Adventure Van Travel – ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen

Coronado Trail Scenic Byway(CTSB) – U.S. Route 191- But First, Copper

15/06/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Adventure Van Travel, Coffee, Dining, Scenic Drive, The American West, Travel, Western history

The photo above shows our route through the White Mountains of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (ASNF) following Route 191 designated as the Coronado Trail Scenic Byway. The byway approximately follows the route of Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado as he and his band searched for the Seven Cities of Cibola. Coronado, of course, never found the mythical cities but he and his entourage did manage to plunder a number of `pueblos and kill a fair few indigenous people along the way.

The photo above is not what most of us would imagine the view from a scenic road looks like (and it isn’t ) but the only way to the CTSR from the south is through the Morenci Copper Mine. This mine is the largest open pit copper mine in North America. As the mine continues to consume more territory, the plan has been to move the state highway so that it would go around the mine. The current section of the road was designated as 191T (for temporary) but a new road around the mine has not been completed. So, travelers have the opportunity to drive right through the massive mining operation and the mining towns of Clifton and Morenci.

While this mine is one of the largest man-made scars on earth, we were quite facinated by the specatcle of this gargantuan mine and the scale and complexity of the operation (more in a bit).

***Morenci Open Pit Copper Mine, Morenci, Arizona***
***(Photo courtesy of Mining Technology)***

Clifton, Arizona (founded 1873, pop. 3780, elevation 3875′)

The town of Clifton sits at the southern end of the mine. The historic Chase Creek Street is 50-60% unoccupied but the buildings are in reasonably good shape. Chase Creek Street once was a bustling downtown street with hotels, saloons, restaurants and mercantiles. It could be quite attractive again for visitors if there were more tenants with shops and restaurants. (For a brief history of the town of Clifton click on the link above).

The town has a rich 150 year history centered around copper mining. In 1983 two events ocurred which changed the town forever. The first was the cataclysmic flood which hit the town on 1 October of that year. The flood wiped away half the town but remarkably no one was killed. The town had never been flooded since its original settlement. (The link above will take you to an article which includes photos taken during the flood).

The second event, which also ocurred during 1983, was the labor strike at the Morenci Mine. At the time the mine was owned by the infamous (in our opinion) Phelps-Dodge Mining Company. Phelps-Dodge was the only copper mining company that would not agree to a cost of living wage adjustment for the miners. The union went on strike until a 1986 settlement, but by then the union workers had been replaced by non-union workers and the union was broken for good.

***Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Chase Creek Street, Clifton, Arizona***

After our walking tour of the Chase Creek Street area we mounted up and headed north on the 191 to see the largest copper mine in North America. As we referenced earlier in this post, the state highway runs through portions of the open pit copper mine.

Morenci Copper Mine is owned and operated by Freeport McMoRan. This company is one of the successor companies to Phelps-Dodge and was formed in 1987. This mine operates 24 hours per day, 365 days of the year and employes 3600 people. The mine produces 225 million pounds of copper annually and is expected to operate until 2041.

We stopped at several points along the road to view the mine and the operations.The mining company has built several viewing areas that allow for safe viewing of the mine. Morenci has also placed a number of helpful informational signs at the viewing areas.

While we are confident that environmentalists will continue to work to eliminate mining due to the impacts on the environment, there is little doubt in our minds that the mining of raw materials will continue unabated. Our modern society and our way of living is dependent on copper and a host of other materials that come from within our planet. Our view is that the best option for now is to ensure that mining companies and other extractive firms are held to strict standards in relation to the environment and the safety of employees.

***Morenci Copper Mine Viewed From CTSR***

With the open pit behind us to our south we began the climb up into the White Mountains following the narrow twisting byway. We had the perfect day for the drive as the clear blue sky allowed us to take in one stunning vista after another. While the road is narrow and twisty (460 curves in 120 miles) the real challenge to driving this road safely is keeping your eyes on the road.

The first portion of the trail provides great views of the numerous canyons that fan out to the east and west of the trail. A bit further on the scenery turns to savannah-like grasslands which are home to beef cattle. Once past the mesa the trail begins to ascend again providing views of a number of peaks in the 8000′ to 9000′ range. These peaks include Raspberry Peak at 8337′, Indian Peak at 8701′, Rose Peak 8786′ and Blue Peak at 9364′. From a driving perspective we topped out at Hannagan Meadow which sits at 9300′. Quite impressive.

***Four Bar Mesa (6578′), Blue, Arizona (Pop. 68)***

Coronado Trail Scenic Road, Blue, Aiizona

At Hannagan Meadow we stopped briefly to check out the Hannagan Meadow Lodge. The lodge has been in operation since 1916. The lodge sits in the Hannagan Meadow Recreation Area which is within the ASNF. This whole area is completely unspoilt and,with the exception of the lodge, is completely undeveloped. The lodge operates year-round and is a meca for outdoor enthusiasts. Hannagan Meadow is known for having the first and last snowfall of the season in Arizona due its elevation and location.

Alpine, Arizona (Founded 1876, Pop. 146, elevation 8006′)

From the lodge we continued north beginning to descend the north slope of the White Mountains. We stopped in the tiny settlement of Alpine for a late lunch. The towns businesses sit along the 191 for the most part. The town is probably best described as rustic. The one school in town is K-8 with 60 students. The closest high school is down the mountain in Springerville (27 miles north). Finally, cementing Alpine as a true country town – you are correct – there are no traffic lights!

Alpine is nestled in the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the world. The town proper is surrounded by a number of meadows where we observed large herds of elk grazing. Quite spectacular for us city folk. Alpine, while tiny, attracts many outdoor enthusiasts which explains the six lodges in town.

While we had several choices for lunch, the Alpine Grill and Still seemed to demand our trade – maybe the Still part of the name compelled us in that direction – and it did not hurt that the Still also had an ice cream bar (much needed after a giant burger with fries) and a row of working pinball machines! Sound.

We noticed that there were a number of posters in town and at the entrance to the Still seeking information regarding the killing of wild horses in the area. Additionally, the National Forest Service is rounding up wild horses which are being sold for slaughter in Mexico according to the Arizona Wild Horse Association. Such a shame on both accounts – we have seen many herds of mustangs during our trips in the West and they are magnificent animals (and not a threat to anyone).

EAGER, ARIZONA (FOUNDED 1871, POP. 4473, ELEVATION 7000′)

After our lunch in Alpine we continued north on the CTSB, descending another 1000′ to Eager, at the northern base of the White Mountains, where we spent the night at the Best Western. Eager is another example of Mormons dispatched by Brigham Young to homestead a wilderness area and create a bounty of cattle, sheep and lumber (brief history embedded in the link above).

The next morning we found coffee and tea at Tin Can Coffee Co, met the owner and her daughter who were handling the morning rush (as it were in Eager). As sometimes happens when we (strangers) roll into a small town in the hinterlands, we were engaged by a friendly local eccentric who eagerly (ha ha) shared some of his theories on how much of what we see or believe is not real. It is hard to fathom that for all these years we had not realized that the moon landing was a hoax -travel can be so educational!

***Eager, Arizona, 1934 (Photo courtesy of Arizona Memory Project)***

St. johns, Arizona (Founded c.1862, Pop. 3480, Elev. 5745′)

We stopped in St. Johns to take a look at the pleasing church pictured below (earlier version of the church pictured underneath). While walking around the grounds we met the church caretaker. He generously provided us with an oral history of the town. Intially, the town was a Spanish community with an agricultural economy. The town was named El Vadito (little crossing) by Spanish explorers crossing the Little Colorado River.

