Arizona and Utah

[pderocco]

I just completed a 4-day trip in northeast AZ and southeast UT. It was crystal clear except for some wispy cirrus clouds, dead calm, and fairly cold at the high elevations.

On the way there on Friday, I decided to drive the remaining Colorado River crossings into AZ that I hadn't been on. This included three tiny bridges in the ag area south of I-10, plus Aztec Rd in Laughlin NV. I went through Oatman, and the desert bushes were festooned with Christmas decorations, as they are every year. After passing through Kingman, I decided to try Hackberry Rd, which is a graded dirt road from Hackberry down to US-93 just south of the I-40 interchange. I had eyed that road for a long time, but it turned out not to be that interesting. After a really inedible Chinese dinner in Flagstaff, I drove up to Kayenta to stay.

On Saturday, I drove up into Utah. First stop, Goosnecks State park via UT-316, but the early morning sun left the canyons in darkness, so it wasn't very photogenic. Next, went up US-191, mopped up the easternmost segment of UT-95, clinching it, and then headed to Halls Crossing on UT-276. It was pretty much deserted, since most people on TG weekend go to visit family, not scenery. The ferry showed up on time, and left about a half hour late, but the half hour ride was glassy smooth and provided lots of photo ops. I noticed that both docks had UT-276 reassurance signs on them. It would have been cool if the boat had them, since it's almost as much a permanent part of the route as the road is. I continued up to UT-95 and came back over Hite Crossing, but took UT-261 down the Moki Dugway to Mexican Hat. Then, down through Monument Valley, and eventually back into AZ.

As a result of the ferry ride, I've now driven every Colorado River crossing between the Mexican border and the Colorado border. I'll probably continue the pattern next time I drive I-70 into the mountains.

My plan for the next day was to go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. When I got into AZ, shortly after sunset, I went online, and discovered that they had just shut it down for the season a couple hours earlier. Had the web site announced a plan to do that, I would have gone there first, and done Halls Crossing the next day. Oh well, that will have to wait until next summer. I did get a good Thai meal in Flagstaff, though, and stayed there.

Sunday, I did a quick spin through the Sunset Crater Volcano NM, then headed for the mountains south of I-40 and east of Phoenix, clinching AZ-95, and driving a big chunk of AZ-87. I went east on AZ-260, and then took Young Rd to the town of Young, which is a really odd place. When you're there, the town looks like any other rural town. But there are only two roads into it, and both of those long roads are mainly dirt. I continued south on the mostly dirt AZ-288. From the high point of 7700 feet, shortly after getting onto Young Rd, to the low point of 2200 where it crosses the Salt River next to the Roosevelt, it was a pretty dramatic drive. The road is well graded, but recklessness could have you sliding off a cliff. The sun was very low when I got to the reservoir. I got onto the Apache Trail, which is AZ-88, and which had only recently reopened after a couple years of repairs. It has quite a few short paved sections now. I stayed in Phoenix, but drove a few roads in the evening before retiring, including most of Sky Harbor Blvd through the jam-packed airport.

Monday, I did a couple more local roads, then headed up I-17, and took AZ-179 up to Sedona. The scenery was particularly nice because there were lots of brilliant gold cottonwood trees against the red rock backgrounds. I came down, clinching every nearby state highway that I hadn't been on, and stopping in Jerome, as I always do. I got a quick snack and snapped a fiew pictures, but didn't wait long to hit the road again. I did notice that there seemed to be more open businesses than last time I went there two years ago. I also noticed that the entire town is leaning into the Ghost City shtick, which there wasn't a trace of when I first went through there 21 years ago, or even ten years ago. Perhaps it's working. After coming down the plateau, and eventually off the plateau on AZ-89, it was a pleasant but boring ride back to San Diego. I did manage to tank up on under $3 gas before crossing into CA. The rest was uninteresting, except to notice that CA-78 from Blythe to Brawley has a surprising amount of traffic, including tractor trailers. Perhaps they should consider widening the road, and leveling it. Sometimes it feels like windsurfing on big swell as you go over one little hill, the next, the next, etc.

For the whole trip, a little under 2500 miles, clinched AZ-51, AZ-69, AZ-88, AZ-99, AZ-169, AZ-179, AZ-288, Loop road in Sunset Crater Volcano NM, the Northern Pkwy, UT-95, UT-276 including the ferry, and UT-316. I'm now up to almost 72% of all AZ highway miles, and 57% of UT.