Hike to Victoria Mine and the Lost Cabin - Organ Pipe National Monument

On Sunday morning, March 12, our dear friends George and Nan and Gaila and Dick all departed, headed their separate ways on further adventures.  We didn't get as early a start as we would have liked, but saying goodbye to friends is more important, so we moved fast to get to the trailhead as early as we could, knowing it would be a four hour hike in 90F sun.  We drove the 20 miles or so down to Organ Pipe National Monument and essayed an 8.5 mile hike to see the Arizona Mine site and the Lost Cabin site.  The Organ Pipe National Monument brochure told us that we could find mining ruins and the remains of an old stone storehouse at the Arizona Mine, and more mining ruins and the remains of a stone cabin at Lost Cabin.  That was good enough for us!

The following history of the Victoria Mine is taken from Victoria Mine," by Ken Shroyer, posted at https://organpipehistory.com/orpi-a-z/the-victoria-mine/:

"Beginning in the 1890s, the Victoria Mine was the center of ... sporadic mining of gold and silver in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument region. While the most extensive efforts occurred between the 1890s and the 1910s, periodic mining efforts took place through 1976, operating under a special use permit from the National Park Service. With the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument being designated by the park service as a wilderness area, all mining ceased after 1976.

"The early development of the Victoria Mine was politically tied to the Ortega hacienda at Santo Domingo, Mexico. Cipriano Ortega, a Mexican national and businessman acquired the mine in 1880.  It is estimated that $80,000 of silver ore was mined under Ortega’s operations through 1899.  During Ortega’s ownership the mine was known as the “La Americana” mine. Milul Levey, an American businessman with ties to Ortega, purchased the mine in 1899. Levey would rename the mine “La Victoria” in honor of Victoria Leon, the wife of Levey’s storekeeper. Levey and subsequent owners, however, extracted only another $40,000 of silver ore, partly because of the high water table of the area and the technical problems associated with sinking the shaft below it.

"Even after the prohibition on mining, the Victoria Mine and its colorful history did not simply vanish.  In 1978, Victoria Mine was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the oldest prospecting sites in southwest Arizona.  Although it originally started out as a Mexican venture, it became a symbol of one of the first American enterprises to penetrate this part of the inhospitable Sonoran Desert. The Victoria Mine’s total output represents a small percentage of Arizona’s total gold and silver output. Yet its significance rests in its effect on the region’s early settlement and the site’s potential for the artifacts, objects, and structures left over from the mine’s productive years to yield information about the desert mining era."

Here's our traditional trailhead photo, with the eponymous organ pipe cactus in the background:

David loves to photograph flowers, but relatively few of them make our blog entries unless they are special.  The prize winner for this hike was this photo of a Fairy Duster's feathery blooms:

Kathy, on the other hand, can't resist those unique Saguaro.  Here, David stares up in amazement at his tall friend:

The stone work on this trail was superb.  Steps were laid into the slopes and stonework was laid to channel rainwater away from the trail.  David tries one of the steps on for size:

About halfway into our hike - a little over 2 miles, we reached the site of the Victoria Mine.  Kathy examines what is left of the stone storehouse, which was in remarkably good shape with wooden window sills intact:

Some mining equipment remained strewn around the site:

Volcanic and seismic activity caused quartz and precious metals to be deposited in the cracks in uplifted schist (old bedrock).  Kathy found this specimen that showed how the copper mineral gets deposited with quartz:

After exploring the Victoria Mine, we continued, up an old mine road, over a saddle in the mountains in which the mining shafts had been dug, back into a circular valley ringed in the ore-rich mountains. We spotted this ocotillo resting in the sun with his organ pipe cactus buddies, and the ridge of mountains in the background:

Eventually, we reached the Lost Cabin ruins.  Finding shade in the interesting rock outcropping pictured further below, we were eating our lunch when this little fellow scampered over to see what we were doing:

From our lunch seats, we could look down on the Lost Cabin.  It is in a state of much greater decay than the Victoria Mine storehouse is, but still sits dramatically on a rise in the foothills, adjacent to what must have been the mine workings of its occupants:

Here is a view of the very unusual pink granite rock formation that rose in the foothills, probably lifted up from bedrock, but eroded into relatively smooth, rounded shapes, partly by the seepage and freezing of water in cracks, and partly by erosion from wind and water on the surfaces:

As we turned back down the trail to return from the Lost Cabin, we looked back for a final view of the ruins and the mountain behind them:

By the time we headed back the trail, it had gotten very hot - nearly 90F as predicted - and we moved deliberately and quickly without pausing for photos as often as we had earlier in the morning.  We did pause to catch a view of these two Saguaro standing as gate keepers at the top of hill where the trail passes between them.

