Jerome (5/11/07)

Jerome was really neat! And boy are we glad we didn't drive the Moho through the mountains and Jerome - steep grades, very tight turns, overhanging rocks... it would have been a white knuckle experience for certain. Jerome is an old mining town that is perched precariously on the side of the mountain overlooking Clarkdale and Cottonwood in the valley below. There is a big copper mine next to (and below!) the town, which was mined out and Jerome's population fell drastically when there was no more ore. Typical story, except Jerome is still very much alive - some people do live there, and there are lots of businesses - pretty much all aimed at tourism, but still it feels pretty thriving since it was quite busy on a Friday afternoon in early May.

We stopped and got some ice cream at a little shop there, and saw a cyclist that I recognized from two days before, when we were climbing the biggest grade up to Prescott! I asked, and it turns out he is from Manhattan Beach and is cycling across America, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and raising money for Manhattan Beach Schools! He has a blog on CrazyGuyonaBike.com

After enjoying our ice cream and the view, we explored some more on a dirt road out of town past the "Gold King Mine" which was interesting - it's the place where old trucks go to die, apparently! I think I saw a Herkemer Battle Jitney! Ha. At least an REO Speedwagon or two. It had a sign by the entrance that it was the "friendly ghost town" (I wonder if Caspar lives there?) but belying that statement, later when the gate was closed was a sign that read "if you can read this, you are in range" Ha! They take trespassing after hours pretty seriously here, I guess! We drove past and a ways on the dirt road to Perkinsville, which is on the Verde River, and got some nice views across the valley to the red rocks of Sedona in the late afternoon light. Didn't drive all the way to the river as it was getting late. There is a scenic train ride along the Verde that leaves from Clarkdale, just below Jerome, and it looks quite nice, but we decided to save our money and do more exploring in the Jeep. For more about Jerome, check out this Desert USA article.

That night there was a wonderful campfire program at our State Park - Music from "Harpy Trails," local folk musicians. They had a great song about Jerome sliding down the mountain - we learned about the "travelling jail" and they sang many other new and old songs of the west that put a nice finish on the day.