The Sunflower mine was a large mercury processing facility tucked away in the mountains southwest of Payson. I'm not sure exactly when the mine was functional, but the remaining dilapidated structure is an amazing site. The trail up to the mine isn't exactly easy going, and it really makes you wonder how they got all of that equipment up there in the first place. Running straight through the main structure is an immense pipe that acted as a tumbler for ore. The resulting particles were then burned in large furnaces with coke (see the ride report on the coke ovens) to produce mercury gas. The gas was then cooled to produce liquid mercury. (See? This site can be entertaining and educational.)

There were six of us in the party -- two big BMW GSs, two KTM Adventures, a KLR and an XR650L. After grouping up in Fountain Hills, we shot up hwy 87 to the Mt. Ord exit and hit the trail to the mine. It didn't take long at all to get there on our bikes, so we strolled through the mine and had some lunch.

Meeting up in Fountain Hills	On the way to the mine	The upside-down teddy bear was a little creepy	Sunflower mine	Inside the structure
4wd trip gone bad	Why Jim is missing three fingers...	Doing some exploring	Not the most sturdy structure	More mine pics...
Is that Tron?		A chute above the main structure	More remnants of the mine

It was still relatively early, so we decided to head up to Mount Peeley. The road to Peeley is normally very easy and scenic, but the recent cold spells had left numerous patches of snow on the road. The group stopped and decided to try an alternate trail, but not before Motozilla tried blasting up a steep incline on his GS. The hill wasn't exactly GS-friendly territory, but he gave it one hell of an effort.

A few miles down the alternate trail, icy patches of snow started cropping up once again, and Jim damn near rode his GS straight down the mountain. One of his rear cases broke off, but it could have been a lot worse. At that point, we all decided to head on back home; but not before enjoying a nice cold beer in Fountain Hills. 

Didn't quite make it	Heading back down on the GS	Nice try, though	It's not often we get to ride in snow	"Pushing" the limits of the GS

Missing left case	The spot where Jim disputed with gravity	The green line shows how close he came

.