INSIDE: Serenity, Peacefulness, Tranquility, Stillness, Calm ... JUNE 2018

ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE EXPLORE ARIZONA’S QUIET PLACES

LOCATION: Somewhere Where It’s Quiet Page North Rim Canyon de Chelly Grand Canyon National Monument 2 EDITOR’S LETTER 28 NOT SO LONELY 50 A LITTLE WILDERNESS National Park The life of the fire watcher. A story An Essay by Kelly Vaughn Mogollon Rim 3 CONTRIBUTORS originally published in the Septem- Prescott 4 LETTERS ber 1967 issue of Arizona Highways. 52 SCENIC DRIVE By Jo Baeza Big Black Mesa: A century ago, this Gila Box Riparian National June PHOENIX Conservation Area 5 THE JOURNAL flat-top mountain was booming 38 INSIDE THE BOX with prospectors. Today, it’s a quiet People, places and things from place where agave stalks rise from 2018 The Gila River begins in a spruce for- Pajarita around the state, including a look est in New Mexico, winds through limestone-covered hillsides and Wilderness back at the early days of The Tomb- Tombstone canyons of volcanic ash and eventu- green gullies are filled with oaks and stone Epitaph, which became famous ally drops into a series of rapids the junipers. for its coverage of the Gunfight at POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE locals call “the box.” That’s in New By Annette McGivney the O.K. Corral; another great pizza Mexico. Shortly after crossing the Photographs by Jeff Kida place in Prescott; and Shash Diné, a Arizona border, the river carves the ranch in Northern Arizona that offers Gila Box, a hidden paradise that shel- guests an introduction to modern 54 HIKE OF THE MONTH ters a menagerie of vegetation, birds Navajo culture. White House Ruins Trail: As hikes go, and mammals. this is one of the easiest in Arizona. GET MORE ONLINE 16 SOMEWHERE WHERE IT’S QUIET By Tyler Williams You won’t work up a sweat, but it’s www.arizonahighways.com Photographs by Bill Hatcher the only way to set foot in Canyon Arizona is blessed with some of the de Chelly without a hired guide. /azhighways most beautiful landscapes in the 46 THE DAWN OF THE DARK AGE By Robert Stieve world — Havasu Falls, Cathedral @arizonahighways Light pollution is nothing new — it’s Rock, the Grand Canyon — but those been a concern for decades. In places can get crowded. And noisy. 56 WHERE IS THIS? response to the harmful glare, the The remedy is a place that’s undis- International Dark-Sky Association turbed. As you’ll see, Arizona has was formed in Tucson in 1988. Its plenty of those, too. goal is to change “the nature of the A Portfolio Edited by Jeff Kida human relationship with artificial light at night.” In other words, to make it dark outside so people can see the stars in places like Flagstaff, Fountain Hills and Grand Canyon National Park. By Noah Austin Photographs by John Burcham

Cody Cunningham rides his horse through Schoolhouse Pasture at the X Diamond Ranch, near the Eastern Arizona town of Greer. Scott Baxter CANON EOS 5D MARK II, 1/320 SEC, F/8, ISO 100, 105 MM LENS

FRONT COVER: A placid pool mirrors nearby ponderosa pines in Pumphouse Wash south- west of Flagstaff. Joel Hazelton CANON EOS 6D, 1/2 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 28 MM LENS

BACK COVER: Aspen trunks, tall grasses and wildflowers lend a ghostly feel to a Coconino National Forest meadow. George Stocking

2 OCTOBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 1 editor’s LETTER CONTRIBUTORS

Among them are a pine forest along East Clear BILL HATCHER Creek, a lily pond in the northern end of Syca- Bill Hatcher had never JUNE 2018 VOL. 94 NO. 6 more Canyon and a mountain lake on Apache before visited the Gila land called Shush Bezahze — if a place has 800-543-5432 Box (see Inside the Box, “shush” in its name, it’s bound to be quiet (the www.arizonahighways.com page 38), a remote sec- literal translation is “bear cub”). Another quiet GIFT SHOP: 602-712-2200 tion of the Gila River in place, in another story, is the Gila Box Riparian Eastern Arizona. But he Our cover that month was National Conservation Area. PUBLISHER Win Holden figured the area would a lot like the cover this The Box, which “hides beneath ridges of crum- EDITOR Robert Stieve be a great place to August 2000. month. Large boulders pled desert grassland in a canyon of secluded ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, make photos. “The river DIRECTOR OF and cool water in the foreground, thick forest grottoes,” is fed by the Gila River. As Tyler SALES & MARKETING Kelly Mero passes through a nar-

in the background, minimal cover lines. It was Williams writes in Inside the Box, “This 25-mile MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Vaughn row canyon with several running side creeks,” he a gorgeous photograph. Of a quiet place. Noth- stretch of wildness above Safford is the final ASSOCIATE EDITOR Noah Austin says. “I knew this sort of ing about it was out of the norm. Inside, though, crescendo of the upper river, the last place where EDITORIAL something was different. It was on Page 2, at water still flows before succumbing to irrigation ADMINISTRATOR Nikki Kimbel riparian landscape could offer remarkable wildlife viewing from our boats, and the easy the top of the masthead. Instead of Nina M. La France, somebody named canals and scorching desert sands.” Through his PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jeff Kida access to cliff tops for views of the river below could make for memorable landscape

Winfield L. Holden was listed as publisher. words and Bill Hatcher’s remarkable photographs, CREATIVE DIRECTOR Barbara Glynn Denney opportunities. I wasn’t disappointed.” As the trip began, Hatcher wondered if there’d be

