Where Am I? -- Volume IV

[glc]

I think the mountain is Humphreys Peak, and you are at the Arizona Snowbowl?

EDIT: You posted while I was still digging, Donna!

[DonnaR57]

Ah, but you got the "Arizona Snowbowl" name that I couldn't remember!


I came into this "new" thread late. For good reasons!

Donna

[Rick Quinn]

You guys are correct on all counts, so you share the prize (ie., the profound admiration of all the rest of us ;-)!

I was indeed at the Arizona Snowbowl, on multiple occasions, and in every season of the year. The mountain is known as the San Francisco Peaks, and consists of two summits, Mount Humphreys, and Mount Agassiz, the highest, and the second highest peaks in Arizona, respectively. The San Francisco Peaks dominate the landscape around Flagstaff, and can be seen from many miles away when you approach that city, from just about any direction.

The ski season at the Snowbowl varies from year to year. It's never great, but it's fun, and for desert dwellers in the big city of Phoenix, just two hours south, it's a popular place to go, even (or maybe especially) in the summer. For anyone who enjoys a good museum, the Museum of Northern Arizona, at the bottom of the hill that leads up to the Snowbowl, is definitely worth a look.

All of it is part of my Grand Canyon Loop, a Scenic Side Trip that begins and ends in Flagstaff. It's Scenic Side Trip #14 in the book, and it's one of my personal favorites.

Rick

[DonnaR57]

My photo of the Arizona Snowbowl, taken last November on the way to the Denver area for Thanksgiving:



It was a point-and-shoot from the window of the truck.



Donna

[Utahtea]

Nice sleuthing! I thought about smudging those dates, but I wanted to leave you guys something you could work with, and sure enough, you found it! You're correct on all counts, all the way down to the name of the Wash where Tom Mix rolled his Cord Phaeton convertible, and died at the scene from a broken neck.

Old Tom most certainly isn't the only person who has ever driven much too fast on that road. The Pinal Pioneer Parkway is a very pretty stretch of two-lane highway that shoots straight as an arrow through a cactus forest. There's little traffic, and wide open spaces that beckon you to fly. In one particular year--2011--the fastest 5% of the vehicles using this stretch of road were clocked at an average speed of 88 mph, which made the Pinal Pioneer Parkway, during the course of that survey, the fastest road in the west! (Actually, it was the fastest road in the entire USA, which is truly amazing!) AZ 79 between Florence and Oracle is what us deep-rooted Phoenix natives have always called the "old road" to Tucson, since it pre-dates the Interstate, and because it still has the look and feel of Arizona the way it used to be, before the mega-population boom turned Phoenix into a major modern city. If you're headed from Phoenix to Tucson, or vice versa, it takes a little longer on this back road (unless you're one of those crazies in the fastest 5%!) For everyone else who's not in a hurry, it's a Scenic Side Trip--an easy alternative to Interstate 10, SST#8 in my book-- that's well worth considering!

Rick

I remember you mentioning AZ 79! We are going to be traveling back and forth between Phoenix & Tucson next month and wondered if this is do able in a motorhome towing a jeep? We won't be in any hurry. Is one direction better than the other? I don't think we will have time to dedicate a day to just do this in the jeep.

Utahtea

[Rick Quinn]

Howdy!

AZ 79 is a two-lane State Highway. I can't speak to the state of the pavement, since I haven't been down that way in a few years, but I would expect it to be in good shape, and no problem at all for your motorhome, with or without the "toad!" As for direction of travel, north to south, for beautiful views of the Santa Catalinas growing ever larger as you approach the 'old pueblo' of Tucson.

Happy Trails, and enjoy the ride!

Rick

[Utahtea]

Howdy!

AZ 79 is a two-lane State Highway. I can't speak to the state of the pavement, since I haven't been down that way in a few years, but I would expect it to be in good shape, and no problem at all for your motorhome, with or without the "toad!" As for direction of travel, north to south, for beautiful views of the Santa Catalinas growing ever larger as you approach the 'old pueblo' of Tucson.

Happy Trails, and enjoy the ride!

Rick

Thank you Rick for getting back to me! Looking forward to spending some quality time in Arizona!

Utahtea