The drive to Page takes about 6 hours so we like to split it up by stopping on the way. Today we choose to visit an abandoned mining town, Richinbar, which is rarely visited even though it is close to the I17 highway. The major reason for the lack of visitation is that you need to exit the highway outside of the designated interstate exits which is a bit offputting when you try to do it at high speed.
The parking spot is in front of a locked gate between the Sunset rest area and Badger Springs exit when going northwards (towards Flagstaff) on the interstate. After parking at the closed gate we pass it and then walk past an empty corral. From here there are a few roads and trails but we continue east towards the Agua Fria canyon and the abandoned mining town. On the way we also see a couple cows, one alive and one dead, which is fewer than we expected based on previous trip reports.
As we walk towards the rim there are nice views both in front and looking back towards Crown King and the mountains. There is no one else around which is great and we enjoy the solitude, interrupted only by the sound of cars passing on the interstate.
After about a mile we get close to the rim and see the first signs of the mine, the huge mine mounds. We descend towards them and get a more detailed view of the tailings which consist both of gravel remaining from the mining operations as well as trash from the miners that inhabited the area.
The town is right at the edge of the canyon so there are good views into the Agua Fria canyon and we even see a few waterholes at the bottom but no wildlife unfortunately.
After enjoying the canyon we return to the Richinbar mine site to take a closer look at the remains of the abandoned buildings. There are quite a few buildings to see and it would have been nice to have some information of what was where.
Of course being ignorant regarding what each building is makes it easier to invent weird names and uses for the different ruins that we find. And there are a lot of ruins.
One of the more interesting sights from the town site is what looks to be a dam further down in a valley. We climb down to it to examine it and still are not sure if it is manmade or natural.
Afterwards we continue along the rim and find a few more building remains including one where the bricks were clearly stamped by a California brick maker.
The weather is relatively cold for November and it gets cloudier and windier as the day passes. The cloud formations as a result are quite beautiful and move fast fast across the sky and we have to take pictures of them for a while before returning to the car.
On the way to Page as we pass the highest point on the road, Flagstaff, at 7,000 ft we enter a huge snowstorm and are happy that it is limited to only about 20 miles of the total distance as the going is really slow and the visibility limited. In the evening we go to get dinner from a fast food BBQ joint that we enjoyed previously, Big John’s Texas BBQ. Unfortunately today the food appears to be burned and not so well made and tasty as previously. And then it is time to go to sleep, tomorrow we have a busy day planned.
