Sierra Vista, Arizona sits near the border with Mexico and is where I met up with Dan, Mike, Adam, Mark and Greg for a weeklong off-road journey across Arizona to the Utah border in the north. It looked like a small Jeep Jamboree, with all six of us in Jeeps. We headed south towards the border before hooking west through the Coronado National Memorial, where we climbed from 4,700 feet to over 6,500 feet in eight miles. The morning air was clear, making the views of Mexico and the winding switchback road that we had just climbed, quite spectacular. This was my first experience in southern Arizona, and it surprised me with the amount of green trees and shrubs that we were passing through. It did become more arid as we dropped down to the U.S. / Mexico border, but then we turned north and were back into the trees and even several water crossings, in the historic Empire Ranch area, which used to be the largest cattle ranch in the state. These roads were all smooth and we covered a lot of ground. East of Tucson we skirted around Saguaro National Park in the San Pedro River Valley. This area was thick with the large cacti, arms pointed skyward. We were following the river’s path, which begins in Mexico and meets the Gila River in Winkleman, Arizona.
East of Phoenix, Arizona we started up Pioneer Pass in the Pinal Mountains. This was an old wagon road and still much more of a traditional “Jeep Trail” than a road, as we think of them today. We had covered several hundred miles by this point, and it was getting late in the day. This was really tight terrain, so we were struggling to find a spot that would accommodate our small convoy, but we finally came across an abandoned house with enough open space around it for everyone to fit. I never could find any information on the house, but my guess is that it was connected to the nearby Pioneer Mine, along Crow Canyon. Whatever it was, it made for a spooky setting. No birds chirping, no coyotes singing, no sound at all as the sun set over the Pinal’s.
One does not have to be long around the old-timers on the south slope of the Pinal Mountains to hear plenty of tales of long ago, when, between Indian attacks and in the midst of untold difficulties, they searched for and found veins of high-grade silver running from 1000 to 1500 ounces to the ton, and every story in that section centers around the old Pioneer mine, for that was one of the very first ones; was on the old stage road from Globe; and was, in itself, a very large producer of high-grade silver sulfides, chlorides and bromides. The fact that the old Pioneer mine was one of the oldest and one of the largest producers in that section led to that camp being the place from which the activity radiated and the point from which the silver ore and bullion was shipped.
– – Arizona Mining Journal, June 15, 1922
The next morning, we continued up the old wagon road over Pioneer Pass and then down the other side to Globe, Arizona and refueled before continuing north through the Tonto National Forest. We had made such good time on the first day, that a decision was made to take a side trip to Aztec Peak in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness. Aztec Peak is the tallest mountain in the Sierra Ancha, at 7,684 feet, and provided fantastic views of Theodore Roosevelt Lake and the Four Peaks Wilderness, beyond. Unfortunately, the sizeable fire lookout tower capping Aztec Peak was not open to the public. After heading back down the mountain to the lake, we turned north on a forest road and meandered through alternating pines, meadows and shear vertical cliffs. We were now over on the east side of the Sierra Ancha Wilderness and slowly heading out of the traditional desert and into the high desert and pine forests of northern Arizona. We camped that night along Cherry Creek, which we had generally been following, all day. The first forest road that we had turned onto that morning after visiting Aztec Peak, FR 203, was named Cherry Creek Road. We were camped at about 4,800 feet, and with the bubbling creek and the stands of cottonwood and willow trees surrounding the creek, it was one of the best campsites on the trip. The next day, we would make our push towards Flagstaff via the Mogollon Rim.
