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Jerome, nestled 5000' feet in the Black Hills Mts.
(note the identifying J on the hill) |
Tuesday, Jan 31…
Chores in the
morning: Greg washed the MH and I ran errands and managed 2 loads of laundry.
After lunch we backtracked a bit to visit the town of Jerome, site of 2
thriving mines (yielding mostly copper, but also gold & silver) from the
1880s through WWI. Population peaked around 10,000 during the 1920s; the 2010
census records 444. Since the last turn of the century, though, residents and investors
have rather successfully promoted the town as a worthy tourist site. The
Haunted Hamburger is one of several good restaurants, and you’ll find
(literally) hundreds of kaleidoscopes ($5 to $5000) and other artsy things at
Nelly Bly.
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| (Greg's great aunt was also named Nellie Bly.) |
The other attraction of Jerome – especially if you happen to drive a sports car – is Highway 89A, which rises behind Jerome and crosses Mingus Mt in 12 miles of switchbacks. Rather than drive all the way back to Prescott Valley, Greg summited (7016’), turned around at the viewpoint, and happily zigzagged back down.
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Heading towards the summit.
(Note the immediate left turn after the right.) |
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| Quite the Valley View. |
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| Rock... |
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Rock in your face.
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| Trees at the mining museum. |
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"I survived historic 89A...
158 curves in 12 miles."
(hat: Ridge Racing School 😃) |
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| Heading home. |
You know, multiple winding switchbacks on a trail are annoying - albeit necessary. I hadn't ever thought about how fun they would be for a race car driver. That's a super cute picture of Greg - I'm sure that drive was the whole reason for heading to Jerome to begin with! :+)
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