In addition to its proximity to the National Monument, Ajo is also known for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and its active art scene. After breakfast, I walked a couple of blocks to Ajo Plaza to take a look around. Even this early in the day, the sun was brutal!
Curley School
Ajo Federated Church
Immaculate Conception Church
After my walk, we loaded the Bronco with snacks and a LOT of water, lathered on sunscreen, and headed out for the day. Our first stop was Artists Alley, to check out some of Ajo's many murals.
Ajo's art scene
Dead head
Howling at the moon
Flyin’ eyeballs
New Cornelia Mine, on the south side of Ajo, was the first open-pit mining operation in Arizona. It produced more than 3 million tons of copper before shutting down in the 1980s due to low copper prices. The pit is one and a half miles across at its widest point and over 1,100 feet deep at its center. The tailings dumped nearby have a volume of 7.4 billion cubic feet and can be seen from miles away.
New Cornelia Mine
Ajo Historical Society Museum and Camelback Peak
Ten miles outside Ajo is a little place called Why, Arizona. I figured out why Why. Because there's a Y in the road in Why, where you can go north to Ajo, east to Tuscon, or south to the National Monument and on to Mexico. I'm sure the Postal Service frowns on one-letter town names...
Why, Arizona
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument lies on the US border with Mexico in extreme southern Arizona. The park protects 517 square miles of Sonoran Desert, is home to over 28 different species of cactus, and is supposedly the only place in the US where the Organ Pipe Cactus grows wild.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Little Tom, big cactus
Fun Fact, per Wikipedia: “Land for the Monument was donated by the Arizona state legislature to the federal government during Prohibition, knowing that the north-south road would be improved and make contraband alcohol easier to import from Mexico.” That is a great story, and I sincerely hope that it's true!
Blooming ocotillo
Sonoran Desert
The Kris Eggle Visitor Center is named for Ranger Kris Eggle (1973-2002), who was shot and killed in the Monument in August 2002 while pursuing members of a drug cartel who illegally crossed the border into the United States after committing a string of murders in Mexico. He was 28 years old.
Kris Eggle Visitor Center
Honoring his sacrifice
The unpaved, 21-mile Ajo Mountain Drive Scenic Loop leads through stands of cacti into the Ajo Mountain Range. We'd planned to do a hike today, but the sun was so intense, we called it off. But we made plenty of stops, occasionally even venturing a few hundred feet from the protection our vehicle.
Along the Ajo Mountain Drive Scenic Loop
Cactus ball
Organ pipe cactus
Jana leaves the shade for several seconds
Our planned hike was to be the Arch Canyon Trail, featuring a natural double arch. As it turns out, the trail doesn't go all the way to the arch anyway, and the best of view is from the trailhead. Lucky us!
Double Arch
Double Arch close-up
After finishing the loop, we continued south until we reached the international border and President Trump's big, beautiful wall. We saw a lot of US Border Control agents in the Monument today, and I'm happy to report they looked pretty darned bored, with little for them to do.
Saguaro cacti
Soaring saguaro
Big, beautiful border wall
Backtracking to the visitor center, we then turned west on North Puerto Blanco Drive for the short drive to the Pinkley Peak Picnic Area – as far as you can go before the road turns into a long, rough, one-way loop. Pinkley Peak, at 3,146 feet, is the highest peak in the Puerto Blanco Mountains.
Be on the lookout
Emergency water
Cholla cacti
Pinkley Peak
Returning to Ajo, we did another circle along the Ajo Scenic Loop and then headed into town to check out some more colorful murals. Afterward, we had an early dinner at Agave Grill. Carne asada tacos was their special for Taco Tuesday. Scrumptious!
Additional Ajo art
Local newspaper publisher
Cher, I presume?