Open Pit Mining...an eyesore on the landscape

Friday 28 Mar 14

Woke this morning to 55 degrees.... just the way I like it!  Greg is still nursing his twisted ankle; I popped 2 more blisters under toenails last night so my feet are sore; but I went out for a 20 minute run just to stretch my legs (my toes did not appreciate that).  Greg has been finding lost items almost everywhere we go:  a flashlight, a wire meat encasement for the grill, a hatchet, butane lighters, silverware, camel bak water bladder..... lots of weird stuff others campers leave behind.  This morning on my run I found a hat that was left on one of the trails.  Who needs to go shopping, just go out for a run!

Copper Mountain Mine at Morenci AZ

We headed out of Safford at 10:00.  We are on our way through the Apache National Forest to the city of Alpine at 8000 feet elevation.  There is an RV park there that we are planning to stay at.  On the way to Alpine our journey takes us thru the mountains and thru the largest open pit copper mine in the world!  I took some pictures but they don't do it justice.  It goes on for miles and miles.  I think Greg said he read that it still produces tons of copper each day.  It was incredible to see.  The stark contrast between the mine and the natural landscape was unbelievable.  For our Alaska friends, if this is what the future looks like for Pebble Mine, then I don't want any part of it.

Copper Mountain Mine

Copper mountain Mine at Clifton AZ

We arrived in Alpine at 2:37.... lots of curvy mountain roads.  The highest area we passed thru was Hannagan Meadows at 9360 feet.  Still snow on the ground in some places here.  

Higher elevation with remains of
a fire.

Fire off in the distance toward Safford
where we just came from.

                         

We were going to overnight at Coronado RV park outside of Alpine but it was still early in the day so Greg decided to keep driving.  We could get into the White Mountains in 1-1/2 hours and there was a nice RV park there.  Nice drive took us into the Apache Indian Reservation.  We drove past the Sunrise Ski Area.  It looked like there were lots of runs and a pretty nice ski resort.  We ended up at Hon-Dah RV resort just outside of Pinetop-Lakeside area.  This is a HUGE RV park with over 300 sites.  Most of them look to be full-time campers here.  Across the street is a Casino and Hotel.  We are out in the middle of no-where!  It is so strange to see this big development here.  We walked over to the Casino but didn't play any slots.  Just walked around.  It is amazing!  Went back to the RV and grilled chicken and annaheim peppers.  I made gluten free parmesan biscuits and canned corn with steamed spinach.  We even watched a movie on TV (X2 more of X-men series).  I went to bed early but Greg stayed up and watched almost all of it!

We're # 20 of 336 sites!

Entrance to RV park with Casino just
across the road.

Tomorrow we are going to drive up the road to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.  It looks like we are in for cold and windy days the further North and West we go.

D&G