Travel was fast and easy, as opposed to the previous day, and we stopped to take in the sites around the Mogollon Rim visitor’s center, before heading out along the rim road. At 7,500 feet the views were stunning, and it was thick pine forests and rock outcroppings as far as the eye could see. We were tracking north towards the area east of Flagstaff on a series of Forest Service Roads that were generally wide and well-graded, so we were making good time. We were now north of the Mogollon Rim, working our way towards Long Lake and Kinnikinick Lake, east of Sedona and southeast of Flagstaff. The road was degenerating rapidly into more of a dry riverbed, and we slowed to a crawl as we picked our way through a sea of large, round rocks and boulders. This went on for several miles and then opened back up into a dirt two-track. Unfortunately, the sky had darkened, and it was now spitting rain, turning the road into a slippery mess. Steering became more of a suggestion than a precise input, as we slipped and slid through the area. The rain abated and the road improved, but Adam began hearing an odd sound in the back of his Jeep, so we stopped to investigate and discovered a sheared rear shock mount. Fortunately, we were within an hour of Flagstaff and were able to get in touch with the welder who would wait for us to arrive. We detoured out Forest Road 125 /Kinnikinick Lake Road to Lake Mary Road at Mormon Lake and headed north to Flagstaff. These things happen when one is travelling off-road, and as much as we all try to be prepared for as many situations, as we can, this was one that we could not repair on our own. After days of picking our way through the desert and innumerable rocks, it was strange to be on a four-lane freeway again. The traffic was sensory overload, as we wound through Flagstaff to link-up with Profab Mobile Welding, where owner Koby made short work of welding the shock mount, and then also reinforced the mount on the other side. After what turned out to be a long day, we found a campsite back on Kinnikinick Lake Road and enjoyed toasting Greg’s Birthday, and Adam’s repaired Jeep. We were in an open meadow with dispersed pines at 7,000 feet and woke up to meadowlarks singing. We could not have been happier.
Well, it goes from St Louie, Joplin, Missouri, Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty
You’ll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico, Flagstaff, Arizona, don’t forget Winona Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernardino. Won’t you get hip to this kindly tip, Jack and take that California trip?
Get your kicks on Route 66
– – Bobby Troup, (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66
We began our fourth day heading east on Kinnikinick Lake Road, before turning back north towards Winona, an original Route 66 town between Winslow to the east, and Flagstaff to the west. Just outside of town sits the Walnut Canyon Bridge, one of the few remaining original Route 66 bridges. With roughly 300-miles to go, we continued north out of Winona towards Sunset Crater, where the road took on a loose, sandy consistency, but with black volcanic sand. We crossed Highway 89 which we would revisit the next day, as we came into Cameron on the Navajo Nation. As we travelled north-northwest out of the volcanic area around Sunset and Strawberry Craters, the road widened into a smooth dirt throughway, and we were making good time. We were skirting the Coconino National Forest and intersected the Arizona National Scenic Trail for several miles. This trail is a non-motorized version of what we were doing, stretching some 800-miles from Mexico to Utah. But for this brief section we were sharing the trail, as it were.
We could see him approaching in the distance on a long straight stretch of road. Broad brimmed hat, trekking poles, and a pack. He was heading to Mexico on the trail, and we refilled his water and give him some fig bars. Dan always packs fig bars to give-out to hikers and mountain bikers that he encounters on his trips, and says it is one of the preferred energy foods. I will have to take his word on that. He had picked the perfect time for his journey, as the weather was mild and although it was still occasionally spitting rain, it too was just mild sprinkles. I do not know if May is like this every year in Arizona, but this one sure was a gem, other than our Jeeps being caked with mud from the damp dirt road. Contrary to the popular opinion that Jeeps are synonymous with mud, I try to avoid it as much as possible because it is a mess to clean up, and it gets everywhere. We left the Coconino heading towards the southeast corner of Grand Canyon National Park, entering the ponderosa pines of the Kaibab National Forest. We would not have time on this trip to visit the Grand Canyon, but we did make a short detour to a viewpoint that allowed us a glimpse of the southeast canyon. We would spend more time the next day, on the Little Colorado River Gorge on the Navajo Nation. We found a secluded place to camp amongst the pines for the night. We were at 7,000 feet in a secluded section of pine forest, and although we did get some rain in the early evening, it ended up being a great night. The next day we would make our push into Cameron.