We thanked the cactus guardians for letting us enter their realm and hope that we can get back to this area soon to explore more of the mysteries of the Ajo Mountains.

Friends at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Hi Blog!

On Thursday, March 9, 2017, we left Anza-Borrego State Park in Borrego Springs, California and headed back to Arizona. We planned to meet up with our friends for a little boondocking in Gunsight Wash just outside Why, Arizona. Why, you ask? Well, Why not, it's free camping. It's also right next door to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. National Monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona which shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. The park is the only place in the United States where the Organ Pipe Cactus grow wild.

On Friday, March 10, 2017, we loaded the girls in one car and the boys in the other and drove down to the Organ Pipe Visitor's Center. Here we are next to a typical organ pipe cactus. From left to right: Kathy, Dave, George, Nan, Dick and Gaila.

After watching the park video, we took a stroll along a short nature trail where we learned all about mistletoe and it's various uses. Here we are putting it to its best use!

It is spring in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the cactus are showing off their finery.

We jumped back into the cars and drove the self-guided 21 mile Ajo Mountain loop. Several years ago, Gaila had taken this drive with a park ranger. She remembered they spotted a crested saguaro. We kept our eyes out and were lucky enough to find it again.

As we drove further up into the mountains, the wild flowers were popping out everywhere.

These short little photo stops gave us a chance to stretch our legs.

The ocotillo certainly put on a show for us.

Arch Canyon is a popular day hike in the park.

Just past the halfway point of our drive, we found a nice shady spot for lunch.

The boys decided to take a hike, while the girls headed back to camp. The boys hiked up Estes Canyon Trail and then down Bull Pasture Trail. The girls found another crested saguaro on the ride home.

On Saturday, March 11, 2017, the Unusual Suspects decided to head into Ajo for their weekly Farmer's Market. After filling up on breakfast burritos, muffins and coffee, the gang settled in to watch some traditional Mexican dancing.

That evening, we feasted on shrimp from the Sea of Cortez, wild spinach squares, rice salad, caesar salad and fresh bread.

This was our farewell dinner, because the others were due to leave the next morning.  We were sad to see our friends go, but we know that our paths will cross again. Safe travels!

Anza-Borrego Palm Canyon Hike

Hi Blog!

The other day, we made our way from Rancho Jurupa Park near Riverside, California to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park near Borrego Springs, California. We only planned a three day stop and as soon as we got here we knew it wouldn't be enough time to explore all the hiking and Jeeping trails in the area. There will be plenty to do next time we are in the area.

On Wednesday, March 8, 2017, we decided to take a hike on the park's signature trail. Here is Dave at the trailhead for the Palm Canyon Trail.

Borrego Palm Canyon is a wide trench descending west to east down the San Ysidro Mountains just west of Borrego Springs. The creation of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park began in the 1930s with the protection of this palm-filled canyon. This is a very popular hike. It took a while before we had a section of the trail to ourselves. Here was a rare view without other hikers:

Ocotillo are not a true cactus. For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large spiny dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green. With rainfall, the plant quickly becomes lush with small, ovate leaves, which may remain for weeks or even months. After all the rain California has recently received, the Ocotillo are leafing out.

From its beginnings almost half a billion years ago, the Anza-Borrego region has experienced a rich and complex geologic history. Marine deposition along the western edge of the ancient North American continent eventually gave way to an extended period of plate subduction, which produced the vast volumes of granitic rock exposed in Anza-Borrego’s mountain ranges and transformed older sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock. All this pressing and metamorphosing got Kathy very excited, so she was on the lookout for unusual rocks.  She was not disappointed!  Here's Kathy, bonding with one of her rock buddies.  He was too big for her to take home to the RV:

Here we get our first glimpse of the famous palm grove.  It made David think of the Grand and Glorious City of Oz, far away down the Yellow Brick Road:

As we worked our way up the canyon, the small trickling stream became a babbling brook.

These small fan palms seem to be guarding the stream.

Hey!  Where did Dave go?  Oh, there he is with Cousin It:

The tree amigos!

We stopped at the first palm grove to dip our toes in the creek. So, Dave, is the water cold?

