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Beautiful Dixie Canyon
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Photos from The
Blue
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This is a little map I cut out together with a 1981 newspaper article about a place called "The Blue", centered around a tiny town called "Blue", in the Blue Mountains, along the Blue River, in the Blue Range Primitive Area. It was 20 years before I would get there. I spent those years overworking in a big city, traveling from one ugly urban area to another, wishing for a miracle that would transport me into the beautiful rural world of my grandparents. I have now been down into the Blue three times, the first time alone, with my little travel trailer, staying at the Upper Blue Campground, a quiet and lovely place. |
On my first visit to the Blue, I attempted a 20-mile day
hike around Bear Mountain but had to abort half-way out because I
very stupidly did not bring a watch, compass or decent map.
The trail was indistinct and I lost it twice. Amazingly, I left my
compass behind, to save weight(?). How stupid can one be.
I expected to tell time and direction from the sun's position
(and I normally could) but it was August and the monsoon clouds
moved in and totally obscured the sun. The USFS releases urban
area bears on Bear Mountain. |
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After that failed hike I was spooked, and slept outside my trailer on the ground looking up at the stars. The next morning I took Forest Service Road 567 east to Hannagan's Meadow. A few miles out, there is a little knoll with an access road to the top and (in the left of the photo) a smaller and less visible road which leads out to a precipice and extraordinary view of the huge Blue Valley. In the Fall of 2005, I returned with our daughter Hanna, set our trailer on the precipice with the awesome view and fried bacon and potatoes. |
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This photo shows my trailer on the Forest Service road to Hannagan's Meadow. The trailer was built by an old aircraft designer, Hawley Bowlus. I knew his widow and sent her several shots of this trip. |
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This is an old corral on the east side of the Forest Service road. |
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The same corral but with background rock. My wife Christa and I visited the Blue in 2003 and slept at the Upper Blue campground in our Chevrolet Suburban. We then took the same forest service road over to Hannagan's Meadow, hiked and slept there and then headed down toward the copper town Clifton/Morenci, a strip mining visual disaster for sure. |
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When Hanna and I visited the Blue in the fall of 2005, we did a beautiful day hike from the Blue River west along Grant Creek on trail 75 to Paradise Park and back. The trail continues on from the Park to Hannagan's Meadow. One of the prettiest and easier hikes I have ever done. Hanna said it was like a Tim Burton movie. I can't remember having seen a Tim Burton movie is, but I believe that is a compliment. |
This is breakfast at the Upper Blue Campground, October
2003. Christa is taking the photo. We slept in the Suburban
and had the luxury of hot tea and coffee. You can see how cold it
is from the gloves on my hands. |
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From the Blue River (Forest Service Road 281) we drove northwesterly on Forest Service Road 567 to Highway 191 and then south to Hannagan's Meadow. Here we hiked southeasterly on Forest Service Trail 75 towards Paradise Park. |
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Christa and I stayed at this hotel, Hannagan's Meadow Lodge, in a little cabin off to the right. The next morning we did another couple hikes, but I don't remember much. It is the longer solo or challenging hikes that burn into my memory. |
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We returned to Phoenix via Hwy. 191 heading south through the Blue Mountains. The vistas are spectacular and the road corkscrews as it approaches Clifton/Morenci, two towns vying for the titles, "end of the world" and "ugliest place in Arizona". |
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Goodbye to the Blue. These vistas are overwhelming and, for me, full of pathos. I prefer the more sparsely wooded southern Arizona vistas where at least you think you can see what is in the distance. Here, the trees cover everything. |
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