CrowMac Creek

So Mr. Mack stood in the garage staring at the photo of Jack and Rex with Laurel and Hardy, and he remembered when he first found that Crow could travel back in time.  It seemed odd then that Crow was only unconscious for a few minutes, but when he awakened Crow told Mr. Mack what had happened while he traveled back in time, and his story was extensive and laden with historical facts and details. Crow’s story begins when he was searching the internet for how slaves were treated during the times of slavery. Then in the blink of an eye, he finds himself in a field where slaves were harvesting tobacco. The first thing he senses is that he's not wearing shoes. He looks down at himself and he sees that he's wearing clothes that are dirty and ragged, and that his skin is brown. There’s a man in the field, a man that many would call a “cracker.” He's yelling at the slaves who continued their work as effectively as possible. Then he noticed Crow standing to the side of the field. ...

       This Morning, when I woke up, I made some coffee and then let the dogs out. I looked online for the news, and after a few minutes I'd had enough of what is happening in this crazy world of ours. After a while, when they did not return, I walked outside to see where they were, with no success. I looked into the garage and found some evidence of what they had been up to. The dogs had pawed and chewed their way into the box that held what had belonged to Crow.         Then, a little later , I began to worry. I was taking care of Linda’s dog, Rex while she was visiting friends in Phoenix, and I knew that I’d be in real trouble if I couldn’t find him. I began to search around the yard and into the garage where I found the mess the that the dogs had made. It was then that I received the call I had begun to dread.      “Hi Linda! How is your visit?” My words fell from my mouth like water.      “Is? I left Ph...

Last Friday I was looking at some Facebook posts when I came across a person's post lamenting the loss of an old friend who had passed several years ago. The two had been close friends virtually all of their lives and had never parted ways. They had grown up in La Crescenta, CA and had remained close friends throughout their move to Utah and grew older together. I had attended the same high school as the two and though I didn't have the pleasure of knowing them well, I remember them as being friendly and that they seemed happy. It was mentioned in the post that both were members of the Church of the  Latter Day Saints and one person commented on the Facebook post stating, "You don't believe in the same God as we do." I have attended churches where the members, and even some pastors remarked similarly and I disliked what I heard. My uncle, a fine and respectable man was a Mormon. I taught at Noah Webster Basic School, a charter school in Mesa, AZ owned and operated...

         Miller Canyon            Okay, I've been derelict in posting on my blog. So I need to ask, "Who cares?" I've been blogging for fifteen years and I have a following of nearly four supporters. One passed, but she didn't like my writing anyway.      Yesterday, Jack and I headed toward Sierra Vista to find a trail to hike and after driving a bit, I found access to Miller Canyon. It wasn't the hike I had wanted. I'm really interested in hiking Miller Peak, all 9466 ft. of it. But yesterday was good cook hiking weather and Miller Canyon is an attractive hike.  The only problem I had was Jack.      Jack is well known here in Benson. He's smart, too smart! He's manipulative, passive aggressive, and..., That may be a little over the top.  But he grew up on the end of a cable, identifying everything that passes as a potential danger. That's hard to do. I've managed to train him to co...

  Tombstone  in Boot Hill Cemetery, Tombstone, Arizona. In its heyday, the 1880s Tombstone had a reputation for lawlessness . (n.d.). https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017742136/ HistorHistorical re-enactors at the Old Tombstone theme park and movie set help vistors visualize the raucous days of the 1880s in Tombstone, when this dusty patch of southeastern Arizona was so violent, it was known as “The Town Too Tough to Die.” Pictured are, left to right, owner Lee McKechnie, Udaya Sun, Jim Kolegraf, Leva Clark, and Jon Mossholder . (n.d.). https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018663251/ The MillioMillion Dollar Stope from which a million dollars worth of silver was taken in Tombstone’s initial boom. Stope mining is carried on in timber- supported passages. The passages lead for miles under the surrounding county and connect with other mines. Tombstone, Arizona . (n.d.). https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017786498/

Fairbank For those who don't like driving long distances on dirt roads or walking trails through through the thorns of Palo Verde and Mesquite, you'll enjoy a visit to Fairbank. And no, this isn't a typo. There is no "S" at the end of Fairbank. The town is actually named after  Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank, a Chicago investor, and the person who brought trains to Fairbank. As you arrive at Fairbank, you will notice a nice, large parking lot. When you walk into what looks like a park, you will notice the remaining buildings. 

