Badmen / A trip around the block

While one part of my company made the trek to Tombstone for a dose of bright lights and some tourist attractions , and possibly a chance to ride their bikes , my sis and I undertook a trip out onto the back roads of the area . part of my favorite rides is over to Animas through Antelope pass , A gentle ascent up over the Peloncillos leading into Antelope valley vwith it's wide plains and rolling fields of browse grass and planted fields of alfalfa . Occasionally I stop where there is nothing in sight and ponder ,what would make a person stop here? Nothing visible that jumps out and says this is it ! Stop here ! Build a ranch , form a small community , build  a few places to do business . Sometime in the next hundred years or so there will be roads leading in and out and a rail road to take your cattle to market . No one has that much fore sight . There is water if you know where to look , Cottonwood trees are a sure sign , just how far down it is , is another question . One major reason for Animas existence is this ...

 

Tht's right this little spot in the trail was part of the owlhoot trail , or smugglers trail . Starting down in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico and following an ancient Native American path up through Arizona and New Mexico , part of which is now known as Geronimo's trail , the bad guys and outlaws/ smugglers found refuge and water in the area while waiting for their next victim , or for their next raid on other bad guys [ there is no honor among thieves !] . The most well known of these latter day gang bangers were the Clantons of Tombstone / OK corral / Wyatt Earp fame . The old man of the gang met his end near Skeleton canyon not far from Rodeo . Later known as one of Geronimo's hide outs and supposed surrender site , it's still a wild place with smugglers still using it's far reaches , only now it's drugs or human contraband  

My sis and I continued our journey after a pit stop at the Bootheel Grocery , better known as my phone booth in the sky and armed with a cold drink and a full gas tank we motored up rt 338 towards Cotton City rt 338 is a nice road with light traffic and long sweeping vista of hay fields , chili fields and still some cotton being grown . Working ranches tucked back off the road with some stock grazing out in the fields give evidence of civilization , derelict buildings , abandoned or just plain old , along the road give sign of hard times , just used up or changing times .

We got on I-10 west to Steins , a ghost town on the Arizona border but it was closed , while not a great attraction hopefully they will still try and preserve whats left for historical sake . Back to Road Forks and a stop at Phantom Fireworks to satisfy the little kid in me , and back down rt 80 to Granite gap for some photos . A nice trip around the block ! Less than 200 miles and a beautiful day without too much commercialism jacked into it .  

Stay tuned .....

Granite Gap and the valley ;