The
name used to describe this 21 March 2015 hike may require some
explanation. It starts at the foot of a small peak located near a
hairpin turn in Forest Road 493 just below Iron King Mine. The peak
itself, rising to a height of 5600 feet, is about 300 feet lower than
Allen Spring Road at this point. At the very top of the peak is
what appears to be the remains of an old mine. Azurite and Malachite
appear in the mine tailings, giving the small but distinctive peak
the unofficial name of Azurite Peak. Azurite is a deep blue in
color, but over time tends to weather into malachite which is green.
Both can be found at this site.
The
site location, about 0.5 miles at a bearing of 30 true
from Iron King Mine, is shown below. The blue track, made on an
earlier hike, leads steeply up the mountain to the top of the peak
and then follows an old road to reconnect with the trail we followed
today which is shown in red. The ascent to the peak was very steep,
overgrown and quite rocky. It would have required much less effort,
though perhaps a bit more time, to just continue along the path we
were on and return along the old road to the peak.
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Map insert showing the location of Azurite Peak
|
Our group numbered 17
hikers today and we were careful to make sure we kept track of
everyone. Along the old mining road we followed for the first part
of the hike that was relatively easy. There were few places where it
was possible to take a wrong turn and we just stopped at those places
until everyone was accounted for.
It
was a sunny day and the views, looking across the Verde Valley and
the red rocks along the Mogollon Rim to the San Francisco Mountain
peaks beyond were, as we had hoped, spectacular. Closer in we found
a few splendid early spring flowers on this second day of the season.
Most intriguing was a large patch of yellow California poppies with
a few mutant white poppies mixed in. There was some discussion as to
whether these were California or Mexican poppies. I later learned
that the California variety has yellow flower petals that shade to a
gold center while the entire petal of the Mexican poppy is gold1.
 |
California poppies with white blooms mixed in – photograph by Akemi Tomioka
|
Looking
at the hillsides as we passed along the mountain slope, we could see
evidence of past mining activity all around us. Two mines were
located close alongside the road. The first of these was the
Hooker-Ewing mine owned by Jerome Copper Company Group. It is on the
uphill side of the old road we were following and so close that one
could step into the open vertical shaft were it not for a fence
placed to prevent such an occurrence. The mine is mentioned in
Western
Mining History2
and
listed in Mindat.org3.
However,
I could not locate a listing for it in the Arizona
Geological Survey Mining Data4
site. The Mindat.org
entry indicated that the workings included “1,025
feet of tunnel & 1,800 feet of crosscuts & drifts”.
Otherwise
the sources referenced above provided just
ownership, location, type of operation (underground) and land
ownership (National Forest). We tossed a rock into the open shaft
and waited several seconds to hear the sound of it hitting bottom,
but made no serious attempt to estimate the depth.
Leaving
Hooker-Ewing behind, we proceeded along the old road, passing an
agave plant that had apparently served as a snack for a bear. The
tender young stalk growing from the center of the plant had been
ripped off at the base. Jim Manning provided a photograph (right)
of the devastated plant. We noted no other bear sign on this hike,
but have seen bears in this area in the past.
Other
than the poppies shown of the previous page, there were few flowers
to be seen, except for a veritable sea of white blooming, heavily
scented ceanothus that surrounded us for most of the hike.
Approximately
0.5 miles north of the Hooker-Ewing Mine we came to the old Decatur
Copper Shaft. This unfenced mine site, located just a few yards
below the road, is listed by Mindat.org
and Western
Mining History as
an “underground
Cu prospect”. Some amount of work must have gone into this
prospecting effort as the shaft seemed quite deep and there was a
large quantity of tailings on the lower side of the mountain.
Tossing a rock into the shaft resulted in a wait of several seconds
and was followed by a splash, indicating water. The National Forest
is listed as owner of the land.
We
paused for a snack on the flat surface of the culm dump located at
the mouth of the shaft.
 |
| Six of our hikers enjoying the sun along with a midmorning snack atop the culm dump at Decatur Copper Shaft– photograph by Jim Manning |
The
old mine road we were following continued for another 0.8 miles
before ending on a ridge overlooking a gap that leads down into
Mescal Gulch.
When
we reached the end of our old road we would start descending and
would lose our far-away views, so while avoiding the gradually
encroaching growth that was doing its best to choke off the road, we
took our last look at Jerome, seemingly within spitting distance but
actually well on the other side of Mescal Gulch, and the San
Francisco Peaks, themselves some fifty or so miles away.
 |
The town of Jerome across Mescal Gulch – photograph by Jim Manning
|
 |
Looking toward the San Francisco Peaks – photograph by Jim Manning
|
The
0.2 mile section of mountain slope between the end of the road and
the gap was very thickly overgrown with manzanita, scrub oak,
ceanothus and other assorted plants. There was no trail at all along
this short section and we just had to force our way down the slope
through the thick growth. This was the third time I had traversed
this section, the first being in company with George Everman. On
that trip, we had taken turns covering our faces and throwing
ourselves down the slope to break through the growth. I still
remember peering very carefully ahead to make sure I didn't throw
myself off a hidden cliff on the other side of some particularly
thick growth. This time I was quite content to let Jim Manning lead
the way; it was a lot easier following someone else.
