all the tourists continue the tradition.

 

Its a stretch to say that the road in to the town is a Highway -

more like a small country road with so many switchbacks!

We came on a crowded New a Years weekend.

Such pretty scenery!

Little Finland with St George Jeepers

Our trip to Gold Butte National Monument took us to:

 Little Finland (also known as Hobgoblin's Playground and Devil'sFire), 

7 Keyholes Canyon, 

and Devils Throat

We had an easy stop (i.e. no climbing) before reaching Little Finland

good Petroglyphs

Little Finland has such interesting shapes of the sandstone formed by erosion into 'thin fins'  (nothing to do with the country of Finland.) 

Our first entrance shows the steep sides of the sandstone and the expanse of the area.

Note the size of the people in the distance.

Surprising to see all these palm trees along the base of the rocks and the deep cracks along the entire base.

So many intriguing shapes-

Fun with friends

The lunch bunch - we had 13 vehicles and 2 dogs today.

(all well behaved!)

This stop is into the 

7 Keyholes Canyon.

After parking at the top and a short but steep trail down,

the rest of the trail was very easy.

The split in the sandstone rock has resulted in 

hollowed out bottom section  giving shapes similar to Zion's Subway Canyon.

Since there is so little water in this region, 

we wonder how it gets its unique shape.

You can see why it got the name,

Keyhole Canyon

and now - a petrified giant lizard??

Last stop is Devil's Throat.

The Devil’s Throat is a great example of geology in action. In the early 1900’s, during the Gold Butte mining boom, cowboys and miners in the area suddenly saw a large cloud of dust off in the distance. Upon investigation, they found a large sinkhole where once had been open desert! The sinkhole, known as the Devil’s Throat, has grown over the years, and is currently between 110-120' across and quite deep. It is immense!

Heading home.

On the way out we were lucky enough to see a few wild burros.

The story is that the miners left the area when the mining era ended, 

but left their burros to survive.

(its always a wonder that they do because the area is so immense and dry)

A great day with the St. George Jeepers

 A trip to Lion's Mouth Cave with petroglyphs,

Desert Mounds Mine,

Old Iron Town

Page Ranch House

This brick home was built in 1898 with the bricks that were made 

and fired from clay behind the house.

The house served as an informal hotel for travelers and as a boarding house 

for men working in the nearby mines.

Lion's Mouth Cave

As we approach the rock formation from the road, 

with a little imagination you can see a lion's head and open mouth.

There was a short hike to get to the cave that has the petroglyphs.

 

There are such pretty views from the cave.

Actually, they are pictographs.

The markings of the natural stone are interesting!

I think the kids scrambled up easier than the rest of us!

We always enjoy these excursions.

Desert Mounds Mine

Then a short drive into the mountains west of Cedar City 

with an open pit mine that has some of the richest iron ore deposits 

in the United States.

The deposits were discovered in the 1870's but did not start producing iron 

until 1924 and are now not being mined because of 

lower production costs overseas.

Old Iron Town

Beehive Style Charcoal Kiln 

(these kilns named Utah as 'the beehive state')

This produced charcoal from the local juniper and pinon pine trees.

The charcoal was used to smelt the iron ore into pig iron.

(pig iron??- look it up!😊)

Foundations left over from the Old Iron Town,

now on the Register of Historic Places.

We had a wonderful day with the 

St. George Jeepers!

Capitol Reef National Park- Pickin' Peaches

This is one of our favorite things to do when the timing is right!

Today, the orchards are preserved and protected as part of the 

Fruita Rural Historic Landscape listed on the 

National Register of Historic Places.

Park staff maintain the historic character of these extensive orchards using heritage techniques. The same flood irrigation ditches pioneers dug in the 1880s water the trees today. Pioneers sometimes lost trees and entire orchards to floods and droughts.

We enjoy the picking and the eating!!

Oh, these are so good and juicy!

It reminds us of the times we could pick the ripe mangos in Hawaii.

(juice running down our faces😂)

We managed to get a short drive before the rain started, 

but were not able to hike to the Cassidy Arch.

It is said that the arch is named for Butch Cassidy  

who used to hide out in the canyon's nooks and crannies with the Sundance Kid.

We didn't attempt to hike the trail because storm warnings abounded.

( it's good to stay in when it rains for the whole day)