Most people probably didn’t notice. Only parents read mastheads, and you’ll learn more about this riparian paradise, ART DIRECTOR Keith Whitney enough water in the Gila to float the boats, and later, as you’ll read, a thunderstorm the changing of the guard wasn’t mentioned anywhere else in the magazine. one Billie Wilkerson may have explored many sparked a fear of flash flooding. But, ultimately, he, his wife and writer Tyler Williams (see MAP DESIGNER Kevin Kibsey Nevertheless, we got a new boss in August 2000, and he’s been manning the decades ago. below) spent four days on the river. “Tyler is a world-class athlete who’s always keeping PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Michael Bianchi mother ship ever since. Back in the ’60s, she and her husband, Clark, an eye on the safety and well-being of the team,” Hatcher says. “Those are the qualities WEBMASTER Victoria J. Snow If you do the math, that’s a total of 215 issues. Only James E. Stevens, an lived just up the road in Clifton. Their summers, you want in an adventure partner.” Hatcher’s recent work includes time in Mexico, where early visionary who expanded our circulation around the globe in the 1950s, however, were spent on fire towers in national CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Nicole Bowman he documented restoration of the Colorado River Delta for the Sonoran Institute. And ran the business longer. Regrettably, there won’t be a 216th issue for Win (he forests. That’s where they met Jo Baeza, one of FINANCE DIRECTOR Bob Allen he’d like everyone to know that despite the less-than-ideal rope and knot in this photo, dropped “Winfield” by his second issue). After nearly 18 years, our longtime our longtime contributors. “Doing a story on OPERATIONS/ he made it through the climb just fine. IT MANAGER Cindy Bormanis publisher is retiring. For 11 of those years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as lookouts was Billie Wilkerson’s idea,” Ms. Baeza his editor in chief. It’s “the best job in the world.” I hear that from people all writes in Not So Lonely: The Life of the Fire Watcher. CORPORATE OR the time. And they’re right. When I was a kid, most of my friends dreamed “One summer’s day in 1966, I got tired of town TRADE SALES 602-712-2018

about playing for the Packers. I dreamed about something like this. But and headed for the mountains. Where I stopped SPONSORSHIP SALES not this. Not in my wildest dreams. To Win, I’ll be forever grateful for the was Lake Mountain, between Vernon and REPRESENTATION On Media Publications TYLER Deidra Viberg WILLIAMS incredible opportunity. And for the partnership we’ve had. McNary. Just above McCormick Spring, where 602-323-9701 That’s not a given in publishing. The dynamic between an editor and watercress grows crisp in the cool water, a dirt For this issue, writer a publisher can be contentious. Left brain. Right brain. Type A. Type B. road wound steeply up the mountain. At the end Tyler Williams ventured LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] Like most publishers, Win is on the Type A continuum, but he’s always of the road was a 60-foot steel tower.” 2039 W. Lewis Avenue through the Gila Box understood the dichotomy between keeping things in check and keeping a Those are the first words of a beautiful story Phoenix, AZ 85009 (see Inside the Box, distance. This column is a good example. He has no idea what I’m writing. that ran in our September 1967 issue. This month, page 38). The story He could ask to see it, but he won’t. He trusts me and my team, and knows we’re bringing it back, because lookout tow­- GOVERNOR Douglas A. Ducey was a suggestion from that we’re guided by what’s best for Arizona Highways. We have a long leash ers are the epitome of quiet places. Plus, we’ll DIRECTOR, photographer Bill DEPARTMENT in editorial; however, all leashes need a strong hand on the other end. And jump at any chance to resurrect the words of OF TRANSPORTATION John S. Halikowski Hatcher (see above), we’ve always had that with Win, who steered this magazine through the Jo Baeza, who’s still writing at the age of 87. She’s who frequently collab-

Great Recession and kept us from suffering the fate of Gourmet, McCall’s, a remarkable woman, a brilliant writer and a Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published month- orates with Williams. National Geographic Adventure and so many other great publications. treasured member of our family, a family that’s ly by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Subscrip- “I jumped at the idea tion price: $24 a year in the U.S., $44 outside the U.S. because it had been We’re going to miss our boss. Not just for his leadership, but also for his about to lose its patriarch. It’s a sad goodbye, but Single copy: $4.99 U.S. Call 800-543-5432. Subscription kindness. Although he could huff and puff with the best of them, he treated the time has come. On behalf of everyone at cor­respon­dence and change of address information: Ari- more than a decade everyone like family. Being at the office under him was like being on Wal- Arizona Highways, thank you, Win. And on a zona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8521. since I’d last been Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, AZ, and at additional ton’s Mountain. We all had our chores to do, but at the end of a long week, personal note, I couldn’t have asked for a better mailing office.CANADA POST INTERNATIONAL PUBLI- there,” Williams says, Win would walk around the building, handing out Popsicles or Drumsticks. boss. Although our partnership is ending, our CATIONS MAIL PRODUCT (CANA­DIAN DISTRIBUTION) “and I knew it would He bought Girl Scout cookies from desperate parents, never missed a birth- friendship continues. Be well, my friend. And SALES AGREE­MENT NO. 40732015. SEND RETURNS TO be an entirely new river for me.” The biggest difference, he says, was due to the season: QUAD/GRAPHICS, P.O. BOX 456, NIAGARA FALLS ON L2E day and led the charge to help underprivileged children during the holidays. please fill out a subscription card before you go. 6V2. POSTMASTER­ : Send address changes to Arizona His first trip was in late fall, during a time of high water on the Gila. This time, he visited The list is long, and his absence will take some getting used to. As for Mr. Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Copy­ in August, at the height of the summer monsoon. “During the monsoon, the greenery right © 2018 by the Ari­zona Department of Trans­­por­­tation. along the river is really rich, and the warm water was a treat,” he says. The bulk of Wil- Holden, he’ll be spending more time with his family, presumably somewhere ROBERT STIEVE, EDITOR Repro­duc­tion in whole or in part with­­out permission is pro- where it’s quiet. In this month’s portfolio, we have a few suggestions for him. Follow me on Instagram: @arizonahighways hibited. The magazine does not accept and is not respon- liams’ freelance writing centers on outdoor adventure and river running, but he says he’s sible for un­solicited ma­ter­ials. beginning to branch out. “I wrote a couple of pieces about the Philadelphia Eagles before the Super Bowl,” he says. “My dad, Jerry Williams, played and coached for them, so I had a PRODUCED IN THE USA different perspective to share. Still, it was certainly a departure for me.” — NOAH AUSTIN

