It's Been One Of Those Days...

One of those days where you just can't hardly believe that someone is willing to pay you to do this stuff! I've been hopping back and forth all last week in the desert area of Southern California and Arizona. This area has a rugged beauty to it that is unique and intriguing to me, if you've ever crossed over into Southern California on I-8 from Arizona you'll know what I mean. There are huge sand dunes, lots of cactus, and even an area of mountains that look to me like some huge giants came through there and just stacked up a bunch of loose boulders into big piles. Some of this area is so arid that there is not a blade of grass anywhere and very few if any type of plants grow there. It is strange coming through there and then finding yourself in a lush valley in California where every type of produce is grown.

Usually when down in this part of the country I will get dispatched over to one of the copper mines. Well it just so happens that they sent me to one that I have never visited before. Hayden, Arizona is the home of this particular mine and I picked up a high value load of copper anodes. Here is my truck loaded and ready to roll.

These copper mines are always in the mountains, but this one beats them all as far as the adventure of getting in and out of there goes. I learned a few things on this trip though. Like the fact that truckers have more than one set of "ears". Yes when travelling in this area the state of Arizona prefers that truckers use their "lower ears". Here's what I'm talking about:

I suppose that your "lower ears" won't pop as much while making the trip up and down the mountains, or maybe they just won't be so bothered by the way that your Jake Brake is screaming all the way down the mountain. About four miles of this:

and it wasn't my ears I was concerned with, but rather I was wishing I had put on some Depends before I started my day! Yes there were a few tense moments on this journey. Try doing four miles of 10% grade with about 48,000 pounds chained to your trailer and your sphincter muscles will be getting stressed also.

But the stress of it was relieved by the beauty of the scenery. I drove through a large area of Apache reservation territory that was as stunning to look at as it was challenging to drive through. There were tourists driving all through the area, and I saw at least a dozen groups of motorcyclists with about thirty members in each group, all of them enjoying a scenic drive through the mountains. I'm going to leave you with some photos that I shot of the Salt River Canyon that I had to go through to get back out of the mine area and onto my destination. This is the stuff that makes this flat-bed work so interesting to me.

Awesome pictures my friend! Although I could see a definite "pucker factor" with the grade ;) There are a few things about OTR that I will regret not getting to experience since I'm regional linehaul. Beautiful, changing scenery is one of those things. Thanks for bringing me along w/ you on your trip by posting the pics. Appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Beautiful pics!!! I've always enjoyed scenery immensely. It never got old to me....not one bit.

Old School,

I-8 into CA is one of my faves. One of my goals is to get my VW beetle baja'ed out and do the dunes down there. I've stopped a few times just to watch others enjoying the dunes.

Thank you for the pictures. I'm hoping to enjoy the view again with Gordon

Very cool!!! Thank you very much for sharing, makes me excited to get out there!

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQf-TOJ_XWg

Please Listen to this beautiful woman describe trucking...

Great pics!

Great Pics Old School, thank you for sharing :)

Hey, Old School. Up in NH I saw a half a mile long 13% grade! In the national forest, so there was a pull off for the waterfall that was on the other side of the road, but my eyes were fixated on the road just waiting for a semi to attempt to climb it. Then a fully loaded Prime truck with a Walmart reefer tries to climb it, and makes it; But very slowly... Then I got to see a Shaw's truck go down a very brief 14% grade! Unfortunately, we were right in front of him rather than behind, but his Jake Brake was screaming!