Okay, we learned that Skywalk is closed as of two months ago on account of a dispute between the Hualapai Tribe and the Developer who built the structure and Visitor’s Center.  So… we decided to ride out to Oatman Arizona, a Ghost Town, by way of historic byway Route 66.  What a ride it was.

Here is a remnant of days gone by, Route 66, was a favorite road of travelers making their way across the US.

Angie was happy to be on a new adventure.

This obvious volcanic fumarole had volcanic material scattered around.

Route 66 wound and climbed and when we looked back we saw this.  That road you see draping and curving is what we just traveled.

 We climbed to the top and crested the ridge and had some more white knuckle curves to go.  The elevation here was about 3550 feet.

Then we came to the Goldroad Mine, the largest gold producing mine in Arizona history.  It has many tunnels and shafts that go to 2000 feet deep.  There is conflicting information on whether they offer tours at this time, but information can be found here.

We saw evidence of several old cabins here and remnants of what was once a huge mining operation.

Finally we came upon the town of Oatman.  A ghost town that isn’t very ghostly anymore.

We were surprised to find a happy town bustling with life and lots of visitors.

Oatman was a busy gold mining town operating from the early 1900s to the 1940s.  Route 66 was built to run through Oatman in the 1920s.  In its heyday, there were 20,000 people living in the Oatman area.

This beautiful Harley caught our eye.

But the stars of Oatman are these guys.  When the miners left, they disbanded their mules to roam wild.  They thrived and these are their decedents.

These little guys were so cute and sweet.

Angie decided it wasn’t fair they were getting all the attention… so she barked at them.

But then she decided to make friends.

The Oatman Hotel has some historical significance.  It is where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honeymoon.

So, after a day of fun and feeding and petting the burros, we decided to get our asses out of there and head on back to Kingman.

There’s a little more information on Oatman here.

Tomorrow, we’ll make our way north to Page, AZ.