Cut 'em off at the pass!

Although Bisbee remains the seat of Cochise County and supports an impressive array of county government buildings, the city itself is still a semi-ghost town. Not all of the homes are occupied, and probably less than half of the business locations are active. What homes that have been recently renovated seem more likely to be vacation rentals than residences. However, there is an interesting community here that we are slowly getting to know. The other day I applied for a library card and offered to volunteer in the local history museum archives, both places that hold promise to meet interesting people.

I begin each day with a walk that I am slowly lengthening. The last two mornings have been almost cold, requiring a sweatshirt as I pant my way up this canyon for a mile before starting back down. The road I follow snakes its way up Tombstone Canyon towards Mule Pass, the main entryway to this town from the west. I have noted a lot of interesting homes in these upper canyon reaches, but it was not until yesterday that I had the opportunity to follow the Divide Road all the way to the pass and beyond.

My friend Steve suggested we take a drive in his truck to follow that road up to the radio towers at the highest peaks of the Mule Mountains, about seven thousand feet. Not only was the drive spectacular, what Steve showed me next was quite interesting.

Near the top of the mountain we parked and hiked down a rocky road to a series of steps leading to a hermit’s home built from the opening of an abandoned mine. The front doors of this place were behind a wire cage, perhaps constructed to keep out wild animals or wilder humans bent on destruction.

Inside one could see a carefully constructed wooden floor and a wooden overhang with skylights! There was even a television mount on the roof of the mine's living room. To think the fellow who constructed this hideaway had to haul all the material by hand down to the mine adit is incredible, as was the evidence of the amenities the guy left behind.

After our inspection we drove back down, but not before I took a pretty good picture of our town from the mountaintop. The tunnel underneath the divide pass is visible in the lower right; Old Town Bisbee is in the center, and beyond the edge of the Lavender Pit in the upper left of the photo can be seen the neighborhood of Warren.