Oak Flat

This is a bit of the road from hell that encircles Oak Flat Campground in Arizona. Yes, that really is a road. I'm putting this up now because I heard on the radio yesterday that the mining company has renewed its efforts to turn this wonderful place into the biggest copper mine in the country. This picture was taken a year or two after they'd resumed limited mining operations, which are more than bad enough. The mining equipment is loud as anything, and they have brilliant floodlights on all night to enhance your camping experience, and the trucks took what was a fairly decent dirt road and turned it into an outright nightmare when you're pulling in late at night. And now they want to step it up, dig all the copper out of the ground, turn this crazy beautiful place into a big sinkhole. Some Native Americans consider this place sacred. So do I. It's downright magical in the mornings.
And just in case anyone ever wonders why I left Arizona, the place I love, well, there you have it. People are ruining the entire state for a profit.