***St. John The Baptist Catholic Church*** ***(2025)***

By 1879 a significant group of Mormon “pioneers” had arrived looking for a place where they could continue the illegal practice of polygamy. This led to significant conflict and violence as the local folks were not as keen on polygamy as their new Mormon neighbors.

As federal marshals were out actively pursuing polygamists many of the Mormon families fled to Mexico while others sought refuge in Utah. Among the prominent Mormon families in St Johns were the Udalls of American political fame.

We thanked the church caretaker for the enlightening history lesson, picked up the trail north and finished our day bunking down in Gallup, New Mexico (see our post Western New Mexico). Dinner at the El Rancho was just as good as we remembered from our last visit. Coffee and tea at the Gallup Coffee Company the following morning was as spot- on as we remembered from our prior visit.

Our departure from Gallup marked the beginning of the end of our Never Better Tour of the Southwest.

In our next and ultimate post of the trip we will share our experiences from our road trip through the heartland states of Kansas and Missouri en route to our home base in Connecticut.

Be seeing you!

Arizona: Superior to Duncan-Copper, Cotton, Breathtaking Views and Western Hospitality

22/05/202522/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Adventure Van Travel, Camping, Coffee, Copper Mining, The American West, Travel

***Picketpost Mountain, Route 60, Kearny, Arizona (4377′)***

This segment of our adventure took us from the Phoenix area across the Sonoran Desert towards the New Mexico border. We headed out toward Superior through a visually jarring landscape, although we were traveling just 65 miles east of Phoenix. We passed through a string of mining towns with their unearthly landscapes, the desolate San Carlos Reservation, the riparian Gila River Valley, the Pinal Mountains and finally, the most impressive Pinaleno Mountains.

SUPERIOR(FOUNDED 1882, POP. 2571, ELEV. 2,888′)

The town of Superior was the first of the mining or former mining towns on this trek. The town was formed in 1875 with the discovery of rich veins of silver resulting in the creation of the Silver King Mine. The silver market crashed within several years, but fortunately for the town folks, copper was discovered and the boom was on again. The Magma Copper Company operated from 1914 to 1996. Back to the bust portion of the program.

Today, the town with its proximity to Phoenix, beautiful scenery, bountiful hiking, rock climbing opportunities and the botanical garden is in the process of becoming discovered.

We stopped in Superior at the Circle K for fuel and firewood before heading up through the Queen Creek Canyon to look for a camping spot in the Oak Flat Recreation Area a few miles east of Superior.

The following morning we drove back down through the spectacular Queen Creek Canyon into Superior. First order of business, as always, was coffee and tea. Bellas Cafe appeared as if on cue immediately after we turned the corner on to Main Street. One of the employees we met is a musician and he and his band have played many venues in New Haven.

We fueled up and then wandered around town for a bit. Main Street and the two side streets are not yet entirely occupied, but enough so that town is lively with shops, restaurants, saloons and even a wine bar!

We met one of the artists of the mural below, he owns the building with the courtyard pictured below. He has moved to Superior from Los Angeles and is converting the building (formerly a bar/restaurant) to an art gallery. Bring on the tourists!

BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM (BTA)

After exploring Superior we drove east a couple of miles to visit the BTA. The BTA was founded by Colonel William Boyce Thompson. The Colonel was at the time the owner of the Magma Copper Company in Superior and had built a winter home there in the early 1920’s, Picket Post House. In 1924, Boyce Thompson built the arboretum on 400 acres around Picket Post House. He was an interesting character (click on the link above to read more about Colonel Boyce as well as the BTA).

The BTA covers 372 acres with collections of desert plants from around the world. The collections from diverse desert locations provided us with the opportunity to see desert plants not naturally found in the United States-quite interesting. The arboretum also has five miles of hiking trails which gave us the opportunity to hike up a trail which provided views of the canyon and surrounding mountains. If you ever find yourself in Superior we recommend a visit to the BTA (not so much in the summer). After we finished our visit at BTA we stopped back in Superior for lunch at the Silver King Smokehouse and Saloon.

MIAMI(FOUNDED 1876, POP. 1528, ELEV. 3402′)

From Superior we continued east on U.S. Highway 60 which is still intact in Arizona ( Highway 60 at one point ran from Los Angeles, California to Virginia Beach, Virginia) with a plan to find camping east of Globe in the Pinal Mountains.

***Miami Copper Mine and Town of Miami, Arizona***
***(Photos above and below courtesy of Arizona Memory Project)***

We were not planning on stopping in Miami (this link has an excellent photo gallery of Miami and the smelter) but we were dumbfounded by the size of the mining operations and how the town itself is jammed onto the hills at the base of the mine and across the other side of U.S. 60. So, we found ourselves driving back and forth through town to take in the (to us) surreal scenery. This mine is one of five open pit copper mines in Arizona operated by Freeport-McMoRan (more on that later).

GLOBE(FOUNDED 1876, POP. 7179, ELEV. 3510′)

Globe is one of the communities along our route east which is in the category of former mining towns. The Old Dominion Mining Company produced copper here for 50 years. The mine had weathered a violent strike in 1917 and reopened in 1919 but only lasted another twelve years as the mine was in poor repair and the shafts were filling with water.

After a slow cruise through downtown Globe (and finding nothing open) we navigated to FR 112 to find a camping spot in the Pinal Mountains.

FR 112, Pinal Mountains, Globe, Arizona

Since we could see that Pinal Peak (7800′) was still covered in snow, we had no illusions that we would make it all the way to the peak. We had pulled off into a layby as the road is a single lane and there was a vehicle coming down (downhill has right of way). He reported through the open passenger window of his mud spattered pickup that conditions at the top were too muddy for our tires We took his word at face value and camped in the layby. No fools, us!

We awoke to a beautiful morning and began the trek back down the mountain to travel east to the town of Safford. If you watch the video below to the end you will see a herd of Javalina crossing the road.

Once we reached pavement we followed Highway 70 east through the San Carlos Reservation and then traveled along the Gila River to Safford.

SAN CARLOS RESERVATION (FOUNDED 1871, POP. 10,000′)

The San Carlos Reservation was established in 1871 and is home to the San Carlos Apache Tribe. The original inhabitants of the reservation were the Chiricahua Apache tribe; they were joined by members of other tribes soon after. The federal government closed the Camp Verde Reservation in 1875 and force marched the Yavapai 180 miles to the San Carlos Reservation. Of the 1400 marched to San Carlos, 375 died en route to their new “home”. Over time the reservation became a consolidation point for a number of different Apache speaking tribes. To make room for the new residents the federal government thoughtfully transported the original Chiricahua Apaches to Florida in 1886.

***Apaches Waiting for Rations at San Carlos Reservation (Photos above and below courtesy of Arizona Memory Project)***

Today approximately 10,000 of 16,000 tribal members live on the reservation. The reservation was federally recognized in 1934 and encompasses 1.8 million acres (3000 sq. miles). About thirty percent of the members live in San Carlos and the remainder in several other tiny settlements along Highway 70.

