The AARoads Blog

And, finally, we have the third part of the trip – from Antelope Canyon to New Mexico. Daniel Brim and I, driving a cargo van… always fun exploring narrow old roads in a big old vehicle like that!

Here’s a 1950s Indian road sign! Complete with peeling numbers on some of the oldest engineer grade (does not fade to green) scotchlite I have ever seen. They invented the stuff in 1950 and this is not much newer than that. 18×12 inches; somewhere in southeast Utah near the Four Corners area.

This might very well be a meteor in daytime! I just noticed this when I was processing these photos – note the smoke trail in the middle. I have the photo from 1 second before, and 4 seconds after, and they show nothing – but this one definitely has that black streak, which I believe to be a smoke trail from a very bright meteor.

Behold the birds. Pagosa Springs, Colorado has this lake, fountain assembly… and swans!

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photos from the canyon itself!

A note about access … the canyon is only accessible via guided tour. It is on Navajo land and the tribe runs the tours. As far as I know, there is no way to get in just by yourself.

There are two types of tours: a $30 for half an hour where they rush you through the canyon with 10 other groups (total 100+ people in there – it gets crowded) so you can see the beams of light as the sun makes its transit across the sky, and a $50 one where they do the rushing and then give you another hour to explore, with the guide being a helpful resource as opposed to actively herding you. I of course recommend ponying up the extra $20! Ask for the “photographer’s tour” option when you book.

I cannot remember which guide company we went with, but I believe all the money just goes to the Navajo Nation so there’s no point in shopping around… they are not in competition and offer identical services. Here is one:

http://www.antelopecanyon.com/

during the photographer’s tour segment (when the general population has been herded out) all the tour guides from all the companies are very friendly and accessible and helpful in pointing out places to stand to take good photos, and rock formations. And of course they carry shovels and are always happy to load the sandfalls! Did I mention I highly recommend the photo tour?

(I have no idea how to get in under the full moon if that is your gig, but I am sure if you inquire with one of the tour companies, they may be able to assist you in that endeavor.)

and one more thing to note: make sure to bring a fast (f/1.4 or f/1.8) lens, or one with image stabilization (Nikon VR, Canon IS, dunno what Pentax, Sony, etc call it but they all have the option)… my exposure times in these photos ranged from 1/20s to 1s at ISO-400 using my f/3.5 VR lens.

Sandfall.

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Photos from late August of this year, when Daniel Brim and I drove from California to New Mexico … in a moving van. Always fun doing three-point turns on narrow old alignments. We stopped at Antelope Canyon along the way – and this set will not include any pictures from there, as it ends just as we get there. The next batch will be the canyon itself.

Part of the collection of someone who wishes to remain anonymous. Well, the signs are visible to anyone from the public right-of-way, so you can go find them if you want! This style of directional sign, complete with glass reflectors, was used on high speed thoroughfares from 1933 to the early 50s.

Nevada state route 167 branches off of old US-91. The road is lit from the side by a truck stop immediately behind us, that serves Interstate 15.

The truck stop, now with actual truck.

The Virgin River Gorge – Arizona interstate route 15. Whereas old US-91 went around it, I-15 was blasted straight through, saving about 30 miles.

Fires in Los Angeles result in skies like this in Utah.

One from Dan, from the same general vicinity. His pictures can be found here. Go look, as his are generally like mine, except more awesome.

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More from my New Mexico trip of November 2008, including some actual New Mexico this time.

On the mountain pass between Chama, New Mexico, and Cumbres, Colorado – both states call this one highway 17. The sky was dark blue, just after sunrise – the snow is that bright, and there is just that little atmosphere, at 10,000 feet.

Sunset over the plains of northeast New Mexico. Old US-64 (now state highway 325) near Capulin Volcano.

An undisclosed location in northeast New Mexico, home to my friend Dale. Certainly no old signs to be found anywhere.

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It’s no secret that Phoenix is one of the sprawliest urban areas in the nation. Arizona’s DOT is responding to this need for infrastructure with Loop 303, a third freeway loop around Phoenix. The road has been around in a two-lane highway form for several years now, but groundbreaking took place last week on the first section of freeway for Loop 303 stretching from I-17 north of Phoenix west and south to US 60.This is the first new groundbreaking for a Phoenix area freeway since 2006.

A map and more information on the freeway is available from AZDOT here. Look for the link between I-10 and I-17 to be opened in 2015.

Photo by Rob Branch-Dasch / Decomprose on Flickr, used with permission.

U.S. Highway 191 travels along the eastern boundary of Arizona between Arizona 80 near Douglas and U.S. Highway 160 at Mexican Water. AARoads recently took a trip on the road from Interstate 10 to U.S. 60 in Springerville, encompassing the Coronado Trail.

The Coronado Trail was constructed between Clifton and Alpine in 1926, and added to the state highway system as U.S. 666 in 1938. The road remained essentially unpaved until 1963, when it was fully paved. The Coronado Trail is well known for the twists and turns – some have counted over 400 curves between Clifton and Alpine, where the road climbs almost 5800 feet in altitude from Clifton north.

U.S. Highway 191 has numerous tight turns like this one inside Chase Creek.

For more, visit U.S. Highway 191 (Clifton to Alpine) on RockyMountainRoads.com.

The Arizona Pages have been undergoing a number of changes. Pictures have been replaced and added throughout the site, and additional background information is being researched and added to the site.

New to the Arizona Pages are Historical Road Maps of Arizona, dating as far back as 1919. Check them out!

I-15 in Arizona has been completely resigned. The changes noted:

• Exit 9 is now “Desert Springs” instead of Farm Road.
• An increase in the number of distance signs. There are at least 3 distance signs each way pointing to St. George, Cedar City and Salt Lake northbound – southbound to Cedar Pocket, Mesquite, and Las Vegas.
• The advance signs for Business Loop 15 in Mesquite on southbound I-15 are now all ADOT standard, and not placed by NvDOT.
• Utah’s I-15 signs look just as bad as they ever did around St. George. The new exit, exit 13 (Washington Parkway) is now open.