The Route |
Interstate |
US Highway |
State Highway |
On maps (see the graphics!), an Interstate highway is identified with a blue, red and white "shield," a "US" route by a black and white shield, and a state route with that state's choice of sign -- often some motif involving that state's flag or geographical shape. In my state, for example, we use a sign shaped like our state's outline, in black and white. Now back to my story...
The purpose of this trip was the driving itself – but that’s not to say there weren’t interesting things to see and do along the way. My original plan was to meet some friends in southern Utah for a day of visiting, but that fell through for the present. So instead, since I was not willing to stay home and was really excited at the prospect of doing some driving (which I haven’t been able to do for a while), I thought this would be an ambitious alternative for a two-day adventure (in reality, it was a day and a half).
SR51 |
Up until the 1970s, Grand Avenue and US60 was the main route from Phoenix to Los Angeles. It was very common for us to leave Phoenix in the evening, and drive to Los Angeles overnight to beat the summer daytime heat. The stretch of I-10 from Brenda (out by Quartzite) into Phoenix was the very last section of I-10 to be completed, so we had to use the old two-lane blacktop out to that point in far western Arizona. From the northwest end of Phoenix, this old two-lane road is still a preferred route for me, since it is more scenic and the pace is slower. I followed that as far as Wickenburg, where my route for this trip (US93) split off toward Kingman and Las Vegas.
Hassayampa Rest Area and Palo Verdes |
Horse Shoe Cafe |
US 93 |
There are several things that contribute to the extremely unsafe nature of this highway. First, (before the current improvement project) the road and its foundations were designed and built in the 1930s. It was designed and constructed for automobiles with expected highway speeds of 40 or 50 mph, maximum. It was narrow and shoulder-less, with very little thought given to grades and banking in terms of safe driving. They built the road, but it was up to each driver to drive on it safely – a novel concept, eh? It’s what I call “personal responsibility.”
You see, we didn’t used to have the "Nanny State" that we have now. In the latter half of the 20th Century, we drove this road at speeds of 65 and 75 mph (not that this was legal), whether it was safe at those speeds or not (It wasn’t.) Along with that problem, the drivers on that highway are mostly headed to the gambling and drinking holiday meccas of our area – Laughlin and Las Vegas. When they get there, they drink and they don't sleep, and most are in a hurry to get there or to get home afterward. So you have impaired drivers from both fatigue and chemicals, and you have a large number of drivers who exhibit great degrees of impatience – resulting in high speeds and unsafe passing.
When you mix all of those things together on what already was an outdated and poorly designed road (in terms of modern road design, anyway), tragic results are completely predictable. What remains to be seen is whether the recent improvement projects and widening (& dividing) of the highway will have any positive impact on the death rate on this road. As it is, even today, I often go a different route to avoid it, or choose a time when some of the other drivers mentioned above are not as likely to be “out there.” It saddens me whenever I think about it that many Americans are nothing but rank amateurs when it comes to driving. There are so many unthinking and ignorant fools out there.
Joshua Tree |
Running for 54 miles along US Route 93 northwest of Phoenix between the historic mining town of Wickenburg and the tiny town of Wikieup, the Joshua Forest Scenic Parkway crosses the blurred boundary between the Sonoran and Mojave deserts in western Arizona. Hardy creosote carpets the desert, while ocotillos thrust their straight barbed arms to the sky like a spring of thorns, frozen in midair. Saguaro cacti, the signature plant of the Sonoran Desert, thrive at the beginning and end of the drive, and great cliffs and canyons loom to the east and west.
At the heart of the parkway stands one of only three Joshua tree forests in the state. Joshua trees are to the Mojave Desert what saguaros are to the Sonoran – huge, perfectly adapted endemic plants that live nowhere else in the world. On this route visitors can see saguaros standing next to Joshua trees, the breathtaking union of two harsh, lovely deserts. When driving through the Joshua forests, remember that these plants aren’t trees but yuccas, and members of the lily family. Enduring temperatures between 30 and 125 degrees, thriving with oppressively little rainfall and living for as long as 300 years, these giant lilies seem to have little in common with other members of their family, abandoning the grace and fragility of lilies for resiliency.
Instead of thick concentrations, the first giant yuccas stand alone, popping out of the saguaro-dotted desert. Standing like grizzled sentries, Joshuas prefer the slightly higher and wetter parts of the desert, and so mark the edge of the Mojave. Thick, treelike trunks support the many chaotic forks of the Joshuas. The frenzied branches erupt randomly and in ungainly exuberance. Sharp green leaves bristle at the top and shaggy, dried-out spikes from years past cling to the branches and trunk. Early settlers looked at the yuccas and saw a plant brimming with hostile weaponry, calling them "dagger trees." Mormon pioneers, however, looked at the forked branches and saw the Biblical Joshua’s outspread arms. From March to May, the Joshua trees put out clusters of creamy-white blossoms and their lily heritage emerges, inviting pollination from yucca moths.
