Morenci Southern NG hike and overlay

It has been a while since I have posted a NG hike with most of my recent adventures being SG logging lines of northern AZ. This weekend we managed to head over to the eastern part of the state for another trek out on the grade of the Morenci Southern. The goal this time was to explore what remains to the north of the San Francisco River which includes a few loops, some sidings and tunnel #3.

This will be the start of our trek at the northern bridge pier at the San Francisco River crossing. We hiked the grade heading into the balloon loop and checked out some sidings here. What was interesting is that we found a quite long siding to the south of the balloon loop that isn't documented on the valuation map. The link below provides the start of my valuation map overlay for the Morenci Southern, mileposts 8-12. Clicking on any of the yellow squares will bring up a photo of the location.

Stay tuned for further updates...

Morenci Southern Overlay

Here is a static overview map of the start of the trek. Note the undocumented siding to the south of the balloon loop that is outlined with yellow squares.


Spikes and small pieces of coal are in evidence in the area.


We also found the occasional tie plate over the course of the day.


The starting point


Dave