Economically, the San Carlos members seem to be worse off than many other reservations. There is, of course, a casino (two in fact) but beyond that there is little industry other than revenue generated from recreation and wildlife permits and a handful of small Peridot mines (open to tribal members only). 49% of the population lives below the poverty line and 36% of working age members are unemployed.

safford(pop. 10,700, elev. 2920′)

Safford was by far the biggest town by population on our route, with almost 11,000 people. The portion of Highway 70 in Safford is lined with the usual “civi town” suspects – fast food chains, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. Fortunately, one block off of the 70, Main Street is intact with local retailers, restaurants and, most importantly, coffee (Ginaveve’s). During our walk around town we also happened upon the local insurance agency, where the big red umbrella is prominently on display.

Agriculture is the primary industry in Safford. The main crop is cotton, which was introduced into the area by Mormon settlers during the 1870s. You are probably familiar with Pima cotton which comes from the fertile soil in the Gila Valley. Latter Day Saints remain influential in the area – about one third of the population is LDS.

From an employment standpoint, many of the residents work in the two mines north of town; the nearby state and federal prisons are also significant employers.

The main attraction for us in stopping in Safford was the opportunity to drive the Swift Trail which winds up over 7000 feet through the Pinaleno Mountains to Mount Graham (10,696′). The trail is paved for the first 22 miles and dirt the final 13 miles.

***Swift Trail, Coronado National Forest, Safford Arizona***

Climbing Swift Trail

The upper elevations of the Pinaleno Mountains are heavily pine forested. So, when Mormon farmers arrived in the late 1800, the trail was built as a wagon route for lumber needed by the farmers and later for the mining operations that were opened in the early 1900s.

The views were as breathtaking as advertised! The drive itself was fun as we navigated the seemingly unending switchbacks that lead around the mountains and eventually up to the top. Once at the top we could see why the Western Apache considered Mount Graham (Dzil Nchaa Si’an) a sacred place. As is often the case, the Native Americans were removed and placed on reservations so that our extraction of natural resources could continue unabated. Fortunately, for all of us, this land is now protected as part of the Coronado National Forest.

***Sulphur Springs Valley – Winchester Mountains***

Descending Swift Trail

After descending the trail we camped at the base, which afforded us an evening soaking in panoramic views of the snowcapped mountain range – mesmerizing – nature never disappoints!

In the morning we grabbed coffee and tea at Ginaveve’s and set out to hike along the Gila River within the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area. The Gila is a 649 mile long tributary of the Colorado and flows all year through the section within the conversation area creating this green strip through the desert. Below this area the Gila and its tributaries are damed several times. By the time the river reaches the Phoenix area it is usually just a dry wash.

After hiking along several sections of the Gila, we returned to the Beast and made our way back to Highway 70 (The Old West Highway) to make the short drive east to Duncan. The Gila River loops north from where we hiked but we rejoined the river in Duncan. Duncan sits within the Duncan Valley and is another agricultural hub in an otherwise barren land. Duncan, like Safford, is a cotton producer. Cattle ranching and copper mining (about 40 miles north is the largest open pit copper mine in North America) are also found in and around Duncan-three of the Five Cs of Arizona – Copper, Cotton and Cattle – the other two being climate and citrus.

DUNCAn(FOUNDED 1883, POP. 879, elev. 3400′)

We had read about the Simpson Hotel and it sounded charming (it is – subject to liking cats- which we do) and the location in Duncan was perfect for kicking off our final segment in Arizona (Coronado Trail Scenic Road). The link to the hotel website (above) is a treasure trove of interesting information and worth a look.

The original hotel opened in 1914 as the Hotel Hobbs. Subsequently, the property was owned and operated by several different families. The current innkeepers, Clayton Jarvis and Deborah Mendelsohn began renovations in January of 2006 and opened in May of 2007 after 18 months of demolition and renovation. Deborah and Clayton are wonderful hosts adding to the charm of this classic territorial building’s exterior and art gallery interior. Clayton is an accomplished artist and has a studio in the courtyard behind the hotel. We completed our stay with a pizza pie to go from Humble Pie which conveniently sits about 200 feet up Main Street from the Simpson.

This is our post covering the Superior to Duncan segment of OTR 11.0, our penultimate segment in Arizona. We hope you found it interesting.

Be seeing you!

Apache Trail to Mogollon Rim-Desert to Pine Forests

05/05/202507/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Architecture, Camping, Coffee, Scenic Drive, Travel

The Apache Trail begins in Apache Junction, Arizona on the eastern edge of Phoenix and winds northeastward to the Roosevelt Dam. The trail begins as a two lane paved highway (SR 88) and becomes dirt at mile 22 (which is when the fun begins)! The scenery along the route is legendary and with good reason. This byway takes you up and over peaks and down deep into canyons providing massively gorgeous views of the Superstition Mountains and two lakes along the way.

Our first stop was at Canyon Lake, one of four reservoirs created by damming the once mighty Salt River. The Mormon Lake Dam was completed in 1925 and was the third lake to be created by damming the river. It is the smallest of the lakes at 950 acres. The average depth of Canyon Lake is 130 feet (no kayaking for us – we prefer knee deep). All of the reservoirs created by the Salt River Project are recreational – allowing boating, water sports and fishing.

***Mormon Flat Bridge (built 1924), SR88, Willow Creek***

At pavement’s end, we began the exciting drive down to the Fish Creek Canyon bottom. It is incredible to think that this was once a stagecoach route (we saw several sites where cars went over the side – maybe the stagecoach was actually safer)! We have included two videos below to provide a sense of the drive down.

After following the Lewis and Pranty Creek for several miles, the road angles in a more northerly direction and we began to climb out of the canyon and got our first views of Apache Lake.

Apache Lake is the second largest of the four lakes created by damming. The lake was created by the completion of the Horse Mesa Dam. The dam (660 foot long and 300 feet high) is a hydroelectric generating station capable of producing 129 megawatts of electricity. The energy from here helps power the Phoenix metropolitan area.

***Downstream View – Horse Mesa Dam*** ***(Photo courtesy of Mark Durben)***

The final dam along the Apache Trail is the Theodore Roosevelt Lake Dam named after (two guesses only please) a former president. The original dam was completed in 1911, after six years of construction. While it also generates electricity (since the 1996 modernization) it’s primary purpose was to contain water for irrigation in what was arid desert.

Theodore Roosevelt Lake Dam

The dam created the largest lake in Arizona. The resulting lake is over 20 miles long and can store as much as 2.9 million acre-feet of water (one acre foot of water equals 325,000 gallons). We didn’t do the math but we are pretty sure it is a lot of water!

The Theodore Roosevelt (that name again) Bridge is a beauty. The bridge was completed in 1990. The bridge is the longest single span bridge in North America at 1080 feet. Before the bridge was completed, the only way north was to drive over the dam (sorry we missed that experience).

***Theodore Roosevelt Lake – Sierra Ancha*** ***Mountains***

After crossing the bridge we followed the western shore of the lake north on SR 188. We found a lovely spot to camp on the beach and enjoyed a cool but beautiful evening. Our site allowed a panoramic view of the Sierra Ancha across the lake to our east and the snow capped Mazatzal Mountains to our west. Quite spectacular, if we’re honest!