2 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL MARKOW PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP DAWN KISH ABOVE, RIGHT BILL HATCHER www.arizonahighways.com 3 LETTERS [email protected] THE APRIL 2018 JOURNAL

MARCH 2018

for honoring an old friend from Glendale High ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE days [April 2018]. I could always count on Jerry THANK YOU Jacka for helpful tips in the photo lab. My most outstanding memory was in the spring of 1951, when our choral group was on tour at Grand Canyon. Late that evening, Jerry got a bunch of us together and we sat on the rim singing all the old cow- Getting boy songs he knew. Of course, he played his accordion. As a recent transplant from Pennsylvania, I felt like I was really “out West.” Carried Genevieve (Harris) Nunn, Madera Ranchos, California REMEMBERING PHOTOGRAPHER JERRY D. JACKA Away 1934-2017 A desert leafcutter ant April 2018 (Acromyrmex versicolor) carries paloverde leaves through the Sonoran Desert just received my April issue, and I’m so lovingly highlights the attributes of uted so much — especially to those of near Florence. Photographer wrought with sadness over Mr. Jacka’s his talented “Gompy.” Thank you for this us who are readers of the magazine. The Eirini Pajak came across I passing. I’ve admired and enjoyed his wonderful tribute issue. man may be gone, but his impact will be a “multi-lane highway” of work for many years. You’ve done right Gail Schultz, Fountain Hills, Arizona everlasting. the insects while she was by him with this beautiful tribute. Thank Jules Ketchamm, Glendale, Arizona out shooting. “Even a small you for sharing, and for the wonderful just received the Jerry D. Jacka tribute rock in the ants’ path caused work you all do at Arizona Highways. issue in the mail and read it cover to ’ve just finished reading your entire a great struggle,” she says. “If a leaf was dropped, it Pam McKay, Eureka, Missouri I cover. This issue, even better than April 2018 edition dedicated to Jerry took great effort to get most, points to why I continue to sub- I Jacka, and I have to say that I’ve heard it upright and balanced read with great interest your issue fea- scribe to your wonderful publication. I the phrase “heartfelt and emotional,” again.” To learn more about turing Jerry Jacka. My associate in med- grew up in Glendale back in the late ’60s but have never had the opportunity to Arizona’s ant species, visit I ical practice was a high school friend of and ’70s, and was always exposed to the use it. Mr. Jacka’s story is just that, and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Jerry’s, and through him, Jerry lent me wonderful photography found through- I thank you for showing us all what he Museum’s website, www two dozen Kodachromes for a presenta- out the magazine. I am now a nature and was about. His photos are familiar, .desertmuseum.org. tion on Valley fever that I delivered to landscape photographer myself, and but his life story was not. Now it is. CANON EOS 5D MARK III, 1/800 SEC, F/6.3, ISO 400, 100 MM LENS an Italian audience at the University of always give direct credit to that choice by Gregory and Carol Woodbury, Prescott, Arizona Bologna in 1985. Jerry’s Arizona land- referencing your magazine and the great scapes — two of which are in your April photographers whose work influenced am so pleased that you chose to devote issue — made the presentation more my vision and style. The works of Jacka, your April issue entirely to Jerry Jacka. interesting. Jack Dykinga and others leave a permanent I His lifestyle, ambition and attitude Louis A. Rosati, Mesa, Arizona legacy for others to enjoy and learn from. toward friends and also strangers can James Johnston, North Tonawanda, New York easily be envied by many and should be ust a quick note to say that your April followed by so many others. He certainly issue was ... incredible! The very best n entire issue about Jerry D. Jacka? deserved to live where his beautiful J in my 83 years, and I’ve see a lot. Thank you, thank you. What a master home was located. There are some people Thank you. A of light and shadow. whom you just want to live forever. JoAnn Hughes, Beeville, Texas Judy Pohl, Palatine, Illinois Patrick Doherty, Cherry Valley, California

bsorbing the April 2018 issue of hank you for the wonderful issue about bsolutely, phenomenally, wonderful. Arizona Highways has been an emo- the spectacular photographer and man. Arizona and your magazine are magi- A tional experience for me. The glow T So touching and beautifully done. A cal to us, and this issue confirms that of the “screw up” cover photo gives it Janice Carlson, Holcomb, Illinois magic. What a lovely gift for Lois Jacka! an ethereal quality, seemingly bathing Gail and Donna Andress, Nelson, Nevada the Hopi village in heavenly light. The eeks and months had elapsed since respect and love shown by Jerry D. Jacka the passing of Jerry Jacka ... surely contact us If you have thoughts or com- for his photo subjects impart a visceral W someone would have acknowledged ments about anything in Arizona Highways, we’d sense of this man’s heart and soul. His it. Then came the arrival of the April love to hear from you. We can be reached at editor@ arizonahighways.com, or by mail at 2039 W. Lewis words are further tribute to the history, issue of Arizona Highways. What a fitting Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. For more information, people and land he loved. Grandson Dan tribute to an individual who has contrib- visit www.arizonahighways.com.

4 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY EIRINI PAJAK nature J

Common Raccoons

NOAH AUSTIN

Found anywhere in Arizona where water and shelter are available, common rac- coons (Procyon lotor) are best known for their black masks and bushy tails. But there’s nothing common about these mammals’ problem-solving abilities. In a 2017 study, eight raccoons were given a cylinder that contained a marshmal- low floating in a few inches of water, then were shown how to add rocks to raise the water level so the marshmallow would be within reach. Two of the raccoons repeated the technique, while a third simply rocked the cylinder until it tipped over. In addition to marshmallows, these opportunistic omnivores snack on plant matter, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, eggs, carrion and garbage.