From
the gap leading down into Mescal Gulch, the trail (left,
photograph by Jim Manning)
follows the path of an old road. It is a bit rocky but otherwise in
good condition. Our lunch spot, the culm dump formed by the tailings
from Verde Combination Mine is represented by the slightly raised
flat area in the upper left of the photograph.
According
to Mindat.org,
the Verde Combination Mine (right,
photograph by Daisy Williams)
had “a
1,300 foot deep shaft and older shafts at the South end at 640 feet
and 500 feet deep” and
provided the following minerals: “'Chlorite
Group', Muscovite (var: Sericite), Pyrite.” Western
Mining History
lists the
National Forest as owner of the land.
After
lunch and, for me, a very nice nap we left our sunny spot on the culm
dump and completed our descent to the bottom of Mescal Gulch. To be
sure, I think most of our hikers had long since abandoned the sun in
favor of the shade of small trees growing nearby. The day was now
quite warm, but I do like a nap in the sun.
In
the photograph below, hikers are shown following the path of an old
road that once provided access to the mine. The road descended to
the bottom of Mescal Gulch and then ascended along the other side
(see the faint, diagonal trace running diagonally up the side of the
mountain at the bottom right quadrant of the photograph). After
climbing out of the gulch, the road connects with Allen Spring Road
and continues on to Jerome. This would have been the route the ore
trucks took to the smelter.
 |
Looking down into Mescal Gulch from Verde combination Mine
|
In
the small, flat meadow at the bottom of the gulch we found a small
herd of cattle. This was not an unusual event in itself, but one of
the cows had just given birth and Akemi Tomioka managed to get a shot
of the still-bloody calf (left).
Meanwhile the mother cow, her work done for now, headed down the
gulch with the rest of the herd.
Some
of the hikers were concerned that by following the herd down the
narrow gulch we would cause the mother cow to abandon her newborn
calf. Having grown up with cows, I knew that the herd was heading
downstream as part of their daily migration and that the mother would
return for relief when her udder became uncomfortably full. In my
experience, it is not at all unusual for a cow to leave a newborn
calf, often hidden in some secluded spot, to return to the barn (or
other feeding area) at the end of the day. Unless we heard dogs
prowling in the area or just were in a hurry to see what the new calf
looked like, we never bothered to go looking for it.
Following
a cow trail down the gulch we did finally see a few more flowers,
essentially the first since we stopped to admire the poppies at the
start of the hike. Akemi provided a photograph of a gorgeous claret
cup cactus (right) and Daisy
contributed a brilliant Indian paintbrush (left).
We shortly came to a
second small meadow where we bypassed the cattle we had been
following down the gulch. We then continued without the danger of
stepping in fresh cow manure. There were deposits left from the
daily pilgrimage up the gulch that morning, but these were now pretty
well dried out.
A
little over half way down Mescal Gulch to where we were parked
alongside Haskell Spring Road we came to a circular ring of rocks
that I think must be some sort of shrine. I have passed this way a
number of times and have noticed different objects (possibly
offerings to some deity) tied in the tree above the circular area,
but there were none today. I didn't get a photograph today, so am
recycling one taken in January 2011.
 |
Circular shrine (?) in Mescal Gulch – photograph from a January 2011 hike
|
The
shrine is located only 1.2 miles from where we were parked, so we
were soon enough at the end of our hike.
As
with the beginning of the hike, the end point, Yavapai College, given
in the title requires some explanation. Although we ended about 0.6
miles short of the college, it is the closest generally recognizable
landmark.
My
GPS track shows a total hiking distance of 6.9 miles with a maximum
elevation of 5387 feet and a total descent of 1862 feet. We hiked an
additional 0.2 miles and climbed an additional 185 feet to visit the
cave. The GPS track for the entire loop is shown in red on the
included map (below). The map also
shows, in blue, the track that will take one to the top of Azurite
Peak; We did not visit the peak on this hike.
Finally,
having failed to take a photograph to identify the 17 participants in
this hike, I will list them here:
Lila
Wright
Jim
Manning, hike leader
Dave
Beach
Daisy
Williams
Mark
Purcell
Gary
Jacobson
John
McGinnis
Ellen
McGinnis
Dolly
Yapp
Joyce
Arregui
Anita
Jackson
Betty
Wolters
Akemi
Tomioka
John
Ashworth
Gilliam
Ashworth
George
Everman
and
the author
1
http://delange.org/WhiteCalPoppy/WhiteCalPoppy.htm
2
http://westernmininghistory.com/mine_detail/10113170
3
http://www.mindat.org/loc-50711.html
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