Bisbee Vibes

I visited Bisbee for a couple days last week.  It's a historic town that was a copper mining center for the better part of a century.  With the price of copper too low to economically mine it, Bisbee has turned into a tourism and art center.  I stayed at the Copper Queen Hotel, built in 1902 by the Phelps Dodge Corporation, which was one of the main players in the mining business.  It's a classic hostelry that has the only elevator in Bisbee, along with a swimming pool, restaurant, saloon, and a nice balcony (visible on the 3rd floor) that is a good spot to set a while and watch the town go by.  Copper mining has not formally ended here...if the price goes up enough, mining will resume.

The Central School also dates from around the turn of the 20th century.  Originally an elementary school, it now houses art offices.

The alternative culture is strong in Bisbee, resulting in some...interesting structures.

Central Bisbee is a mix of Victorian and Edwardian architecture.  After several fires in the late 19th century, the town was built in stone.

In my continuing search for sidewalk contractor signs, I found this one in Bisbee.

The Lavender Pit mine lies just southeast of central Bisbee.  It was excavated from around 1951 to 1975.  After Bisbee's heyday in the early 20th century, the price of copper dropped and simultaneously, the high grade ore was exhausted.  But in the mid 20th century, new techniques made it economical to mine again and this pit was dug.

This is the Warren ballpark, which has been used most of the time since it was built in 1908.  Currently high school and little league teams play here, as well as the semipro Bisbee Copper Kings.  It's one of the oldest ballparks in the US.  In 1917 it was used to detain striking miners, who were rounded up by Phelps Dodge and sent here.  The miners who agreed to go back to work were released; those who didn't were herded onto trains and deported to New Mexico with orders not to return.

Last Tuesday, heading out of Bisbee, I enjoyed  sunny weather through Tombstone, but then approached a wall of rain near Benson. 

The storm clouds begin to swallow the landscape north of Tombstone.  By the time I reached Tucson it was pouring, with fresh snow cloaking the Catalina Mountains north of the city.

Rambling in the Southwest

I'm on the road, currently in Arizona.  I always try to leave...and return to...Monterey on Highway 1, going down the Big Sur coast.  Last week I had a fine, top down day for the trip.

Cruising through the Cuyama Valley the next day, I was impressed by the stark beauty of the landscape. 

Here I'm hiking in Saguaro National Park West.  Blow up the pic and you can see petroglyphs on the rocks.  Archaeologists aren't sure whether the pictures have some religious or symbolic value, or whether the Hohokams were just doin' a bit of tagging.

As one might expect from the name, Saguaro West has many fine saguaros.  The one in the back of this pic has an especially complex array of arms.

Classic Arizona...a stately saguaro rises into a crystalline sky dappled with high clouds. 

This saguaro serves as a bird condo.  Blow the pic up for a better view of all the holes in the cactus.

A chain fruit cholla backlit by the sun appears almost impressionistic in its variety of lighting and shade.

The Lizards, of course, love the desert.  Here they're hangin' on a barrel cactus.

The woody skeleton of a cholla has an elegant design.

A closeup of a saguaro.  The cacti in the park are nice and plump...when they're filled with moisture the arms fatten and expand like a bellows.  There's been decent rain around Tucson in the latter part of this year, and a few days after this pic was taken the area was soaked with another inch of moisture.  A good wildflower season lies ahead!