6 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY PEGGY COLEMAN www.arizonahighways.com 7 J history dining J

THIS MONTH because with every meal at Limoncello, IN HISTORY Limoncello you’ll receive a complimentary sample of ■ Tucson’s mule-drawn After more than 30 years as a chef and master pizza-maker in Italy, its eponymous beverage. streetcar makes its last Matteo Schiavone headed west and settled in Prescott, where his new A traditional Italian digestif, the liqueur run to the University of restaurant is “something special.” — made with alcohol, cream, vanilla beans Arizona on June 1, 1906, and lemon zest — is smooth and thick. before giving way to an KELLY VAUGHN “Our limoncello is the perfect ending electric streetcar system. for any kind of meal,” Schiavone says. ■ Fuel tanks for the mine NINETY SECONDS. That’s all it takes to with a glass from Limoncello’s extensive “It’s the classic shot of dessert that you at Pearce, in Southeastern bake one of Limoncello’s signature pizzas. wine list, it’s likely to have you back the want to drink by sipping, but it’s so good, Arizona, explode on June 7, Ninety seconds at 950 degrees, that is, following week for more. you’ll drink it in one shot.” 1890, setting part of the thanks to the restaurant’s massive, hand- You’ll want to save room, though, Salute! town on fire. crafted-in-Naples and hand-delivered- ■ Casa Grande Ruins to-Prescott oven. It’s impressive, and so National Monument, is the story of Limoncello’s chef-owner, which protects the ruins Matteo Schiavone. of a Hohokam community, Italian by birth, he spent more than gets its start on June 22, 30 years as a chef and master pizza-maker 1892, when President all across that country before heading Benjamin Harrison makes west. Since, he’s been working to cul- the site a prehistoric and tivate a menu that celebrates his Italian

Employees of The Tombstone Epitaph pose for a photo in the 1930s. cultural reserve. heritage while embracing Arizona’s din- ■ Phoenix’s hottest day ing scene and style. on record is June 26, 1990, “ ‘Authentic’ and ‘true’ are two words The Tombstone Epitaph when Sky Harbor Interna- that give my restaurant something spe- When The Epitaph published its first issue in May 1880, the newspaper’s office was a tional Airport reaches cial,” Schiavone says. “We’re not ‘Italian tent. It would eventually move to a two-story building on Fremont Street, from which 122 degrees. style,’ but we’re true Italian people, and it reported on mining and water rights, and also the Earps. all of our ingredients are imported from Italy.” KAYLA FROST 50 YEARS AGO What’s more, Schiavone is one of the IN ARIZONA HIGHWAYS only Arizona pizza chefs to have such n 1879, Tombstone was a booming silver- After the legendary October 1881 shootout extensive experience in Naples, the home mining town steadily attracting all manner involving the Earp brothers, their friend Doc of Neapolitan pizza. of folk, from prospectors to cowboys to busi- Holliday and a band of outlaws near the O.K. And one of the most popular menu I nessmen. One of the latter was John Clum, a Corral, The Epitaph’s support of the Earp fac- items at Limoncello is golden. Literally. young New Yorker who had moved to Arizona tion fanned a feud with Tombstone’s rival In addition to an edible gold leaf topping, in 1874 to become a San Carlos Apache agent. newspaper, The Weekly Nugget, whose editor it’s loaded with a crust full of marinated After Clum visited “The Town Too Tough supported the outlaws. chicken. There are traditional offerings, to Die” and saw its potential, he quickly After two years of reporting on life in tur- too — the Toto Carne, featuring sausage, moved there and founded a newspaper: The bulent Tombstone, Clum and his associates soppressata, cotto salami and bacon; the Tombstone Epitaph, morbidly named despite sold The Epitaph to newspaperman Samuel Margherita, with basil, mozzarella and Clum’s friends’ disapproval. The publisher’s Purdy and several well-known Democrats. San Marzano tomatoes; and the Bufalina, stated goal: to create a detailed mining journal This was the first of many changes in owner- which celebrates buffalo mozzarella, reported with “honesty and accuracy.” ship and editorship that the newspaper would One of Arizona Highways’ roasted cherry tomatoes and arugula. The first issue of The Epitaph was published face over the years. Regardless of ownership, favorite subjects, the Of course, you’ll find fresh, homemade in May of 1880. Its office was a tent — a tem- the early issues stand as important chronicles Grand Canyon, once again pasta and a smattering of salads on the porary setup before the paper’s move to a of daily life on the American frontier. took center stage in the menu, as well as plenty of antipasti two-story building on Fremont Street. The Since 1975, The Tombstone Epitaph has been June 1968 issue, which options — can anyone say “poplette newspaper, which eventually published daily published by University of Arizona students as featured stories on the meatballs”? and weekly editions, reported on mining but part of a journalism class — an arrangement Canyon’s people and natu- Pair a simple Caesar salad with the also on community development, social activi- that saved the paper from being discontinued ral wonders. “The story of orecchiette alle cime di rapa for a deli- ties, struggles over water, and law and order. by its previous publisher. Grand Canyon is one that cious dining experience. The pasta is A steadfast Republican, Clum was elected Today, it’s the oldest continuously pub- never grows old, thread- dressed with spicy Calabrian chiles, Tombstone’s first mayor in 1881. He used his lished newspaper in Arizona — an appropri- bare or hackneyed in the broccoli and Italian sausage. Chased newspaper as a platform to endorse politi- ate distinction for a paper in “The Town Too telling,” Editor Raymond cians, including famed lawman Wyatt Earp. Tough to Die.” Carlson wrote. PRESCOTT Limoncello, 218 W. Goodwin Street, 480-399-9978, www.limoncelloitalianhomemadecompany.com

8 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH: ARIZONA STATE LIBRARY, ARCHIVES AND PUBLIC RECORDS PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL MARKOW www.arizonahighways.com 9 J from our archives [September 1951]

Home on the Range was the theme of the September 1951 issue of Arizona Highways, and this Ray Manley shot, from a ranch in the Dragoon Mountains, appeared on the inside front cover. Manley shot the photo at 8:15 on a November evening. “Of the 20 cowboys working the roundup,” the caption read, “all but those in the picture had retired, and the photographer had to go to considerable effort to get those photographed to stay up so late.” In Manley’s first exposure, the moon was hidden behind one of the cowboys, so he photographed the moon separately and combined the two exposures. “Perhaps the method used is not exactly true to nature,” he wrote, “but I feel the results are pleasing.”

