100 miles of steep grades and hairpin turns..

Last Saturday, July 27Th, I went on another great motorcycle ride. This is a ride I've wanted to do for several years. Again, I headed to the charming, mountain town of Alpine. Last time I went east out of Alpine into Mew Mexico, but this ride took me south out of Alpine down HWY 191. It used to be known as HWY 666. aka the Devils Highway. I'm glad the number and name was changed. It's now called the Coronado Trail, (Clifton - Alpine Highway). It's very long and winding. I didn't do my homework very well and I thought the whole ride would be about 250 miles, but again I found myself on a very long 330 miles ride. It was a long day, with threats of rain, but at least I didn't encounter 125 miles of strong headwinds, and no hail!!

Here's some pictures I took along the Highway:








At the end of the Coronado Trail I found myself in the town of Morenci, the location of what is the biggest copper mine I've ever seen.

I Googled Morenci Copper Mine and found this:

http://www.mining-technology.com/projects/morenci/
"Morenci is the largest copper producer in North America and remains a major contributor to Phelps' copper output, which is second only to that of Chile's Codelco."

The mine is so huge the Highway goes right through the operation. The towns of Morenci and Clifton both seem to be Company Towns, and are both very unattractive and very unappealing looking towns in which to live. I kept thinking, I'm sure glad I didn't have to grow up here!!!

Here's some pictures I took of the mine:









After leaving the mine area I headed to Three Way where I gased up then turned left onto HWY 78, and traveled NE which took me into New Mexico. 35 miles later I hit HWY 180 and turned north, which took me on a very scenic and pleasant 75 miles back to Alpine, AZ. In Alpine I headed north, then northwest, and 60 miles later I returned back to the garage, where I put my bike, Lucky, to bed for another week or two.