On Sunday October 23rd seven Jeeps departed the Charleston Burger King at 8:30 am for a fun run into the very scenic Chiricahua Mountains.

Going were Hugh Richards and “Bo”, Peter Cheesley, Bob, Patricia and Lindzie Norquist with “Magee” the wonder dog, Sherry Nicols and “Taz”, Trilby Arnold and “Foxy”, Mike van de Sandt, and Lutz and Rebecca Dahlke with jeeping dog “Lucky”. To get there we drove via Tombstone, Davies Rd, El Frida, Sunnizona and to the Chiricahua National Monument for lunch on top of Massai Point and for a quick tour of the visitor center to check out some Apache artifacts and a quick history of the “Tree Army” (the CCC - Civilian Conservation Core that developed most of the National Parks and Monuments in the US prior to WWII).

After lunch the real fun started when we entered the Pinery Canyon Trail where we aired down and went onto the Hands Pass Trail. We drove about ˝ way up this very scenic wooded trail to locate the Kasper Tunnel and the Silver Prince Mine. The tunnel was found about 1 mile up a very narrow windy eroded shelf road with parking on the tunnel tailings The western tunnel entrance appeared as a small hole dug into rock but once inside, the tunnel was about 6-8 feet wide and 10 feet high, dry and bat free. All of us, on foot, ventured into this tunnel for several hundred yards, only limited by our uncertainty of the remaining battery life of our lights. Every one agreed, including the dogs, that our tunnel fix for the day was the highlight of this trip. The Kasper Tunnel is not a mining tunnel. It was dug a century ago as a pedestrian/mule tunnel through Shaw Peak to connect the 2 parts of Hilltop, now a ghost town, that was developing on different sides of the mountain as the mining operations shifted with time.You know, the bars, pool halls, etc. where in the old part of town while the churches, schools, etc where on the other side of the mountain. After our tunnel experience we jeeped down the trail onto an eroded spur to find the Silver Prince Mine. There was not much left of the mine except for a fully furnished unlocked mining cabin which some club members examined. One of our members must have still been hungry after lunch because he was found rummaging through the kitchen cupboards looking for food resulting in a small delay in our departure. After this fun adventure we drove down to rejoin the Pinery Canyon Trail and over Downings Pass onto the very scenic Pine Canyon Trail. This 12 mile long trail about 1 Wrangler wide meanders along the bottom of some very steep wooded canyons following a dry creek. FYI in the Spring this is one of Arizona’s prime birding area. The trail exited through the Oak Canyon Ranch (private property) onto Hiway 181 where our fun for the day ended at about 4:30 pm. Do to time constrains I decided to forgo the El Tigre Mine adventure. This run was rated a 10 for fun and scenery with a maximum difficulty of 2.5/5. Everyone had a great time with no surprises, broken frames, shreaded tires, or other “Oh #@%$’s!!!

I have to apologize if you missed this run because you were not notified. I only had e-mail addresses of some of our members. Others were not notified because I was not on their list of favorites. It appeared to me that there was a complete inexcusable breakdown in our club run notification procedure by a newly elected officer ( now a prime candidate for the “Blond Wig Award”). Jerry D. we miss you.