10 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY RAY MANLEY www.arizonahighways.com 11 photography J

Q&A: Shane McDermott

PHOTO EDITOR JEFF KIDA

JK: Where did you find this informational exchange of secluded waterfall? energy — that happens. SM: This is on Oak Creek, near Sedona. A half-mile upstream JK: That sounds a little like the from this spot is a popular swim- approach good photographers ming hole, and I just happened take when shooting portraits of to follow the creek downstream people: establishing a relation- and discover this scene. I seem ship and using it to understand to have a knack for finding really what will make an interesting cool locations in plain sight. photograph. I visited several times and was the SM: Exactly. Why can’t that hap- only person there each time, even pen with nature? Nature is a liv- though hundreds of thousands of ing, breathing life form in many people visit the Oak Creek area ways, and we’re in a relationship every year. with it, although it’s far subtler than our relationships with peo- JK: Once you find a place like this, ple. By immersing myself in how do you approach it? nature, without my camera and SM: Often, I leave my photo gear without intentions, I allow the in the car, which allows me to be photographic opportunities to in a different relationship with the reveal themselves. environment. If I have my camera, I’m looking to take something, to extract it from the scene. When PHOTO I don’t have a camera, I’m in a WORKSHOP much more curious mindset. In that situation, I’m asking what I can receive, rather than what I can take, from the scene. I visited this spot three times without my camera, and I swam, went under the waterfall and just immersed Forgotten myself in the area. Treasures of Lake Powell JK: Do you find that when you October 8-12, Page approach a setting that way, There’s no better photographer photographic opportunities just to lead a Lake Powell workshop come to you? than Arizona Highways contribu- SM: Yes, definitely. Mother tor Gary Ladd, who has been Nature puts on this radiant dis- shooting the reservoir’s red-rock play of amazing things, and I feel buttes, secluded alcoves and like when I can be in tune with shimmering blue water for what’s going on, rather than be decades. Information: 888-790- trying to create pretty pictures, 7042 or www.ahps.org The water of Oak Creek there’s a connection — almost an nourishes a verdant riparian area as it tumbles over a waterfall. To learn more about photography, visit www.arizonahighways.com/photography.

12 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPHS: ABOVE SHANE McDERMOTT ABOVE, RIGHT RUSSELL GLINDMEIER www.arizonahighways.com 13 J lodging WE’D LIKE TO HANG WITH YOU the Vintage Poster collection by arizona highways $3 off each poster

which accommodate up to four. Shash Diné When guests arrive, they get an over- In addition to being off the grid and surrounded by the natural wonders of view of the property’s history and the Northern Arizona, a night at Shash Diné offers an introduction to modern activities nearby, including Page and Lake Navajo culture. Powell, 12 miles to the north, and Horse- shoe Bend, just a five-minute drive away. NOAH AUSTIN When night falls, guests can cook at an outdoor fire pit or enjoy the unspoiled PAUL MEEHAN SUMS UP Shash Diné The Meehans share a passion for sus- starry sky. And in the morning, Baya this way: “It’s like a history book.” tainable living, and that’s reflected in the prepares a traditional Navajo breakfast of That history is personal for Paul’s wife, property’s seven accommodations. As in blue corn porridge, seasonal fruit, ranch Baya, who can trace her lineage in this many Navajo homes, there’s no running coffee and Navajo tea sourced from the part of the Navajo Nation back 18 genera- water. No electricity. And no distractions property. tions. Her grandmother helped raise from the stunning high-desert views. Shash Diné has attracted visitors from 10 grandchildren, including Baya, in the The ranch’s centerpiece is the original all over the world, including some from property’s hogan — one of the eclectic family hogan, which the Meehans have Beijing, who Paul says “burst into tears accommodations on this slice of tribal rehabilitated. They had a Monument Val- because they’d never seen a dark sky land off U.S. Route 89. ley family build a second hogan of earth before.” But in addition to natural won- Paul is a Rhode Islander who was living and juniper logs sourced from Utah’s Bears der and an off-the-grid experience, the in Bisbee when he met Baya. They dis- Ears area. Both hold four twin beds and Meehans hope guests gain an apprecia- To see our entire collection and receive $3 off selected posters, cussed starting a B&B down there, but are heated by a wood-burning stove. The tion for modern Navajo culture. please visit www.shoparizonahighways.com or call 800-543-5432. Baya felt a calling to her family’s land. Five couple also built a small cabin, furnished “We’re human beings just like you,” Use code P8F5CP when ordering to take advantage of this special offer. Offer expires 6/30/18. years ago, they began ranching at Shash with a stove and a full bed. For warmer Baya says. “We’re a strong, resilient peo- *Pricing does not include shipping and handling charges. Diné, where they also live with their two times of the year, there are two restored ple, and we’re still here. People are very young children. They’re now in their sheepherder wagons, which sleep two touched by that, and they feel our con- fourth year of hosting overnight guests. people, and two canvas tents (pictured), nection to the land. It’s still there.” THE ARIZONA HIGHWAYS NEAR PAGE Shash Diné, 928-640-3701, www.shashdine.com �LLECTION

14 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN BURCHAM

AHM_GallPosters_0618.indd 2 4/4/18 3:26 PM ARIZONA IS BLESSED WITH SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES IN THE WORLD — HAVASU FALLS, CATHEDRAL ROCK, THE GRAND CANYON — BUT THOSE PLACES CAN GET SOMEWHERE WHERE IT’S QUIET CROWDED. AND NOISY. THE REMEDY IS A PLACE THAT’S UNDISTURBED. AS YOU’LL SEE, ARIZONA HAS PLENTY OF THOSE, TOO. A PORTFOLIO EDITED BY JEFF KIDA

