Marysvale July 2008!

This past weekend we took Kelsie and headed to Marysvale for our annual Paiute trail trip. This year was even more relaxing and fun than years past. I relaxed enough to allow Ryan to take off on some pretty scary looking side trails! It was more fun than I could have ever imagined. Ryan always seems to find the trails that lead to interesting and beautiful places. On our last day of riding, we managed to find a side trail from Alunite Ridge.

Upon further investigation, we discovered that Alunite is a ghost town located about 5 miles south of Marysvale. It was a small but important mining town during World War 1. Alunite was inhabited about 1915 - 1930.

Alunite is an ore rich in both aluminum and potash and it was mined for fertilizer. When the United States entered WW1, the Alunite mines gained strategic importance as the only domestic source of potash, needed for manufacturing explosives, that was already under development. Most of the Alunite mining activity ended after the war. Demand for potash continued to drop until by 1930 it became too costly to produce.

Thank you Ryan for taking the time to take your family on these great adventures. I LOVE YOU!