Contention City Contention Mill Contention City is a ghost town that produced fortunes in silver ore during the 1880s. It is located approximately four miles north of the ghost town, Fairbank, AZ. There’s little or nothing left but scraps of metal, splintered pieces of wood and construction material, yet, for its purpose, it had been a good location for milling ore and mining. It was close to the San Pedro River, so there was water for operations, and water can be scarce where there are mines.  I also wondered why anyone would name a city, Contention. Well, the name, “Contention City,” came about due to an argument. Nikola Petrovski, the author of “All That Remains of the Once-Booming Town of Contention City, Arizona is Rubble and Dirt” states that Ed Schieffelin and two miners, Jack Friday and Ed Williams, argued over who owned the mine.  Friday and Williams’s mules had wandered off trailing their reins behind them. After finding the mules gone, Friday and Williams followed t...

Courtland Arizona 1909 It was 1909 and mining had found itself in the blood of many young men of that time. Gold and silver had been found throughout the Tombstone area. According to author of  Arizona Ghost Towns,  Noah Austin, it is estimated that a population of several hundred to 2,000 people lived in Courtland at its peak. Both the El Paso and the Southern Pacific railroads had branch lines to Courtland. Things were looking good for Courtland. Both the El Paso and the Southern Pacific Railroads had branches to Courtland. Commerce was looking good as well with many new businesses and even a Post Office (which closed in 1940) coming to town.  ,      As with mining anywhere, the great days         will come to an end. The ore will run out,         the miners will hit limestone, or it will just      become too expensive to make a profit.              An...

 Charleston was the home of the people who processed the ore from various mines in the area. It was established in 1878. Some histories state that Charleston was a peaceful town, others claim Charleston was more dangerous than Tombstone. The reality was that after the "gunfight at the OK Corral," and the "vendetta ride," the town and the area in general area became more peaceful. A large Sonoran Earthquake destroyed Charleston on May 3rd, 1887. The only traces of the old town are the remains of the old adobe buildings. Old photographs indicate that building materials were taken from the ruins such as metal and bricks were removed and used somewhere else. A large Sonoran Earthquake destroyed it on May 3rd, 1887.

 It was another cooler day for Southern AZ  Honey, Amanda, Jack and I hiked this challenging trail to Soldier Falls. The hike was only .6 miles (one way) but 75% of the trail was climbing over rocks. I had seen this location on Google Maps but I had never found the trail before. Amanda found the trail and shared the location of the trailhead with me. The view at the top was well worth the effort of the climb.

 It must have been about 4:00 when I heard the little jingle that announces some notification, and this notification was from a female on TikTok. It was from a woman named Betty with a series of numbers following the name. I wasn’t doing anything anyway, so I looked at her page. She wasn’t dressed sexy, and the pictures were of an attractive young lady dressed professionally.  We began texting, and I truly loved the way she made me feel. I loved the way she wrote and I appreciated all of the ideas she was sharing and I was enjoying what was happening.  And I still had another long day on the bus, so I just kept texting. We arrived in Dallas for a bus transfer ten minutes late for my bus, and this had increased my travel time by 10 hours. I slept little.  The next day we boarded another bus and this time I sat in the first set of seats on the bus and shared them with others off and on. I reconnected with “Betty” and began texting again. I enjoyed every word she wrote ...

 This morning Jack and I drove up Mescal Rd and looked for a trail. I didn't have much luck at finding a trail, but in driving through one of the places I found a camp area has been totally destroyed by all terrain vehicles . All camp sites have been used as race track digging up the sand in all areas, even around camp fire pits. It's a shame that there is so little respect for nature and for people who may have wanted to camp there. Of course, this type of activity may be viewed by the unclean as manly activities. To me, they are just jerks. I did get 2.5 hiking miles in and ultimately found a trail to try out on another day.

     I have been really frightened about what is happening in the US government. With our leader ignoring laws and the Constitution, his use of the DOJ to attack the people who stood against his illegal and immoral acts, his threats against anyone who may be a Democrat and his constant lying are causing many to feel concern and fear. Pope Leo has soothing words for us.        The Biggest Backfire in History    Click on the blue text.      Today, Jack and I had a short walk this morning, 1.36 miles. This afternoon I took a bike ride and pedaled 7.83 miles, then because of a flat tire, I had to walk another mile to get home.