16 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 17 PRECEDING PANEL: At sunset, fog shrouds a ponderosa pine forest at Moqui Draw, along East Clear Creek in the Coconino National Forest. This spot is about a mile southeast of State Route 87 and northeast of Potato Lake. Kathy Ritter LEFT: Still water at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument’s Quitobaquito Springs mirrors a nearby cottonwood. The pond is home to several plant and animal species found nowhere else in the United States. The remote monument is along the U.S.-Mexico border; to reach it from Tucson, go west on State Route 86, then south on State Route 85. George H.H. Huey ABOVE: Wildflowers bloom near the West Fork of the Black River on a summer morning in Eastern Arizona’s White Mountains. This location is near Buffalo Crossing Campground. To get there from Alpine, go northeast on U.S. Route 191, then west on Forest Road 249 and southwest on Forest Road 276. Randy Prentice

18 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 19 Lily pads, reeds and ponderosa pines form a riparian paradise in the northern reaches of Sycamore Canyon. The gorge, located between Williams and Sedona, is Arizona’s second- largest canyon and can be explored via trails in the Coconino, Kaibab and Prescott national forests. Rick Goldwasser

20 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 21 “I’LL TELL YOU WHAT HERMITS REALIZE. IF YOU GO OFF INTO A FAR, FAR FOREST AND GET VERY QUIET, YOU’LL COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU’RE CONNECTED WITH EVERYTHING.” -- ALAN WATTS

LEFT: A windless, cloudy day brings reflections to the surface of the Colorado River’s Lake Mohave. The reservoir is part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and a good option for visiting it is Cottonwood Road, a rugged 19-mile route that runs west from U.S. Route 93 about 25 miles northwest of Kingman. Claire Curran ABOVE: Schultz Tank, ringed by ponderosa pines, offers a view of the San Francisco Peaks at sunrise. The small reservoir is near Schultz Pass Road (Forest Road 420), which begins on U.S. Route 180 about 2 miles northwest of Flagstaff. In good weather, the road is suitable for passenger cars. Shane McDermott

22 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 23 Tall ponderosa pines loom over the calm water of Shush Bezahze, a reservoir on White Mountain Apache Tribe land east of McNary and northwest of Greer. A permit is required to visit the reservoir. For information and directions, visit www .wmatoutdoor.org. Eric Heaton

24 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 25 “IN EVERY WALK WITH NATURE ONE RECEIVES FAR MORE THAN HE SEEKS.” -- JOHN MUIR

ABOVE, LEFT: A summer hailstorm begins to clear on the Kaibab Plateau north of the Grand Canyon, offering a view of the tall pines of the Kaibab National Forest. Scenes like this one are plentiful along the North Rim Parkway (State Route 67), which runs from Jacob Lake to the North Rim. Elias Butler ABOVE: Saguaros thrive near the edge of Apache Lake as fog cloaks the surrounding cliffs. The reservoir, northeast of the Phoenix area, is accessible via the Apache Trail (State Route 88). Eric Heaton

26 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 27 Not FROM OUR ARCHIVES: ASo STORY ORIGINALLY Lonely PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER 1967 The life of the fire watcher. BY JO BAEZA EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re a longtime reader of Arizona Highways, you know Jo Baeza. She’s been writing for us since she threw “some warm clothes and [her] cow dog” in a Ford Galaxie and moved to the White Mountains in 1964. Not long after that, we convinced her to write a story about fire lookouts. “This was the story that led me to work on Forest Service lookout towers for 20 fire seasons,” she says. “I could be not only an observer, but part of the forest.” In addition to all of the other rewards, which you’ll read about in this remarkable story, she also ended up with a “pet” — a raven she named Jose Cuervo. “He learned to catch part of my lunch in midair,” she says. Ms. Baeza, who turned 87 in April, is still writing from her home in Pinetop-Lakeside. One of her recent books is a book of poetry titled Eagles at Noon. To order a copy, call White Mountain Publishing at 928-537-5721.

oing a story on lookouts was Billie Wilkerson’s idea. One summer’s day in 1966, I got tired of town and headed for the mountains. Where I stopped was Lake Mountain, between Vernon and McNary. Just above McCormick Spring, where watercress grows crisp in the cool water, a dirt road wound steeply up the moun- tain. At the end of the road was a 60-foot steel tower. Beside it was a one-room cabin. DA tall, slim man with a wrinkled smile came out the door of the cabin. I saw that he had been a cowboy. The man squinted at me and spoke. It was good to have someone really see you when he looked at you. “Got tired of town,” I said. “Well, I don’t blame you for that,” he said. “Come on in and have some coffee. Some of the people who come up here are too scared to get out of the car.” A lookout tower atop Lake A window of the tower opened, and a woman smiled out of it. The man and woman had the kind of Mountain, between McNary faces that I appreciated. I thought, They’ve worked hard all their lives, don’t have much, never will and don’t and Vernon, offers a view give a damn. of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The tower Wilkerson was their name. They had lived around Clifton most of their lives. Clark was a retired was built in 1926 and is cattleman and smokechaser [forest firefighter]. His wife, Billie, worked on the tower. It was their first still in use. This photo was summer at Lake Mountain, but they had worked in other forests for many years. made in the mid-1980s. Northern Arizona Clark warmed the coffee on the wood stove. We talked without explanations, with the ease you University Cline Library have with some people and cannot acquire with others. We talked about trading for Corriente cattle