It looks so inviting.

We have a short video to add here, but there is very little bandwidth here in this campground, so this picture will hold the spot for the video.

We continued to meander our way upstream and soon found ourselves surrounded by giant palms.

It was at least 15 degrees cooler in the shade of the palm grove.

After a short rest, we continued to hike up and around the grove so we could get a birds-eye view of the grove.

On the hike back down the canyon, we were amazed at all the places palms call home.

We took the Alternate Trail back down and soon left the wet valley floor behind. The Alternate Trail climbs up into the rocky foothills above the streambed.  It is less popular than the main trail, so we had it to ourselves most of the way.  This beavertail cactus has already started blooming! A rare sight:

Before long, we could see the whole valley floor stretched out before us with brilliant gold desert bloom in the foreground:

As we descended toward the campground, we ran into a herd of bachelor bighorn ram.  In Spanish, they are called "borregos," and thus the name of the canyon and the park.

They were just hanging out right by the side of the trail. Our presence didn't seem to disturb them much, although we took pains to be quiet and not bunch up.  We could tell they were keeping their eyes on us.

This was a great introduction to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We look forward to our return visit.

Touring Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House in Hollywood

Hollyhock House, situated on Olive Hill in East Hollywood, was Frank Lloyd Wright’s first Los Angeles commission and the first residence after his Prairie style period.  The house was commissioned by Aline Barnsdall, a wealthy oil heiress, and intended as part of a cultural arts complex on Olive Hill and was also to be her personal residence on the site. She asked him to incorporate her favorite flower, the hollyhock, into the design of the home's roofline, walls, columns planters and furnishings.  Built between 1919 and 1921, it represents his earliest efforts to develop a regionally appropriate style of architecture for Southern California. Wright himself referred to it as California Romanza, using a musical term meaning “freedom to make one’s own form."

Today, Hollyhock House is part of the Barnsdall Art Park administered by the City of Los Angeles.  Perched on Olive Hill, it has spectacular views of downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and two iconic Hollywood structures - the Griffith Observatory and the "Hollywood" sign.  This last view was entirely accidental, because neither the sign nor the observatory had been constructed when Hollyhock House was built:

 
We were interested in visiting Hollyhock House because it is one of the few fully-renovated Wright-designed buildings that are open to the public.  Kathy had visited Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, and we had visited Taliesin in Scottsdale on a prior visit to Phoenix.  We enjoyed the dramatic experience of walking through Wright's architectural spaces and seeing how he incorporated elements of the surrounding environment into the interior design.  Hollyhock House is only about 2 miles from Katie's apartment, where we are puppysitting, so we decided to take an afternoon stroll over to see it.

This was our first view of Hollyhock House as we approached the entrance.  Its design, of massive concrete blocks, seems in stark contrast to other Wright houses we have seen.  The exterior struck us as almost institutional in spirit:

Here is another view of the facade with the city in the background:

A walk around the house to the rear starts to give a hint of the unique architectural vision it represents:

The following descriptions are from the museum self-guided tour brochure, and the photos are from public sources because we were not allowed to take photographs inside.

"In a device Wright often employed, the home’s entryway steers visitors down a progressively narrower path which opens up after entering the house, creating a sense of compression and then release.  Unlike most traditional architecture of the time which would guide visitors toward explicitly defined public rooms, Wright’s design for the entry of Hollyhock House presents a series of inviting options to someone first coming through the door.  To the left is the Dining Room, with its signature Wright-designed furniture echoing the “hollyhock” elements of the house:  Straight ahead, indirect views glimpse the spacious Living Room, the home’s most dramatic interior space:"

One of our favorite rooms was the Library, which had both an intimate and an open feeling, much as the other rooms of the house:

"The Conservatory, traditionally a sun room for plants, faces south and receives natural light throughout the day. Intended partly as a breakfast room, it is scaled for people who are seated and has garden views on three sides.  The room exemplifies Wright’s ideas about blurring the distinction between outside and inside spaces. Beyond the French doors is an exterior space that is as much a room as its interior counterpart, lacking only a roof and upper walls."  Here is a view of the Conservatory:

As large as the house seems from the outside, it did not feel large inside.  Our visit lasted about an hour.  If we had wanted, we could have visited the adjoining Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, also on the Barnsdall Art Park grounds, but we had a souvenir gift to pick up and a grandpuppy to return to, so we walked back to Katie's house by way of Hollywood & Vine.