After listening to what Trump and Hegseth said in their talk to the top brass of the military, I am very concerned about our Democracy as well as anyone's ability to express an opinion. The right to freedom of speech we have enjoyed, the right to express an opinion, is gone, that is unless we do not want to be arrested or even killed.  How do we deal with this? There's not much we can do, except to keep up with what's happening, say very little, find allies, and remember: "Loose lips sink ships!" That is, our own personal ships, including our families and friends. When I was in the Army, I took an oath to protect the Constitution and I never withdrew from that pledge. When I used to run, I was able to deal with any anxiety I may have had, and I was successful. I can't run anymore, so I will take hikes and mountain bike rides instead. Hopefully this should address the concerns I have now. Today was a short hike, .88 miles. But I did take a 4.83 mile mountain bi...

Yesterday I decided to hike the Guindani Trail at Kartchner Caverns State Park. It is a challenging trail on which a person hikes up uphill for at lease 2.5 miles. It continues upward from there, but at that point, I was not feeling well. The trail is like most AZ trails, rocky with some of the trail partially washed out. I was feeling a bit dizzy so I returned to the car. The dizziness increased throughout the day and the evening brought nausea.. I slept hard but was still feeling ill this morning. It is about noon and I have improved, but still a bit off my feet. I am hoping that I will feel better tomorrow. I hiked 5.5 miles yesterday.

  In spite of the fact that I have a vehicle that has good gas milage, I drive it as little as possible, walking and riding a bicycle instead. My hiking though, finds me wanting to drive to assorted locations along the Arizona Trail. Unfortunately the nearest locations are over 50 miles away, and putting those miles on my car causes a conflict between enjoying hiking in areas I’ve never seen and facing the probability of needing to purchase another car. Of course this is an option I do not desire. So I’ve decided to hike locally as much as possible. Of course there is more heat in town, and to avoid that discomfort I am starting my hikes before 7:00. That's AM. There are some areas that are wooded here in Benson and they make my hikes more interesting. Today Jack and I walked 3.03 miles. I walked as quickly as I could through local trails and for the first time since I was forced to stop running, I enjoyed the runners’ high. As mentioned in prior posts, I introduced Jacks gir...

       My best, only, hiking partner, with the exception of Jack, that is Amanda, has left to care for her brother in Alabama. Though I have enjoyed our hikes together, the distances I need to train for the big hike are not being met. She and Honey have been and will be my best partners, I will need to schedule my longer hikes, and the shorter hikes when I am not training.     In addition to those challenges, I have been overwhelmed with the news of the US falling into fascism. I never thought I'd see this country fall into the depths of authorism, we are now pretty much there.      I would have liked to push my fears aside with exercise, but it is so ridiculously hot. I am ready to begin real training in earnest, but not at 90+ degree days which will cook anyone outside. The sun's maximum heat occurs from mid Spring through Summer and mid fall. It's the 2nd day of Fall and it is 92 degrees. I had lived in Arizona from 1969 to 1978, 2001 to 2...

     Yesterday, September 1st, I decided to Take Jack out to the Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead and to see if his front right paw is healing. We walked 3.86 miles with Jack's healing going well. It wasn't hot but not quite cool. Never-the-less, it was a nice easy hike. Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead

On  Wednesday, August 8, I decided that Jack and I would Hike 8 miles on the San Pedro Trail, about 20 miles from Tombstone. When we arrived at the Trailhead, I was surprised to find that Amanda and Honey had arrived as well. Amanda had wanted to take Honey to the river and let her play in the water. I'm sure that Jack was happy to share the event so we walked down and let the dogs play for a while. I took some video in the process, but there were three problems. First, I hadn't learned the video applications of my camera and there was some shaking going on, seriously reducing the quality of the videos. Second, the I need to convert the video to another format to insert into my blog, and third, the videos were too large to email copies to Amanda. Our wifi is quite slow. I will just give Amanda a memory stick with copies of the videos. When the dogs were done playing, Jack and I hit the San Pedro Trail. I had wanted to step up my miles to  7-8 miles, which would have been reaso...

I'd been looking through the Complete Guide to the Arizona National Scenic Trail, and I'm getting a little worried. I'm finding that I will need to hike 16 miles with a backpack on the first day to get to water as well as a place to pitch my tent. I am also. That way I will have some water available as well as camping sites for Jack, me and my tent. But the next day I will only have to walk seven miles. Hikers are warned about immigrants using parts of the trail. I am not as afraid of those who simply want to work in the US, but I am concerned about those who run drugs. In all of the time I hiked and backpacked, I never had to worry about immigrants and drug runners. I absolutely need to increase the miles I can hike with a backpack. I don't want to hit the wall (run out of steam.)                                                           ...