Oak Flat, Arizona

I'm always complaining about Arizona's lack of things like trees (real ones with green leaves and shade) and rivers (rivers of water, that is, not dry wash beds) and rain.

However, sometimes the rugged beauty of Arizona does make me happy to be here.  This weekend was one of those times.  I went camping at Oak Flat campground near Superior, Arizona.

Typical landscape for the area between Superior, Arizona and Top of the World.

My brother David and I decided to take a "saunter."  We walked up into the little hills south of camp.  Then we saw a small drill rig from a nearby mine and went to investigate, along windy dirt roads and through patches of rocks stacked precariously on each other like some stacking competition of the gods.

Wouldn't want to touch that--rocks near Superior, Arizona

Then we thought, "Hmm, why not go over to the mine itself?  It's just across the way."  Distance in the wild, however, can be deceiving.  David had taken a similar hike--along the road--when he was younger.  Now we did it cross country, scrambling and climbing billy-goat-like across the rocks, then bushwhacking--literally-- through thick brush and dead manzanita until we found an animal trail that led us to the road.

The sky was glorious blue.  The sun wasn't too hot.  We didn't run into any cat claw or fall on any cactus.  Negotiating the rocks and ravines without a trail was a fun challenge.  A perfect hike.

So perfectly balanced--more rocks near Superior, Arizona