28 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 29 in Mexico, his border days and trailing cattle up over the the southeast was Baldy Peak, proud, snowcapped. On the east Coronado Trail before roads and trucks. I listened and learned. were Cerro Gordo and Greens Peak, dwarfing the small humps He asked me if I had ever heard the song The Crooked Trail to of mountains around them. Yellow-green patches of aspen Holbrook, and I said no, but I wished I had. His father had once were bright against the dark pines. been captain of the Texas Rangers. He and his brothers had all been cowpunchers. He was tough and true, with a tough, true “DO YOU AND CLARK SEE MUCH GAME?” I asked Billie. person’s impatience with superfluity. “Once in a while, deer and elk water down at McCormick Springs,” she said. “A bear’s been coming around about three I CLIMBED 63 STEPS to the top of the tower. On the upper times a week. On my day off, we drive the pickup into McNary, landing, the wind reached out and grabbed at me. Billie fill our water cans, get our mail and buy groceries. We always opened the trapdoor and let me in. “Did you get spooked get a watermelon and put the rind out for the bear. Early in the climbing up?” she asked. morning, he ambles up to camp, sits in the sun, eats his water- “No, but I can’t say that I enjoyed it,” I said. melon and goes back to his own camp.” The room was about 7 feet square. In the center was a ped- Of course, not all lookouts are like Billie Wilkerson. Neither estal, screwed to the floor, for the fire finder. Billie showed are they crazy old coots who sit laughing and talking to them- me how it worked. You could spot a smoke through a rotating selves. Some are students, or teachers wanting a summer job sight and get the degrees from the reading in a quiet place. Some are people born to on the azimuth circle around it. We sat the mountains, who would rather stay in on rickety chairs and talked about Indian their own country than work for more ruins, ranching, Arizona history, animals money in a city office. Some lack formal and fire-watching. education, but with their eyes and ears While we talked, Billie glanced out over tuned to the outdoors. the mountains, picking up her binoculars With the August rains, fire season was now and then. Before we knew it, a couple over. The Wilkersons left to go back to of hours had passed. I told her I sometimes Clifton. The winter passed mildly. Spring wrote stories for Arizona Highways. came and I was still thinking about Bil- OPPOSITE PAGE: A fire lookout uses binoculars to get a better view. “Why don’t you do one on lookouts?” lie Wilkerson’s idea. I went down to According to our September 1967 issue, she had spotted “a friendly fox she asked. the Lakeside Ranger Station, applied for enjoying the sun.” Wayne Davis branch symbolizes a forest resource — water, timber, for- ABOVE: Ponderosa pines and a vast meadow define the view from the The more I thought about it, the better age, wildlife and recreation. The trunk represents America a job as relief lookout and got it. John lookout tower atop Greens Peak in the White Mountains. Wayne Davis the idea seemed. I could write about what Chambers, the district ranger, grinned and its people. Multiple-use management is complex because I understood, and I could understand and said, “Another crazy one.” Roy Sauve, all resources are interdependent. Pure water is necessary for anyone who liked to take care of living a teacher who had been a lookout once, had survived. Those ranchers and homesteaders had withstood domestic, industrial and agricultural use. Tree planting and things — livestock, wild creatures, plants told me, “To stay on a tower all day, you hardships we can’t imagine. Now the really tough ones of qual- harvesting improve wildlife habitat and forage for livestock. or a whole forest. have to have a very creative intellect or ity are memories, like so many battered, sweat-stained 10X Logging and recreation enterprises create jobs and help the I did not need to ask Billie Wilkerson if else be stupid.” I wondered which cat- beaver hats hanging on dark closet walls. Those times passed, local economies. Fresh air, open space and beautiful scenery she got lonely or bored. I knew she didn’t. egory he thought I fit and then decided he not because they were bad times, but because they were so are more rare and more important than ever. I knew I wouldn’t. Cramped, maybe, or was wrong, to save myself the trouble of good that our country grew and prospered and the population stiff on cold days, tired from long hours of wondering. expanded and a conservation program became necessary. SITGREAVES, WITH 745,000 ACRES, is the smallest national eyestrain, but not lonely, not bored. I’d lived around cattle people a long time. Most of the old National forests have been established for more than half a forest in the Southwest. More than 7,000 feet high, it follows A radio sat grumbling in the corner. On a shelf was a daily rugged individualists resented the Forest Service or anyone century. They have stood serene, alone, the home of wild crea- the edge of the Mogollon Rim. It contains part of the great- log book, pencils and pens, salt and pepper, a washrag, hand else telling them how many head of cattle they could run on tures. In the past 10 years, 100 percent more people have visited est pure stand of ponderosa pine in the world. It was named lotion, a notebook and binoculars. On the floor was a Butter- their allotments ... resented anyone interfering with what they them, about 150 million a year. The Forest Service spends for Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves, a U.S. topographical engi- Nut coffee can for a purpose that seemed obvious for anyone considered their business and the privileges they had earned. about $26 million a year to maintain them. Enough picnic neer who led the first scientific expedition across Arizona in who stays in a tower 60 feet off the ground all day. In my cookbook, the stew cowboys call a “sonofabitch” is tables and campsites exist to accommodate 425,000 people at the 1850s. referred to as “Forest Supervisor Stew.” I knew the supervi- one time, and still that is not enough. Ranchers and homesteaders fought back against marauding ACROSS THE NORTHERN HORIZON was a long streak of sor in Holbrook and didn’t think he fit the description. Then America has 151 national forests containing 186 million acres bands of Apaches and held their ground here. In the 1880s, the windblown dust, which was the Little Colorado River Val- I remembered a character in Utah, known the country round of land. From them, the federal government receives $100 mil- giant Hashknife outfit moved in with 33,000 head of Texas ley and the Navajo Reservation beyond. I could see Woodruff as “Swearin’ Aaron,” who used to call a young Forest Service lion a year from timber sales, grazing fees, power and land use Longhorns. For 15 years, the land was overgrazed and abused. Butte, like a black pyramid, and Chevelon Butte, south of employee “one of them book-readin’ SOB’s.” Now I was going permits, and recreation permits. The objective of the national It is only now recovering. Along the edge of The Rim is the Winslow. To the northwest, the three-pointed top of the San to work as a federal employee. The government was suddenly forest system has always been to serve the greatest good for old military supply road from Camp Verde to Fort Apache. In Francisco Peaks jutted up from the flatness 100 miles away. people like me instead of some imposing outside force. the greatest number of people in the long run. The present and nameless graves along the Rim Road lie the bones of cattle Across the west lay the long, rounded contours of the Mogol- potential use of all resources and the present and potential and sheepmen killed in the Pleasant Valley Wars of the 1880s. lon Rim. In the south, smoke rose and drifted from the lumber A NEW WAY, A GENTLER WAY, has come to the White needs of our people are evaluated and put into policies that Summer rains have washed clean the bloodstains of cowboys, mill at McNary. Behind it, the rugged ridges and canyons of Mountains. The old ways had been good ways. The people had respond to the changing needs of the American people. sheepherders, homesteaders, Indians and soldiers. The forest the Fort Apache Indian Reservation layered to the horizon. To been strong-headed as mules and tough as boot heels. They The symbol of the national forest is a multiple-use tree. Each remains: a living thing, a sacred thing, not a green spot on a

