Today was a day to "smell the roses" or whatever other flowers were in bloom in this high arid environment. The scheduled route was only 43 miles, but detours to some sights made the total 50 miles. Still quite a modest day. We climbed up Mingus Mountain, with the pass shown below.

From Mingus Mountain we descended to the old copper mining town of Jerome City. It bills itself as a ghost town, given that the copper mine was abandoned, but it's full of tourists and t-shirt shops. However, the burger at The Haunted Burger hit the spot. The town is cut right into the side of a mountain, so the workers could be close to the mine. It looks out over the red rocks of Sedona. There are 118 turns in the 3500 foot descent to the valley. Quite a rush on a bike.

I detoured a few miles to a state historic site at the old mine. However, it was closed due to budget cuts. As usual, these Arizonans take their security seriously. Instead of a closed gate, there was a fence with barbed wire blocking the entrance.

Just below Jerome are the Tuzigoot Indian Ruins, a national historice monument. The Tuzigoots occupied this site from 1000 to 1400 A.D. Their ridge top community is remarkably well preserved, as shown below:

Nobody knows why the Tuzigoots disappeared. They left no written records. I met a really nice ranger who explained various theories. We might have chatted more, but I discovered he was from Chicago and a White Sox fan. That ended things.

We're staying tonight in Cottonwood, AZ. This is a very cycling friendly town, as shown by this sign: