Painted Bluff Trail

We wanted a new place for a nice sunny day.  It was an hour north and passed through the Morenci copper mine to get there.  According to an info station up there that is the largest copper mine in North America.  The pit itself is 8 miles wide and 12 miles long.

After stopping at the viewpoint we headed up the long twisting road of the Coronado Forest until we found our trail.  This trail is also a Forest Service Road, but mostly used by UTVs.  Few things the size of a Jeep would go there.  We saw foot tracks, tire tracks, deer tracks and dog tracks.  Heard some birds, saw a few.  It wound its way from rocky trail to woods road, through big tree country, Douglas fir & Ponderosa Pine.  Up and down.  The app said we only gained 580 feet but it sure felt like a lot more.  About 4 miles round trip.

Driving up we saw a deer on the side of the road, just stood there and watched us stop for a photo.

Driving back down in Clifton village we saw a herd of mountain sheep grazing on the lawn of the Visitor Center, a converted railroad station.  Did a quick turn to pull into the parking lot for some photos.  Those are on the other camera, the one that needs the laptop to download.  You’ll see them later.