Old Mine Shafts

 

On our last full day in Arizona the kids, Jack and I went for a short hike near the house.  I wanted to show them a nearby spire where I once had wrist rocket fights with my brothers.  It looks like an old volcanic cone and pokes up like a mesa.  When I was a kid we called it the 'citadel', and I think all of us brothers used to imagine ourselves as cornered 'Loius L'Amour' heros fighting off the bad guys from the top.

So we climbed the citadel and took in the view from the top.  Kind of a scary climb and I'm impressed that I used to scamper up the thing as a 13 year old.  But on the hike we also visited a number of old mine shafts.  The citadel obviously was associated with some hydrothermal activity and there is a copper/silver mine at its base.  I had forgotten how big this mine once was - and with my 'archaeological survey goggle's' on I found the old road to the mine and the cement pads for the shaft elevator gear.

The kids were super intrigued by the mine shafts and adits and on the walk back to the house we visited another 2 old copper mines.  Neither shaft quite as developed as the one near the citadel.  I realized that the place is littered with old mines - in Alaska all of these old mines would be considered significant archaeological sites.  I wonder if the same thing is true of Arizona.

Patrick

top of the citadel

On top of the 'Citadel'

Silver/copper mine shaft

Stuey at the adit entrance