In the morning we broke camp and traveled further north looking for coffee before venturing up to the Mogollon Rim. Along the way we drove through our favorite named community of this trip – Punkin Center – which is one of a handful of census designated places in the Tonto Basin. We couldn’t find a population statistic anywhere or any obvious reason for it’s existence, but how can you not like a place called Punkin Center where the main attraction is the bar!

***Punkin Center Bar, Punkin Center, Arizona***

We found coffee at Common Grounds in Payson. Our barista and her younger brother requested a tour of the Beast and while we were chatting provided us with a number of hiking opportunities nearby. Thank you!

Payson (population 16,000) was founded by gold miners in the early 1880s, but it is timber and cattle that sustained this area. During prohibition the town’s extremely remote location fostered the manufacture of moonshine with 30-40 stills scattered around the area. The moonshine from Payson was known as “Payson Dew“.

***(Photo courtesy of Northern Gila County Historical Society)***

Payson sits at an elevation of 5,000 feet and offers a multitude of recreational opportunities in the surrounding Tonto National Forest, making it a popular spot for Phoenicians during the summer months.

In addition to a coffee stop, Payson was our starting point for accessing the Mogollon (mug-e-YOHN) Rim which forms the southern edge of the massive Colorado Plateau.

Our timing in exploring central and northern Arizona was once again accompanied by a snow storm in the mountains. Mother Nature obviously didn’t get the memo that we were coming! After checking with the Forest Service and confirming that the Rim Road was open albeit a bit muddy, we fired up the Beast.

The Mogollon Rim (MR) is 200 miles long, extending from Flagstaff to the New Mexico border.The elevation ranges between 7000 and 8000 feet above sea level. The MR is an escarpment which delineates the pine forests and the Sonoran Desert to the south. It was fascinating to see how the landscape changed so rapidly as we climbed from the desert floor into higher elevation – desert vegetation to pine forests in just a matter of a couple thousand feet of elevation gain.

We spent the afternoon taking in the views from the MR and eventually turned around to begin our descent. As often happens after an afternoon of taking in beautiful views and scenery we found ourselves feeling a bit peckish. We stopped at That Brewery in Pine for a late lunch/early dinner or what we call it when we are on the road – a lundin.

After our delish burgers and cocktails we got on the road southward and began to look for a camping spot between Pine and Phoenix. Our ride was interrupted by an Arizona State Trooper who claimed we did not have a license plate. We do, of course, have a license plate – the trooper just did not know where to look on the van. Okay, our bad, our firewood bag had shifted downward and obscured the plate. After a friendly verbal and written warning (and rehanging the bag) we were again on our way south.

***Log Corral Canyon***, ***Tonto National Forest***

We found a secluded spot to camp not to far off our route south to Phoenix. One of the delightful parts of traveling in the west is that there are almost endless opportunities for secluded and scenic camping that require no fees or reservations. As an example, the Log Corral Canyon where we camped that evening is within the Tonto National Forest which stretches from the MR to the Sonoran Desert (2.9 million acres).

In the morning we returned to Phoenix for two nights and some additional bike riding (and excellent coffee at Peixeto (pay-shay-tow).

After our second stay in Phoenix we again set out for northern Arizona. Our first stop was the town of Prescott (press-kit). We had never visited but had read many wonderful reviews of the town and a number of Arizonians we met during this trip had also highly recommended we go.

Our secondary motivation for visiting Prescott was to stay at the Hassayampa Inn. The inn opened in 1927 to provide lodging for the growing number of tourists who had discovered the charms of this former mining and logging town. The inn was designed by our favorite hotel architect Henry Trost. The bottom right photo shows the original and still operational elevator.

By the time we arrived at the hotel it was snowing ( Prescott elevation 5300 feet). We were tucked in nice and cosy at the inn, so a bit of snow was not a concern for us as we had booked two nights. Excellent restaurant, outstanding cocktails in front of the fireplace in the beautiful Trost lobby and fantastic coffee a short walk down the street. Yippee Ki Aye!

***Merchant Coffee, Prescott, Arizona***

However, our plans to continue north hit a snag when we learned the road north was closed due the weather and that Sedona and Flagstaff were a mess. Flagstaff had received over 20 inches of snow and the temperatures were remaining bitterly cold. Not why we had come to Arizona! Once again, time to revise our itinerary – ah, life on the road.

Realizing that exiting Arizona to the north was not meant to be, we decided to head to Southeastern Arizona where the forecasted weather looked delightful (see photo below).

***Pickpocket Mountain, Route 60, Kearny, Arizona***

Be seeing you!

King of Arizona

16/04/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Boondocking, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, Travel

We are going to start this post with a question. Who thinks the Beast was able to navigate this ledge? We will provide the answer later in this post.

After our trip across El Camino del Diablo and up to the Fortuna Mine we spent a couple nights in Yuma. We cannot say that Yuma is our favorite town but we needed to have our bikes serviced and repaired as a result of the bike rack breaking as we crossed the El Camino. The photo below shows the Beast after we made makeshift repairs to secure the bikes and rack. Note the now oval shaped front wheel on the blue bike.

Our bikes would not be ready for five days as the misshapen front wheel was irrepairable and the new wheel was apparently coming via stagecoach.

Cafecito, which was our home base in Yuma, is on Main Street along with several restaurants, bars, mercantiles, a theater and city governmental offices. Cafecito was the perfect spot for modifying our travel plans with its excellent drinks, toasts and bowls. The space is immense with 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor seating. Please find the owners’ bittersweet story in the link below. Here we revised our itinerary to head north to the Northern Sonoran Desert and the KOFA NWR and then loop back south to (hopefully) collect our bikes.

https://www.cafecitoyuma.com/our-story.html

We departed Yuma via 95 North passing through the Yuma Army Proving Ground and the Castle Dome Mountains ( we transited the Castle Dome on a previous adventure) to our east; then turning at Palm Canyon Road. We followed the road until its terminus at the entrance to the Palm Canyon Trail.

Palm Canyon, KOFA NWR

Palm Canyon is a narrow, relatively short but rugged canyon. What distinguishes this canyon from other canyons in the KOFA is that there are California Fan Palms nestled up on the north side of the canyon. These Fan Palms are believed to be the only California Palm Trees in Arizona. In the photo below left you can see the palms tucked into the side of the canyon.

After hiking back down the canyon to the trailhead we drove back west on Palm Canyon Road to scout out a good camping spot – not to difficult actually!

Every evening and morning is a treat in the desert with spectacular sunsets, starry black nights and gorgeous sunrises.

The next morning we set out to explore the nearby KOFA Queen Canyon Trail. The road is a rocky affair that winds up the narrow canyon with jagged peaks framing the canyon on both sides. The trail itself becomes progressively rougher and narrower. At the eight mile mark the USFWS has closed the trail to make sure people do not try to proceed further as the next mile of trail across the Big Horn Pass is impassable regardless of weather conditions.

Queen Canyon

On the drive out and back we stopped several times and wandered out through several of the many washes that run through the canyon. Beautiful blue sky, a gentle breeze and total silence!

Waking up to another beautiful, sunny, blue sky day with 75F temperatures never becomes tiresome – in case you were wondering. For our third sortie in the KOFA we opted to go a bit further north and skirt the KOFA mountains and follow the Valve 2 Road eastward to the High Six. The High Six Tank is a deep bedrock water pool.

We assume somewhere in the vicinity of this road there is a Valve 2. The El Paso Natural Gas pipeline carries natural gas from the Permian Basin to a number of western states. The pipelines are buried but there are valves above ground that we observed in other parts of the desert.

