Snow day on the NG Magma Arizona Railroad

The last couple of days down here in the valley of the sun have been very wet with snow falling at fairly low elevations. Since the rain let up for Saturday I decide to venture out to my nearest NG ROW to get some views of the snowy mountaintops that are surrounding the valley. It seemed like a good excuse to get out of the house after spending a few weekends working on yard projects.


This view is above MP 18 heading towards Hewitt Station. I like this section of the grade which provides views of the Superstition Wilderness area in the distance. If you look closely at the far left, Weavers Needle has a nice cap of snow on this Saturday morning. All of the peaks off in the distance are snow capped.


This shot is close to the Hewitt Station site with a bit of a washout along the grade. All of the distant hills are snow covered and it is pretty quiet except for a Cottontail scurrying off.


A view from the NG shelf along Queen Creek. Not only is the snow a rare site but the streambed is typically dry unless a big storm has passed through. The Last time that I was out here was dry and hot and the water was a welcome site.


This is a trestle site that I like to visit when I am in the area and running water is rare. Today the runoff has actually exposed some concrete for the second bent. The snow covered hills are still all around as I explorer up around MP 25.


This final shot is up around MP 27 with a washout in the grade in the foreground and the mountains known as Apache Leap off in the distance. The NG is coming down off of a plateau here and will make its way down in front of the substation. The final destination is Superior with some building on the outskirts just visible on the right side of the shot.

Not much of a snow day compared to our favorite state to the northeast but we enjoy what we occasionally get down here in the desert.

Dave