Once upon a time some folks wandered into Borderlands Brewing Company on random Sunday afternoons as there was live music and fine beer with no cover charge. What’s not to like? After some time these people started seeing the same faces week after week and what began as groups of strangers gathered in a room, over time, became tight friendships.
A few of these people decided to arrange some trips to the desert thanks to Dr. Kirk Astroth, a Borderlands regular, who has a Master’s in Applied Archaeology, and is an avid hiker and a member of the Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists.
They are calling it the Borderlands Adventure Club and my wife and I joined in for the first time last Saturday, a 50 mile excursion through the Ironwood Forest National Monument in which we circumnavigated the Silverbell Mountains and Ragged Top Peak. Along the way we saw one of the most massive Saguaros my eyeballs have ever seen.
From there we moved on to visit an old derelict graveyard and then the Silverbell townsite graveyard.
Next stop was Cindy’s Hill which required a short hike to the summit for an impressive view of the desert along with some petroglyphs. Then, lunch!
Then on to the Sasco ghost town with its old hotel, jail, and other landmarks.
We also saw another interesting cemetery of all the residents who died in the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic which forced the town to close down because so many people died.
And here we all are at the Sasco Hotel…
Front row: Patti Bell, Sandy Benson, Connie Colbert, Jennifer North, Tana Kappel, Barb Hall, Ruth Cañamar (kneeling), Kim Kreutzer, Colleen Kelly, Jeff Jennings, Kirk Astroth, Nate Fors
Back row: Gary Mackender, Judy Browder, Dee Jay Bailey, Karl Hoffmann
Here’s a taste of this last Sunday’s action at Borderlands, and what brought this group of people together – music! (Toward the end is a crowd shot and you’re bound to see someone you know…)
And now…
Sounds like a great trip, thanks for posting!