January 2022. So much to see and so little time. Many people don't know that from Tucson, you can go up Mount Lemon in an hour and be in cooler temperatures. The trip is the destination. We had hoped to go down the back road to Oracle, but it was closed for the winter. It may be too rough without a four wheel drive even in the summer. We pulled off at Molina Canyon view and discovered you could hike down into the rocks. We passed scenic views until we hit the snow and returned the same way and went back through Tucson to Oracle, San Manuel, and Mammoth; my childhood stomping grounds. It was a little much and we needed to spend more time.
San Manuel was a town built by Magma Copper and the mine was once the largest underground mine in North America. The mine brought prosperity to the tricommunity area of San Manuel, Oracle, and Mammoth. It's smoke stacks also brought smog with acid that sometimes burned holes in the laundry on the clothesline. The mine was bought byBHP and then abruptly closed. All businesses in San Manuel closed and the area had minimal employment. We took a quick look at the desert that was my old backyard and took a ride down Redington Road to look at the San Pedro River valley. I think there are more saguaro cacti here than in Tucson. We enjoyed eating at the La Casita in Mammoth that still exists after all these years. It is the only place I know that you can get a cheese crisp, which is a crispy open flour tortilla with melted cheese, yum!
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