Waiting to board the Dolly Steamboat
Goldfield Ghost Town
Jerry G. Bryant
On February 6, somewhere north of the Pima County line heading up State Route 79, the blustery, cold and wet morning yielded to clearing skies and sunshine. Spirits in our Cool Car caravan lifted. Three hours after leaving Quail Creek and one pit stop later, we arrived at the Gold Canyon Golf Resort where “links inspectors” were dropped off and car pools organized for non-golfers to visit the Goldfield Ghost Town just up the road. The courses at Gold Canyon are well maintained and feature magnificent mountain views. Golf scores remain classified but I am happy to report that in selfless acts of charity some in our group left behind a number of perfectly good golf balls for others to find and enjoy.
Meanwhile, at the Ghost Town, the CC Riders piled into the Mammoth Saloon for lunch. Very popular during the post-lunch explorations was Lu Lu’s Bordello. Here visitors learned of an alternate use the ladies had for silver dollars. Other stops included panning for gold, the rattlesnake exhibit, a mine tour and the mystery shack that would appear to have a casual relationship with gravity.
Club members overnighted at the Gold Canyon Golf Resort and enjoyed a private dining room after a day of golfing and ghosting. The next morning, following a leisurely breakfast, the club navigated to the Apache Trail and Canyon Lake located 45 minutes away. Destination – the Dolly Steamboat, a paddle wheel vessel that cruises the lake daily for unique views of the Superstition Mountains and local wildlife. One highlight of the cruise was a bit of expert ship handling by the crew to make a slow, quiet 180-degree course reversal to hug the shore. This maneuver provided a close up view of a group of big horned sheep that came down a steep slope to encourage a youngster to a higher elevation.
Next month intrepid CC Riders will vie for the first-place plaque in the Cool Car Club’s fourth annual Road Rally. This year’s course features:
* Old classics – mileage tick questions, trip meter resets and a timing run
* Opportunities to excel – a challenging bridge question, multiple-choice questions, two-part questions, a test of your ornithological prowess and a pleasing sight for arborists.
The post-rally festivities will be held over lunch at the course end point, the San Ignacio Golf Club.