From our campsite we would need to navigate approximately ten miles with the Beast to reach the trail for the High Six. If we could reach the trail for the tank we planned to make the short climb up to the tank. It appeared based on our reading of the topo map that elevation gain from Valve 2 Road to the tank was only 150 feet.

While ten miles doesn’t seem much like much terrain to cover we were not able to reach the High Six Trailhead.The photos below show the spot where we had to concede on getting to the High Six. We tried several different approaches to tackling this drop but we just did not have the clearance.

With the premature demise of this adventure we quickly regrouped and decided it was time for a cocktail! We backed down the trail until we found a spot for a 100-point K turn, headed west for the pavement and then north seeking food and beverages in Quartzite (about 20 miles north on Highway 95).

***Silly Al’s Pizza, Quartzite, Arizona***

Silly Al’s Pizza was packed but we secured a hightop in the bar. If we had thought about it, we would have realized that Quartzite would have a crowd on a Sunday afternoon as the town is a major snowbird location and home to many gem and mineral shows during the winter months. The cocktails were excellent – the pizza decent – the restaurant makes their own dough. The problem is no one outside the Northeast puts enough char on the pie!

The following day we made our last foray into the desert before returning to Yuma to collect our bicycles. We opted to head west towards the California border and check out some old mining sights.

We visited the abandoned Gold Eye Mine, which was owned by Lehre Erdman. This not much history other than Erdman started this mine and worked it for 63 years. Erdman died in 1996. The remnants of the stone cottage he built and lived in are still standing at the mine sight.

There are a number of mines in the area we explored. Many are abandoned but there are a fair number of claims being worked on a small scale. If you are interested in mining for gold call the phone number in the photo above!

Our next post will provide a glimpse of our visit to Phoenix.

Be seeing you!

Ts-iuk-shan

12/04/202512/04/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Art, Bike Trails, Scenic Drive, Street Art and Murals, The American West, Travel

***La Guitarrista by IGNACIO, Rialto Theater, Downtown Tucson***

From the Tumacacori Mission we made the hour drive to Tucson – first stop Presta Coffee – excellent Cortados! Always fun to return to one of your favorites!

Tucson’s origins date back to the 1770s when the Spanish built a presidio here to stop the westward movement of the French from the Gulf of Mexico (yes-Mexico!). At that time Tucson was the northern frontier of New Spain and there was a well- established line of missions throughout the area dating back to the early 1700s and the work of Padre Kino and the Jesuits ( see previous post: Tumacacori National Historical Park).

Hotel Mccoy

A s we have accumulated more time on the road we have come to appreciate smaller and more unique hotel accommodations when we are not camping in the Beast.

The Hotel McCoy in Tucson (there are three in total – the other locations are in Texas and Washington) is a renovated mid-century motor court hotel. Logistically, we were drawn by its proximity to downtown and the light rail. More importantly, we like to see older properties renovated and brought back to life, as the McCoy has done in Tucson. Additionally, any accommodation that promotes local art, live music, coffee, beer and wine has our attention. The murals pictured below are a sample of the murals on the exterior walls. Fine art is on display in all the rooms and lobby/bar area.

We enjoyed our stay for all of the reasons we have mentioned above; in addition, all of the hotel staff were quite friendly and focused on meeting our needs.

barrio viejo

The barrio represents one of the best examples of the Sonoran Adobe architecture utilized by Spanish and Mexican settlers. Most of the buildings and dwellings were constructed between 1860 and 1900. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the barrio was demolished under the guise of urban renewal. Thankfully, the community was able to halt the demolition of the entire neighborhood and what exists today is protected as a National Historic District.

The barrio that exists today is quite handsome. It is also quite gentrified and no longer home to the working class Mexicans that lived here for many decades. In our opinion, this neighborhood is absolutely worth spending time to explore. Also, several of the corner buildings are occupied by excellent restaurants (more on that later).

Downtown – Congress & Broadway

The downtown entertainment and shopping district is packed into several blocks on Congress and Broadway. The district is anchored by the Congress Hotel, a local landmark. The hotel opened in 1919 and closed in 1934 as a result of a major fire. The hotel reopened in 1940 albeit with just 40 rooms in lieu of the original 80 rooms. The hotel presents live music seven nights a week in multiple venues. Jazz is on tap every evening. Photos below courtesy of the hotel.

Street murals are all around town with a significant concentration downtown. Some of our favorites are pictured below.

We mentioned the light rail earlier in the post. The Sun Link routes allow people to travel from the west end at the Mercado (near our hotel) through downtown, the Fourth Avenue District and out to the university in the east end. Quite convenient and FREE! We really appreciate not having to take the van into downtown areas in larger cities.

***Sun Link Streetcar, Downtown Tucson*** (***Photo courtesy of Sun Link)***

Fourth Avenue – Boho

Fourth Street is regarded as the Boho or Hippie area of Tucson and appropriately so. The district is just north of downtown and full of all sorts of small shops-vintage clothing, art, home decor, vinyl and plenty of eateries and bars. The area is also home to a fair number of murals (we have photos of a couple below). It is a fun neighborhood to explore on foot and pop into the shops (and maybe a bar or two).

Redington Pass

After several days touring around town using the light rail we fired up the Beast to take an afternoon road trip to the Redington Pass which is east of Tucson in the Coronado National Forest. The road (Forest Road 371) climbs up and over the pass between the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains and then descends into the San Pedro River Valley.

The pavement ends at mile marker three as the rough dirt road begins the winding climb to the pass.

Redington Road

We stopped at the pass to take in the distant views. Recreational target shooting is legal in this area of the Coronado National Forest and we took advantage of the opportunity before proceeding down into the San Pedro River Valley. This area is also cattle country. The Bellota Ranch (bay-OH-ta) has been here since 1875. It was founded by the Redfield brothers, who had migrated from New York. The ranch is no longer owned by the Redfield family but it is still operational as a cattle ranch (plenty of evidence of that scattered everywhere!).

As we proceeded down the west side of the mountain we entered into a zone filled with Saguaro cacti and green farm fields further off in the heart of the river valley. Quite beautiful!

***North Redington Road, Galiuro Mountains and Wilderness in the Background***

Once down onto the valley floor we follow the road north before making a right turn onto East Redfield Canyon Road. The road takes us past what appeared to be a small abandoned settlement (it was at one time) but upon further investigation all that remains is the Carlink Ranch. The family farm and ranch was established in 1884 and is now under the care of the sixth generation of the Smallhouse family. The Carlink sells cattle, cacti and wood. The independent spirit of the West lives on!

https://carlinkranch.com/

From the Carlink we traveled north along the San Pedro Valley River to San Manuel and then passed to the north of Mt. Lemmon and finally headed south back to Tucson and a well earned dinner (and perhaps a cocktail).

Bicycling

Tucson has many miles of bike trails. We threw a figurative dart at the board and opted for the Rillito River Path. This section of the path follows the bank of the river for a bit over 23 miles. Perfect bicycling weather – 75F, sunny, no wind and no humidity!

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/arizona/rillito-river-path

fika & food

Tucson as a city of almost 550,000 has plenty of excellent dining options from taco trucks to full on fine dining. And, of course, many specialty coffee shops to sample.

