Ghost Town - sort of

While we were visiting the Whitewater Canyon, we found mention of a ghost town - Mogollon - that contains the remnants of an old mining town. Anyone who knows us (especially me) knows that I LOVE ghosts and "dark" things!

After the hike through the canyon, we anticipated a "short" drive - at least we thought! While less than 20 miles away, we did not anticipate the speed of travel. Once we began maneuvering up State Road 159 (Bursum Road), we quickly realized this road was not for the faint of heart! Of course, upon turning onto the road, we saw the signs for chains during winter months, but where the road began was dry and clear. We figured, meh, we should be good. After all, we are in a big truck with four-wheel drive, right? And, it's only 9 miles to the town.

The ascent up the mountain was quite steep with incredibly narrow lanes (supposedly it is a two-lane road all the way to Mogollon......um, not so much). Switchbacks galore, sheer drop-offs on one side and jagged cliff walls on the other side - needless to say, the drive was VERY quiet as my man expertly handled the curves. THEN, as we continued to climb higher and higher, we see snow - and with snow, was ice/water and mud. Oh joy! At one point we thought about turning around, but truly were unable to find a decent spot to do so. Therefore, we ventured on! I so wanted to take pictures of the road, but didn't want to distract Jason or obstruct his view. Fortunately, I DID get pics on the way down. As you can see, it felt like we were on top of the world....on a narrow pole lol!

Here was the "entrance" and Mogollon town sign - the only way we knew we had arrived.

As soon as we crossed over what can only be described as the threshold into the town, an eerie feeling overcame us both. (Though of course we didn't say anything about it at that moment!) We had read that many of the town's historic buildings were maintained, including a museum.

Intrigued, we ventured on. Although the museum was actually closed, we did get some interesting pictures of the old structures. We were reminded of the resiliency of mankind while recognizing nothing lasts forever.

As we progressed further up the road, it seemed to become darker and, dare I say, a bit more ominous.

We began to see more and more cats....hmmm....that means people are currently residing here, right? Sure enough. The following picture shows how high the creek can rise during monsoon season as well as where the full-time residential area begins.

This was where we decided to end our visit. A) we didn't feel like crossing the road and getting our feet wet and B) um, really bad juju vibes. If Rob Zombie is ever looking for a site to film his next movie, THIS place would be it.

We promptly wrapped up our picture-taking and beat feet back to the truck. Call us sissies, I'm okay with that.

However, as we exited, we were reminded that we ARE in the desert!

The trip back down the mountain was uneventful and we even encountered some wildlife lol.

Overall, it was a pulse-quickening adventure - and to be honest, one we really don't care to repeat!

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