Growler, AZ

Well, with a three blisters on my right foot, I was barely able to crank out 10,340 steps today, which was only 4.53 miles.  But, that's okay.  Things should improve soon and I will be back up to my 5.5 mile per day average again.  In the meantime, what can we see along the way? 

I crossed "Growler" on the map today.  Here's a Google ground-view of Growler.  Growler may have been a whistle stop on the old railroad.  It likely got its name from the Growler mountain range, near Ajo, AZ.  The Growler range was formed by folding and faulting, and the Growler valley runs adjacent to the range.  The Growler range, was named by "Frederick Wall who discovered and named Growler mine after John Growler, an early miner."  "Frederick Wall was a well-known prospector who had frequented the area of southern Arizona since at least 1874 (when Arizona was just a territory).  Virtually nothing is known about John Growler for whom the mine, pass, and mountains are named."  The Growler Mine, also known as the Copper Hill Group, was an intensely worked source of copper sulfied, as well as lead sulfide, silver, and gold lode.  The tallest peak in the Growler range is 3,235 feet.

I found a fun fact in history about the railroad along which I am walking.

With the proliferation of railroad building in the early 1870s, federal reports (funded by the railroads themselves) contended that even the building of railroads increased rainfall. These same reports predicted that with the planting of more trees transported to desert areas like Arizona by train, “We are of the opinion that inside of five years owing to these changes the thermometer will never have occasion to go above the 95 degree mark.”

It was 106 degrees today in Growler.