Our all around favorite on this visit was the Coronet which consists of a cafe, a fine dining restaurant and the Nightjar Craft Cocktail Bar. The Coronet is located approximately one mile from our hotel in an absolutely gorgeous 160 year old Spanish style building in the Barrio Viejo. As you might infer from the sheer number of photos from the Coronet this was our “go to” eatery while in Tucson. We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Coronet (not on the same day!).

We also recommend the Five Points Market and Restaurant. The restaurant sits at a five way intersection which joins multiple barrios. It has a very simple interior but the food is excellent. They also have small but excellent wine list well matched to their dinner offerings.

For drinks and small plates we recommend the Crisol Bar. The Crisol is also located in the Barrio Viejo and co-located with the Exo Roast Company. Very convenient!! We did not partake but the Crisol is locally well known to be the place to go if you are mezcal aficionado. Para todo mal, mezcal… y para todo bien tambien. When things are bad, mezcal… and when good, the same.

There are many great attractions in Tucson that we have not covered in this post primarily because we have visited them on previous visits to Tucson. We have listed our top recommendations below.

Saguaro National Park
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Pima Air and Space Museum
San Xavier del Bac Mission
Mt Lemmon
Tucson Museum Of Art

We will post next on our time in the King of Arizona National Wildlife Refuge which is located about 40 miles north of the Yuma Army Proving Ground in the Northern Sonoran Desert. Yes, back to the desert!

Be seeing you!

P.S. Ts-iuk-shan is the Tohono O’odham name for Signal Mountain in Tucson. Tucson is a bastardization of the name given by the original inhabitants.

El Camino del Diablo – The Devil’s Road

07/04/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Camping, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, The American West, Travel

***El Camino del Diablo, Sonoran Desert, Arizona***

We departed Tucson (future post) on a southwesterly course heading for Ajo Townsite. The journey took us through the large and mostly desolate Tohono O’Odham Nation. The reservation is about the size of Connecticut with an on reservation population of approximately 9000 members. There are 28,000 enrolled members of the tribe. The Tohono O’odham Nation sits on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

Ajo has been the site of copper mining since the 1840’s. Copper has been extracted by Native American, Spanish and Euro-Americans. By the early 1900’s the production of copper in Ajo caught the attention of Phelps Dodge, the largest copper mining company in the United States. Phelps purchased the mine in 1921 and continued to operate the mine until 1985. During those years the mine employed several thousand people and the town boomed. An employee strike in 1983 ultimately led to the permanent closure of the mine in 1985 . Today, all that remains is a very large pit just outside of the town center.

The town’s attractive square and architecture was built by Phelps Dodge to make working and living in town more appealing. The year round population in Ajo is 3300. The town has become a popular snowbird destination during the winter due to the delightful weather. There is also a small artist colony living and working here.

The photos below are two notable murals that have been painted in Ajo since our last visit.

We decided to camp and relax for several days in an area of the desert south of Ajo known as Darby Well.

On our second day of camping at Darby Well we drove south on Route 85 to visit the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM). After stopping at the visitor center and speaking with the rangers we opted to drive the Ajo Mountain Loop as the best way to take in the OPCNM in an afternoon.

Ajo Mountain Road, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

The Ajo Mountain Loop is a 21 mile road which provides a great sample of the variety of terrain and vegetation in the monument. The loop starts on the desert floor and winds up into the Ajo Mountains. We took a short hike into the Estes Canyon (photos below -note the arch in the photo directly below).

OPCNM does not receive many visitors relative to other National Monuments and National Parks. The remote location, extreme weather (heat) and proximity to the Mexico border are all contributing factors.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2017/09/organ-pipe-cactus-sonoran-desert-treasure

https://www.nps.gov/orpi/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

After several days camping in the Darby Well and our visit to OPCNM we decided we were ready to tackle the El Camino. The El Camino is a 142 mile trail through the Southern Sonoran Desert. It starts south of Ajo from the Darby Well Road and then follows an east/west route through a portion of the Organ Pipe Cactus NM, the Cabeza Prieta NWR and finally the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range.

This overland adventure does come with risks. One of the risks is captured in the photo directly above. The other risks are inherent in any extended overland trip – adequate fuel and water, mechanical breakdown, flat tire and, finally, getting stuck in sand or mud. Fortunately, other than a damaged bike carrier and the obligatory addition of more desert pinstriping we did not have any issues.

Our first stop was at the Bates Well Ranch which was owned and operated by the Gray family from 1935 until 1976. The operation consisted of 15 cattle ranches and line camps across the Southern Sonoran Desert.

The ranch is inside the boundaries of the OPCNM. The National Monument was established in 1937 but the Gray family was allowed to continue to ranch the land (many national parks consist of land appropriated from private owners). The National Park Service does not allow cattle grazing but in this case made an exception. Harry Gray, the last member of the family made maximum use of the “exception” raising cattle on the ranch until his death in 1976.

The one advantage of the ranch property becoming public land is that is protected and overseen by the park service. Much of the property is intact and provides a great example of a frontier ranch.

We pushed on from the Bates Well past the Camp Grip Border Patrol Outpost where we could see four border patrollers on a hill scanning southward with their binoculars while the electronic gear above them whirred away.

The next section of the trail brought us into the Pinta Sands. The Sands area was undoubtedly the most enjoyable segment of the trip from a pure driving perspective. Soft sand —deep but not too deep—smooth riding and higher speeds!

Prietza National Wildlife Refuge, El Camino del Diablo

From the Pinta Sands we transitioned to a dramatically rougher environment as we began transiting through the Pinacate Lava Flow. We decided that this area would be good for camping as it was reasonably level and provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and unobstructed views for stargazing.

Pinacate Volcanic Field

On day two, we continued west until we arrived at the site of the Tule Well. In the 1840s many Mexicans from the state of Sonora were traveling north to work the gold diggings on the Colorado River. One of them decided to dig a well (by hand) and to sell the water to his fellow countrymen as they traveled north. Some accounts claim that the well digger was killed by a traveler who refused to pay for the water. The well fell into disuse between the 1860s and 1890s as this route was all but abandoned due the frequency of deaths from dehydration.

After visiting the Tule Well and the Circle 8 Gravesite we continued west towards the Tinjas Atlas Mountains. We were hoping to follow a trail that would lead us to the remains of the Fortuna Mine. As you can see from the video below this area has numerous narrow washes. Ultimately, we were foiled by a wash too deep and steep for the Beast.

Tinjas Atlas

We worked our way back until we found a route that took us in a northeasterly direction to the town of Wellton. This route took us through the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. It is most advisable to stay on the road if you choose this route as it is an active military gunnery and bombing range! Fortunately, we had obtained the necessary permit and pass to transit through the range.

We exited the desert in Wellton driving through the encroaching housing subdivisions spreading east from Yuma. We spent the evening in Yuma; in the morning , we decided to head back out into the Sonoran Desert and visit the Fortuna Mine using a route from Yuma. The road out from Yuma was extremely rough and rocky but were committed to going out to the mine as part of our completion of the El Camino del Diablo.

As so often appears to be the case, gold was discovered accidentally – in this case by three men looking for stray cattle in the foothills of the Gila Mountains in 1894. They filed land claims and gold was mined here from 1896 to 1904. The story of Fortuna is similar to many of the old west mining scenarios – boom and then quickly bust. The mine was productive – producing 125,000 ounces of recorded gold during its short run. The vertical shafts are still visible (photo below). The remnants of the town that quickly blossomed above the mine are still accessible by foot.