Most pollinators go from flower to flower to feed on pollen or nectar, thus inadvertently fertilizing them. The female yucca moth doesn’t eat pollen or nectar — she has different motivations. The moth intentionally collects pollen from one Joshua tree flower and deposits it in another, then lays her eggs inside the pollinated flower. By fertilizing that same flower, the moth guarantees that when her larvae hatch there will be developed seeds to eat, assuring the survival of the moths and the Joshua trees. http://www.arizonascenicroads.com/north_central/joshua_forest_article_1.html
The Joshua “trees” are so unique, you can’t help but notice them as you drive along this parkway. I didn’t know that they inhabited that interface between the Sonoran and the Mohave deserts, where the elevation is getting higher (rising from 1000-1500 feet MSL to 3,000-4000 feet MSL) making the conditions in this corridor “just right” for them. They add to the scenic beauty of this area – which was once rife with “dude ranches.” They make the area beautiful and perfect for trail rides, hay rides and cowboy campfire suppers, and you can do that today if you want; there’s still a few of those places left.
Heading north through the Joshua trees, you pass Nothing, AZ. While there used to be a couple of roadside service businesses there, today it truly is “nothing.” There’s not much left – it doesn’t even look like anyone is living there anymore. Add it to the list of Arizona ghost towns. I don’t have “nothing” more to say about it (except that the name fits...)
Burro Creek Camp |
Aquarius Mountains, north of Wikieup, AZ |
Where the planes were parked |
My interest in this place stems from its role after WWII as the final destination of many of the aircraft that served in the overseas theaters – I knew a pilot, a Canadian and RAF combat veteran, who flew in the Battle of Britain and later with the RCAF, and at the end of the war, he soloed B-17s to the Kingman airport (from Newfoundland) where they were stored temporarily and then scrapped, by the thousands. Having seen Arizona, this man liked it so much that he chose to live here. When he applied for a US pilot's license, the government refused him, saying he didn't have enough "verifiable experience" to qualify for it. They issued him a "student" certificate and he flew on that for the rest of his life, as far as I know. It was just Higgins' way of telling the government to "stuff it." Anyway, I never saw the stored planes there – they were all gone by the time I was old enough to drive or fly. But I did get a photo of the area where those old planes had been parked in the nearby desert as I passed by the other day.
Along Old 66 |
Arizona’s stretch of the storied road is one of the longest stretches still intact. It was superseded by I-40 in the early 1960s (and farther east, by I-44) and many waypoints and towns just folded up and died. Those that survived now glory in the road's history and the associated nostalgia, especially among those of my generation. They’ve even put up some facsimiles of the famous roadside Burma Shave signs to entertain those of us who treasure American highway kitsch. You can still see some of the old places that served the people and travelers along the way – the most recognizable are the old gas stations with their distinctive shapes and awning-covered driveways, and of course the old motor courts – or motels, mostly in ruins now. I wonder if someone could make a killing by building a new, modern motel along this stretch of road, but in the old art-deco "motor-court" style, and with plenty of neon lighting. There are ranches here and there and one of our busiest transcontinental railroads (the BNSF) follows the same route.
Peach Springs |
I drove along in the late afternoon, stopping frequently to take photos; the light was gorgeous. I was in no hurry at all, running maybe 60 mph, but others were flying past at 70 and maybe even 80+ in some cases. The only reason to drive this highway is to enjoy and soak up that history (if you’re in that much of a hurry, you’d take the nearby Interstate, right (?). I don’t understand why others would be in such a hurry here… you can’t even read the Burma Shave signs at those speeds! So I just moseyed along. I did my own speeding later on…
In the middle of Peach Springs, you can stop at the tourist agency and get a permit to drive Diamond Creek Road – which leads to the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s the only place along the entire length of the canyon where you can do that (you can drive to the water's edge at Lee's Ferry, but that's not actually in the Canyon itself). This road (while dirt) doesn’t normally require four-wheel drive, although it runs through the waters of Diamond Creek at the end. Don’t bother if you are riding a motorcycle though – the Hualapai don’t allow bikes on that road. I argued about that, but I lost of course. I figured if my uncle could get there in a Ford Escort, I could easily do it on a motorcycle. As little as ninety years ago, the road didn't exist even in primitive form - it was nothing in those days but a trail. Emery Kolb (famous entrepreneur and adventurer at the Grand Canyon) used the Diamond Creek trail to get to the Colorado River when he searched for Glen and Bessie Hyde, a now-infamous couple who disappeared along the River while boating through Grand Canyon on their honeymoon in a home-built scow. They were never found, and their story is laced with intrigue and mystery, and some say perhaps even murder.
The road to Hualapai Hilltop and Supai |
Back on Route 66, a few more miles and you’ll pass by Grand Canyon Caverns. I don’t usually stop – but it’s worth a look if you’ve never seen it before. I took the guided tour through the cavern once when I was staying at their motel the night before a hike to Supai. Seligman is about twenty miles farther. I always look for the building that housed the Texaco station that Andreas Feininger photographed back in the 1940s – and on this pass through town I think I might have finally spotted it. It is no longer a gas station, if what I saw was the correct building, but I saw a block building that might possibly have been the one. Seligman doesn’t look a thing today like it did in 1947 when Mr. Feininger took his famous photo.
