To Bagdad And That’s Not A Foreign Country Plus Visitors From A Foreign Country

Bagdad, AZ is a Freeport-McMoRan company owned copper mining town in the mountains about one hour from North Ranch.  The company literally owns the town—all the housing and commercial properties.  Mining has been ongoing in this area since 1882.  The outdoor group planned a ride up into the mountains surrounding the little town of Bagdad—and off we went Thursday with our new set-up which worked out way better than expected! 

Under wispy white clouds and blue skies we traveled through snow (yep, snow)and some incredible scenery.  Huge, giant, balanced red rocks everywhere, vistas forever as far as the eye could see, saguaros and some of the most challenging riding we’ve ever done. 

Soon into the ride we came to a most challenging spot on the trail—I watched with trepidation the more experienced riders tip and slide, gritted my teeth and went for it—with success as I am alive to type this blog!! I really missed my guide, aka Geri today—we only started riding ATVs last year and most of the more serious riding has been done in the company of Larry and Geri.  I would ride behind her and follow her every move—that technique got me safely through some tight spots last season.  Well, dang it, she isn’t here yet—on their way but not here so I had to do it alone!! 

Topping a hill we were surprised to see a lake—Coors Lake—there were some guys fishing from a boat but seeing what is just above this lake I wouldn’t be eating any fish caught from that water!  A sign by the boat launch said it is a large mouth bass stocked lake and is catch and release—yep, I would be catching and releasing!  We all dismounted and enjoyed our lunch by the lake.

As we rode along we were joined by a fellow just out for a ride and a good time(who appeared to have consumed more than a few beers) and knew the area well.  He led us to a geocache and what was once an old abandoned mining town but is now being reclaimed—all the old, unique buildings are gone and heavy equipment was reclaiming the ground. 

And I wimped out—we came to a dicey section of trail and again I watched other more experienced riders struggle.  I started up, slipped into a hole and tipped two wheels off the ground.  I was proud of myself in that I didn’t panic, I just let the ATV roll backward, set the emergency brake and said to the cowboy, “it’s all yours.”  He quite handily rode my ATV out of that tight spot.  When he went to ride his own ATV up those rocks he struggled as you can see----

What a fabulous day with super friends—one of our favorite rides ever! 

Today we have visitors from Canada—John and Brenda—who came over from Maricopa in their truck and living quarters horse trailer to visit us and the rest of the folks they know here in North Ranch.  Mike and Pat were gracious, allowing John and Brenda to use their vacant lot.  We haven’t seen these folks since last spring, Brenda has been dealing with a knee replacement and they didn’t stop by this fall as usual.  We spent a delightful afternoon visiting and had a delicious meal—I grilled one of those Costco tri-tip roasts and made Pioneer Woman smashed potatoes and a Caesar salad.  For dessert we enjoyed brownies with Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream—oh, my—Blue Bell makes the best ice cream without a doubt!   We are so glad these guys came over to visit!  I finally get to try pecan tarts—Brenda brought us a plate of these little mini-pecan pies—YUM!