One other item that we wanted to share relates to the photo below. Periodically as we crossed the desert we would see blue flags placed within sight of the trail. The blue flags are on 30 foot high poles so that they are visible from a great distance. At each of these sites there is a 55 gallon drum of potable water. These drums are placed and maintained by an organization called Humane Borders. The organization has obtained permission to place the water drums along the border (the El Camino is within sight of the border for much of the route). You may read about the Humane Borders organization in the article linked below.

https://www.humaneborders.org/

Our two day journey across El Camino del Diablo was an exciting adventure. This is a trip we have wanted to do for some time and we recognized that in the context of our OTR story arc this was the time to make the crossing. There is a point where the physical rigors of this trip would be beyond our capability.

After resting for a couple days in Yuma we will be heading north to explore the Northern Sonoran Desert and the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge.

Be seeing you!

Over the Mountain and Across the Valley

24/03/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Scenic Drive, The American West, Travel

As we departed Bisbee (see previous post) we decided to make a quick detour to the border to check out the small town of Naco.

Naco, Arizona is a census designated place with a population of 1176. Naco, Sonora, the sister city (pop. 6064), is immediately on the other side of the border. While the border was finalized by the Gadsden Treaty of 1853, the two Nacos functioned as a single community regarding everyday living. Recently, Naco, Sonora was also very popular with United States citizens who could easily cross the border and purchase prescription drugs and other items (see Pancho Villa post) . Additionally, the younger drinking age in Mexico (18 vs. 21 Arizona) saw many teens crossing over for an evening of drinking.

The situation changed dramatically during the 1990’s as routes for smuggling migrants and drugs moved to this area after other parts of the border were more effectively sealed. The reverse flow of the smuggling business is the movement of large quantities of weapons south from the U.S. into Mexico for use by drug cartels (shameful).

The increase in smuggling coupled with 9/11 resulted in much tighter security. Residents were no longer able to cross back and forth across the border as freely. The completion of a new border fence in 2017 (pictured above) made the separation of the two towns very real. The residents of Naco, Arizona were not apprised of the new fence – they literally woke up one morning to the sound of construction equipment rolling into town.

***United States Border Station, Naco, Arizona***

Many residents claim that this event was the beginning of the end for Naco from a business perspective. An additional factor is that the port of entry restricted its operating hours – moving from 24 hours per day to closing at 10:00 PM – sending more traffic to Douglas where the port of entry is 24/7. Today, there is just one remaining business in Naco.

The last business standing in Naco is not unsurprisingly a bar! But not just any bar it is the Gay 90’s Bar as in the 1890s! The bar, which serves food, has pool tables and live music, has been in business since 1931. Why anyone would open a bar during prohibition does not make sense on surface of the issue, but there is probably more to the story than we will ever know. More importantly, they are still in business despite all the turmoil and hard times.

After our brief and somewhat depressing stop in Naco, we cotinued west across beautiful grasslands and entered the Coronado National Memorial. We had visited the Memorial in 2019 to explore the Coronado Cave but did not continue up to the pass. The photographs below are from our caving adventure in 2019. The entrance to the cave is a half mile hike up the south slope of Montezuma Peak and definitely worth the trip. The cave is 600 feet long with lots of small spurs.

Back tothe present — we wound our way up the canyon road of the 7640 foot high Montezuma Peak and stopped at the pass to take in the views back to the east and west to the immense (330 square miles) San Rafael Valley.

Montezuma Canyon Road

***View West from Montezuma Pass — San Rafael Valley — Huachuca Mountains to the North***

The road beyond the pass heading west is best suited to 4WD, high clearance vehicles as it becomes progressively more rutted and rocky.

Montezuma Canyon Road

From the pass we continued down the road admiring the views of the valley below. It is hard for us to fathom that the majority of the valley’s 90,000 acres is privately owned by a handful of ranchers. But then again, the valley has been home to cattle ranching for 175 years!

The largest ranch in the valley was owned and operated by the Sharp family from 1903 to 1999. The ranch, The San Rafael Ranch, lies in the center of the valley and consisted of 22,000 acres. The state acquired the land and designated it as natural area in order to protect what is considered the finest stand of grassland in the state. Sadly, when the state purchased the land and designated it as a natural area, it closed access to the ranch house and all of the property (although the state allows the remaining ranchers to graze their cattle on the land). The other interesting historical note is that the property that comprised the ranch was the last remaining intact Spanish Land Grant (well, we think it is interesting).

***San Rafael Ranch House (Photo courtesy of SouthernArizonaGuide.com)***

Being very cognizant of the fact that we were traveling through a fragile area, we carefully followed an established track which took us out through the grasslands. The video below provides some perspective of the experience of riding through the grasslands with the mountains ahead of us — quite spectacular!

San Rafael Valley

After our jaunt through the grass we returned to the road to complete our crossing of the valley.

***Patagonia Mountains*** ***Left — Canelo Hills Right***

At the end of the drive across the valley, we arrived at the border town of Lochiel. The town was originally named La Noria by Mexican settlers. It was renamed Lochiel (Low—Keel) in 1885 by rancher Colin Cameron in honor of his Scottish ancestors.

Lochiel is often described as a ghost town but it appears there a handful of inhabitants. Our research comes up with ten people. We don’t think anyone really knows and historical records indicate that the population peaked at 400 when the mine in nearby Patagonia was in full operation. We can’t warrant that anyone actually lives there because while we saw several dwellings that appeared to be inhabited we did not see any people while in Lochiel. In fact, we only saw one person during our ride across the valley — a man in a pick up truck — who we let pass us by as he was traveling at a much higher rate of speed than we could or would on the rough and winding road.

We visited the red schoolhouse pictured above. It is an adobe structure and operated as a classic one room schoolhouse for all of the children in town. The schoolhouse began operation in 1892 and closed in 1972 in response to declining enrollment. The remaining kids were bussed to school in Patagonia. Today the school is maintained by the Patagonia Museum.

There is also small church in Lochiel. We could not visit the church as the fence around the church is gated and locked. It appears to be of adobe construction as well. The fence directly behind the church is the border fence with Mexico. We unfortunately could not find any history regarding the church.

***Lochiel Church (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia)***

We mentioned that Lochiel is a border town. The border fence here is just a chain link fence with some barbed wire on top. Quite a contrast from the other sections of the border we have seen on this trip. Years ago, from the 1960s until 1983 there was a port of entry in Lochiel. It was operated by Customs Inspector Helen Mills during the 60s and 70s and then Custom Inspector Mike Daniels until closing in 1983. We found some fantastic photos (below) of Helen and the port of entry from an article in Tucson.com

Well, that is our report on our experience overlanding through the Coronado Memorial NM and the San Rafael Valley. This trip really helped us to envision a different time in our country.

From Lochiel we drove north and camped in the Patagonia Mountains for an evening. Our next segment will take us to Mission San Jose’ de Tumaca’cori north of Nogales and then on up to Tucson for a city segment.

Be seeing you!

Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

24/02/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Camping, Museum, New Mexico, Scenic Drive, Travel

Time to go Home…..