Seligman, 1947 by A. Feininger |
The trouble is, when you are in control of where a thirty-five ton truck is pointed, that rudeness is dangerous and often kills innocent people. A 72,000 lb semi, for example, driven at 65 mph, is carrying the equivalent of over 700 tons of "crash force." My suggestion to other drivers is to give the jerks plenty of room so they can’t surprise you. Some of them think absolutely nothing about changing lanes in front of a vehicle moving 75 mph while they are only doing maybe 25 mph on a grade, and they don't care at all if you wind up in the ditch, or dead. Never drive in close proximity to a truck – if you need to pass, do it carefully and as quickly as you can. There’s more than one good reason for that.
18:35: I arrived in Williams, my destination for the night, at about 6:30 PM. I had a reservation at the Canyon Motel and RV Park. It was among the least expensive places in town and was still highly rated in reviews that I read. I found it satisfactory in most regards, although I did not like the bed – it was obvious it was fairly new, but it was not very comfortable – one of those foam mattresses I think, given its consistency and shape. The place was clean though, and inexpensive compared to some other places around town. One of the attractions is that they have several old railroad cabooses that you can rent as motel lodging – which might be fun, especially for kids. Or train buffs! My biggest gripe was that they mounted the televisions high on the walls – next to the ceilings. I had taken a DVD player and a couple good western movies – and I couldn’t connect the player to the TV because the wires weren’t long enough to reach the TV way up there by the ceiling! I asked for a different room, because I had really looked forward to the movie-fest, but they didn’t have any others available. I was hoping there was still a room or two with a television “mounted” on a table; alas, there was not. So anyway, I was a bit torqued about that.
Canyon Motel Respite |
20:30: My dinner at Rod’s was a generously-sized slice of prime rib of beef, even though it was the smallest cut. I think it was called the "princess" cut... They served it at the right degree of doneness, but it was still very heavy and dry (too lean). I shouldn’t complain about a piece of beef being too lean – but the fact is that prime rib needs to be a little fatty for the flavor. I ate some of it, sliced the rest into thin strips and took them out in a box for my next day’s lunch. I bought a package of pita breads at the local grocery, snatched some mayo from the deli and had pita-pocket prime rib sandwiches for lunch at a picnic area in Grand Canyon National Park. And served that way, there was nothing to complain about. About ordering the “ladies’ cut” of prime rib? The server raised her eyebrow at me in disdain, but I told her that I really was a macho-man, just not a very hungry one at that specific moment. Even worse, I was cold, and there was no way I was going to drink coffee that late in the day – so I ordered hot tea. And with that she knew in her mind that I really was a big wuss; there was no redemption after that.
Before going to bed, I tried to watch a DVD program on old ghost towns on my PC, but got sleepy very quickly, gave up and went to bed. I awoke at 0800, got myself together, got everything EXCEPT my Bluetooth earpiece into the car; didn’t find out about that omission until I got a call from the motel once home. They wanted $15 plus shipping costs to mail it back to me, so I invited them to keep it. Which is what they probably wanted all along. I've already replaced it with one that cost me $12.
09:00: I got my breakfast, then headed up the road toward the Grand Canyon. This is another stretch of road where everyone seems to be in a hurry – the tourists who rent cars (and probably many of the locals as well) think the proper speed for SR64 must be about 95 mph, because that’s how fast a lot of them go. At least on that road, there isn’t much else to see until you get to Tusayan, so maybe I can understand their impatience a little more than I do when it's on Route 66... and except for the unsafe passing. They are in such a hurry to get around you that they don’t care how safe or unsafe it is. It’s a good road for loss-of-control single-car wrecks and head-ons and like US93, lots of fatalities. These are the same folks you'll see later at the Grand Canyon overlooks -- they look at the expansive vista of one of the Seven Wonders of the World that's laid out before them for all of ten seconds, toss their empty plastic water bottles on the ground and drive on at high velocity to the Park exit. Then they tell all the folks back home they've "seen the Grand Canyon" and how they weren't very impressed.
Planes of Fame at Valle - a Stinson Reliant |
The Big Ditch |
Old Road |
Near Hotevilla and Second Mesa |
Near Teas Tos, on the Dinetah |
Crossing the Mogollon Rim |
I stopped at Long Valley (just south of Clint’s Well) intending to get some soup, but the restaurant must have had a slow day and they had just closed their doors a little early. They didn’t want to sell me any soup. But I wasn’t all that hungry anyway, having eaten several things I got at that McDonald’s earlier along the way and I headed on down the road and down the switchbacks and off the Rim. It was getting dark, so my last couple of photos were taken along that stretch right around Long Valley before I ran out of daylight for photography.
20:00: I stopped in Payson long enough to squeegee my windshield (beaucoops bugs), then drove on. There was a long stretch of road work that slowed me down around Mt Ord, but after that it was clear sailing into Mesa and Phoenix. SR87 between Payson and Mesa is almost like interstate super-slab, so normally it is a pretty quick drive. I arrived at the end of my driveway with 780 miles on the clock about 21:30, a couple of hundred dollars less wealthy – and wishing I’d had a couple more days to roll.