The next morning, we continued east on the Coconino Rim Road to the Gray Mountain Truck Trail, which would take us back to Highway 89 at the defunct Navajo Nation town of Gray Mountain. This turned into quite the exciting road, as we dropped several thousand feet over the course of twenty miles. Several miles of the road were quite steep, with sharp switchbacks and stairstep rock ledges that reduced our speed to a crawl. With the loose rock and the stair-step ledges, this road would be a real bear to climb, for anyone heading in the other direction. At Gray Mountain, we turned north on Highway 89 into Cameron, where we fueled-up our Jeeps with gas and our stomachs with Navajo Tacos, at the Cameron Trading Post. We would need the energy as today was going to be a long one. We had a hundred miles of road on the Navajo Nation, plus the planned stop at the Little Colorado River Gorge, and we did not have permits to camp on Navajo Nation – just travel through it. Our plan was to find a camping spot on House Rock Road, which connect Arizona’s Highway 89 Alternate that runs east-west along the Vermillion Cliffs, to Highway 89 on the Utah side, at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. That would mark the end of our trip together, but for this afternoon, we needed to get to the Little Colorado River Gorge.
I had heard the Gorge referred to as the Little Grand Canyon, and it did not disappoint. Some 3,000-feet deep, the Gorge forms the longest arm of the Grand Canyon. The bright turquoise color of the river comes from Blue Spring, 13-miles back up-river towards Cameron, which discharges dissolved minerals into the river. This portion of the river, from Blue Spring to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, flows year-round. The Little Colorado River is much more seasonal, east of Blue Spring, back in the direction of Cameron. We continued through Navajo Nation on a mixture of roads. Some wide and well-graded, with occasional houses along the way, and others cutting through rugged ranch land, crossing deep washes that would creep up on you if you were not paying attention. The arid landscape contrasted sharply with endless miles of bright orange desert globemallow, that was in full bloom across the 5,000-foot desert. At one point, on a particularly rugged portion of trail through rock outcroppings and sandy washes, we came across a pickup truck traveling in the other direction, carrying a 300-gallon water pallet in the bed. Whether this was for livestock, or a house is hard to say. Water is scarce on Navajo Nation, and the people travel many miles to wells to get water for themselves and their livestock. 300-gallons of water weighs 2,500 pounds, so I was impressed that this truck was making the journey, but I am sure that it is one that the driver has performed many, many times.
Late that afternoon we exited the Navajo Nation south of Paige, then turned west at Marble Canyon and followed Highway 89 Alternate to House Rock Road, which took us north towards the Utah border along the Vermillion Cliffs. House Rock Road is a wide graveled “freeway” that is a major throughfare between Arizona and Utah. There was no way that we were going to camp near this major road, so in keeping with our usual tradition on these trips, we split-up and began searching for potential campsites, several miles off the road in both directions. We finally found a great campsite that could accommodate our six Jeeps, off a BLM road that headed east towards the Vermillion Cliffs. It would be our last night together on this trip, but our plan in the morning was to first visit White Pocket, a swirling white and red sandstone formation that is very remote and difficult to get to, at least from this direction, without a properly equipped vehicle.
The next morning, we worked our way east towards Poverty Flat Ranch, on a sandy trail with intermittent sandstone ledges that crossed the trail. This was evidently still an active ranch, as we passed a water well driven by an industrial engine that was chugging away, and a very remote airstrip, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We made it to the parking lot at White Pocket, which was just a large area of flat sandy ground. There were other vehicles there; side-by-side buggies, Jeeps, and a Toyota HiLux from Sweden. Evidently there are other and perhaps easier ways to get to White Pocket, because we did not encounter another vehicle on the trail that we took. We spent several hours taking in the sights and hiking around the relatively small “pocket” which is maybe several miles long by one mile wide. There are no trails, so it is interesting to hike around on the sandstone, and views of the surrounding area from the higher formations are fantastic. We headed back to House Rock Road on the same trail through Poverty Flat Ranch, and this time we did see a few side-by-sides on the route. At some point on the trail, I sheared a rear swaybar link on the Jeep, so when we got back out to House Rock Road, I crawled under the Jeep and removed the broken link. It was 1,000 miles back to Portland, Oregon but I could do that without a rear swaybar. Our trip across Arizona had come to an end, and it was strange to be back on highways, with all their traffic. The Jeep would need some repairs, and I would need some rest and recuperation – more so from the trip home, than the backcountry journey.