29/08/202405/09/2024 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Adventure Van Travel, Travel

***Grand Falls, New Brunswick (Photo courtesy Tourism New Brunswick)***

On our ultimate day in Canada we followed the St. John River south along the eastern bank after crossing over the river at Grand Falls. This route kept us off the highway and carried us through a scattering of very small farms and towns while keeping the river in view.

After crossing into the United States at Fort Fairfield, we made the short drive to Presque Isle where we had dinner and stayed for the evening.

If you visit Presque Isle, we heartily recommend dinner at RODNEY’S AT 436 MAIN. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the (yes-hip) Northeastland Hotel in the center of downtown.

https://thenortheastlandhotel.com/dining/

With the Presque Isle campus of the University of Maine nearby we were hopeful that good coffee would be at hand in the morning. Thank you HUB. We suspected that we would be in the coffee wilderness until reaching southern Maine (which entitled us to donuts) and unfortunately that suspicion turned out to be spot on.

From Presque Isle we traveled south on Route 11 through hilly woodlands and farmland to access the infamous Golden Road from its eastern terminus in Millinocket. The forecast for the following day was for heavy rain so we decided to hole up in Millinocket until the weather passed. Driving 100 miles in deep mud and flooded roads and potentially dealing with massive logging trucks (with the right of way) is overrated in our opinion. (Photos courtesy of Down East Magazine)

Millinocket was a mill town for over 100 years. The Bangor and Aroostock Railroad completed a rail line in 1894 that made the area accessible. Soon after, the Great Northern Paper Company (GNP) began construction of a paper mill which would become the largest mill in the world. The West Branch of the Penobscot River provided the necessary power. The mill produced newsprint (including for the New York Times) and operated 24 hours a day, seven days week every day of the year. The population grew from 1000 in 1900 to almost 8000 people by the 1960s (400 of the original 1000 were laborers from Italy, hence the Little Italy section of town). The wages at the mill were roughly double that of manufacturing wages in the state, drawing workers from Maine and beyond.

GNP was acquired by Georgia Pacific in 1989, which began the eventual death spiral. The company was sold several more times before filing for bankruptcy. An asset management company purchased the assets and sold them off to various entities. The mill closed down in 2008 with all the mill jobs lost. The population, not surprisingly, declined and is currently 4300. The main industry (really the only industry and reason for the town’s existence) was paper.

Tourism brings some folks through town – the northern trailhead of the Appaclachian Trail and Baxter State Park are nearby. There is also rafting on the West Branch of the Penobscot River. This has helped but the town looks pretty forlorn. A number of boarded up storefronts and the charred remains of a vacant bank building (destroyed by fire in March, 2024) are still standing among the few operating busnesses along the main street (Penobscot). Sadly, this is not a unique story in the old mill towns of New England.

While waiting for the expected rainstorm to pass through we washed ALL of our laundry at the cottage we had rented for two nights. With our laundry project behind us and the rain letting up we walked the two blocks to Penobscot Street. There we quickly settled on the Blue Ox Saloon as our venue to meet some local folks and imbibe a drink or two.

The Blue Ox is old school. Cash only and the pours are extraordinarily large. Don’t even think about asking for wine. The antique cash register is not for show. The bartender/owner is a character and the handful of locals at the bar (5 PM Saturday) were friendly and looking to share their stories with us (and buy us drinks). Some sad stories, photos of first wives, second wives and lots of kids and grandkids. Not surprising as we mentioned earlier this whole town was built around the GNP paper mill and the closing left a permanent mark on the folks here. N.B.: Be mindful that this is Appalachia and the politics and culture of the local folks is very conservative.

Golden Road

The Chesuncook Boom House sits on a knoll overlooking Ripogenus Lake and Chesuncook Lake with a view to the Katahdin Mountain Range. The house was moved to the current location in 1916 to avoid flooding after the dam on Lake Ripogenus Lake became operational.

A boomhouse was home to river drivers. The Chesuncook Boom House was where up to 24 river drivers lived and ate when working as log drivers. The link below provides a brief but extremely interesting history of log driving on the Penobscot River. The link also includes a number of archival photographs which provide views of the men working on the logs in the river. You can clearly see the inherent demands and dangers of the occupation. The article was written by the the curator of the Chesuncook Boom House which is open seasonally as a museum. We met the curator, Chuck Harris, while visiting. He worked in the forestry industry for many years. He is quite interesting and knowledgable about the industry and the history of the area. Definitely worth a visit if you decide to tackle a portion of the Golden Road.

River Driving History

From the boom house we continued east on the Golden Road, venturing deeper into the North Maine Woods until we came to the Caribou Checkpoint. The Golden Road is still privately owned despite the demise of the Great Northern Paper Company. As such, we were required to pay a per person toll, declare our destination and obtain a permit to camp within the privately owned woodlands. Ah, capitalism at it’s best…..

***Golden Road***, ***Caribou Checkpoint***

Moose, did we mention moose? Maine has an estimated 76,000 moose. The moose population in Maine is the largest in the United States outside of Alaska. Unfortunately, the moose population in the other lower 47 states is declining. As an example, the moose population in Minnesota has declined by 70% since 2006. Maine’s next door neighbor New Hampshire is also experiencing a precipitous decline which has folks in Maine very concerned. Global warming is the apparent culprit. Tick infestations are worsening and killing more moose as the warmer temperatures allow more of the ticks to survive the winter and feast on moose. Dang it!

If you have not seen moose in the wild – we highly recommend a visit to Maine. If you are not comfortable setting out into the backwoods on your own there are a number moose watching tour outfits. The males are usually about six feet in height and weigh 1200 to 1400 pounds – magnificent!

***Bull (Male) Moose*** ***(Photo courtesy of USFWS)***

Although we did not find our intended camping location, our last evening of camping was fittingly spectacular. After finding that we had missed the well hidden Nelhedus Stream Trail on the north side of Seeboomook Lake, we were able to navigate around to the south shore and find a spot right on the lake. The lake was beautiful, the sunset spectacular and we were serenaded by the calls of loons echoing across the lake. Magic!

Seeboomook Lake was created with the construction of a dam at the eastern end of the lake which feeds the West Branch of the Penobscot River. The dam was built in 1936 to provide hydropower for the Great Northern Paper Company.

Historical tidbit: during World War Two, German prisoners of war were brought to the area to cut and transport trees as the GNP was short of labor, for obvious reasons. The prisoners were housed on a farm in Seboomook; they were repatriated to Germany in 1946. Seeboomook still exists today as unorganized territory, a couple miles south of the eastern end of the lake, with a population of 23.

We would be remiss if we did not give the Beast it’s due. The Beast was a bit battered but not defeated at trip’s end. The second alternator and light bar had given up the ghost. Our navigator-side hoop step was damaged during a backcountry ramble. The Beast got us everywhere we wanted to go and to a couple places we probably shouldn’t have gone! Many thanks to our rugged and reliable steed.

This is our last post for OTR 10.0. We had a great trip despite not completing our full itinerary. We were unable to travel to New Foundland and Labrador due to issues with the Nova Scotia to New Foundland ferry. We probably would have ended up being quite seasick anyway (16 hour ferry ride)! Another trip for sure.

Next up is a visit to Iceland in September. We will be home for the remainder of the fall as Maria recovers from knee replacement surgery. Our current plan is to depart The Fort in mid January (OTR 11.0) for a trip through the Southwest, including several extended overland segments through the Sonoran Desert.

Be seeing you!