30 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 31 map. Always the forest has been associated with the water, Smokey. My daughter Paula came home from school one day controlled. Fuels preheated by the sun burn faster. That is why which gives life to an arid land. In White Mountain Apache with the latest grade school joke: “What’s Smokey the Bear’s most lookouts go on duty about 8 a.m. and stay until 7 or 8 p.m. tradition, all the mountains of the Southwest are sacred. middle name?” Answer: “The.” The U.S. Criminal Code pro- tects his name and character. About 30 Smokey products have THE SEVEN NATIONAL FORESTS in Arizona have 64 [sic] fire MORE THAN 50 MILLION board feet of timber are cut annu- been licensed, including a teddy bear Smokey, wallets, belts, lookouts: eight in Apache, 13 in Coconino, 12 in Coronado, nine ally on Sitgreaves. The timber is sold to private operators by T-shirts, jeans, hats, et cetera. Smokey is an honorary Girl Scout, in Kaibab, six in Prescott, 10 in Tonto, nine in Sitgreaves. They competitive bid. Mature trees are cut selectively. Healthy young Boy Scout, Camp Fire Girl and 4-H Club member. vary in construction from wooden cabins on the ground, to trees remain as the basis of a new crop, a watershed cover and The effectiveness of Smokey’s program is recorded statisti- wooden towers, to steel towers. They are anywhere from 12 to a protection from soil erosion. Small and deformed trees are cut cally. In the five years prior to World War II, the U.S. averaged 110 feet high. Some are manned by couples, some by single men, for pulpwood, which is used in the paper mill near Snowflake. 210,000 forest fires a year. More than 30 million acres (as much some by women. They may be reached by automobile, jeep, A fourth of the forest revenue goes back to the counties to help as the area of New York state) were burned. From 1961 to 1965, packhorse or foot. Nearly all of them make a good day’s outing pay for roads and schools, saving taxpayers part of their burden. the U.S. averaged 121,000 fires, with 4 million acres burned. for families who like that sort of thing. About 4,500 head of cattle and 17,000 sheep graze under The fire weather was extremely bad during this period. The The Missoulian newspaper of Missoula, Montana, recently paid permits. Mule deer, elk, pronghorns, bears, lions, coyotes human use of the forests had risen by 100 percent. carried an article dramatically headlined Women Fire Lookouts and small animals thrive in our forest. Even the jaguar makes Today, almost everyone in America knows the story of Tame Mountain Peaks. In one forest ranger’s bold generaliza- an appearance now and then. Thousands of people come to the Smokey Bear. On a hot May day in the Lincoln National Forest tion: “Women, as a general rule, make better lookouts than high country every year. They come to fish, boat, swim, golf of New Mexico, some careless person either flipped a lighted men. They seem to be more observant, hold their interest quite and breathe clean air. match into the brush or left his campfire burning. The tiny well in what can be a monotonous job, are more meticulous in All these resources are in danger from fire much of the year. spark became a roaring fire near Capitan Mountain. A lookout recordkeeping and keep their quarters in much better condi- Sitgreaves averages 185 fires annually. Most of them are caused spotted the smoke. Fire crews made their way into the inacces- tion.” These women included a college queen with her cat and by lightning, but the most destructive are man-made. Man- sible area. Bulldozers plowed up a wide fire line, but the wind guitar, a motorcycling “swinger,” schoolteachers, grandmoth- made fires are usually closer to high-value timber and well- blew the flames across it. Birds and animals panicked, trying ers and housewives. Doris Babcock baked sugar cookies daily developed areas, and usually occur in the driest season, from to escape the flames. Some made it to safety. The fire spread for the chipmunks who came running when she called, “Here, April through July. Good old Man. faster than most of them could run. Ranchers, soldiers, local kitty, kitty, kitty.” One woman fed hotcakes to the chipmunks, people ... all joined the fire lines. A 40 mph wind fanned the which grew as big as marmots. IF IT WEREN’T FOR SMOKEY BEAR, the loss from fire would fire into an area where 24 men were trapped. They lay on a Frank Malone, the fire control officer, explained my job to be inestimably greater. Not until Pearl Harbor did the nation rockslide, facedown, with wet handkerchiefs over their faces. me. His face was Scotch-Irish and as freckled as a turkey egg. become really alarmed about the danger If one man’s clothes caught fire, his com- He had the loose walk of a cowboy and the cat-quick hazel of forest fires. The U.S. Forest Service lost rade put it out. For an hour they lay trapped. eyes of a man born to the Southwest. His great-grandfather many men to the armed forces. Equipment Then the fire passed them. Somehow, all of had been Robert Burns’ personal tailor in Scotland. Frank had was scarce. Timber was needed more than them had survived. When they looked up, An early lookout tower stands atop Pat Knoll, southeast of Greer in the been a cowboy and had broken horses before joining the Forest ever. Military authorities feared fire from they saw a badly burned bear cub clinging Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. This tower, constructed in 1914, Service. no longer exists. Northern Arizona University Cline Library sabotage and bombing. The only solution I pathetically to a charred tree. They helped It occurred to me that the qualifications of a lookout match t occurred to me was to wake people up to their problem. The him down and carried him carefully out of some of the qualifications of a cowboy. He must have good Forest Service appealed to the newly formed that the qualifications the devastated forest. Each forest fire has a number and a name. The authorities in eyesight, good health, interest in his job, the ability to work Wartime Advertising Council, which had In five days, more than 17,000 acres of the regional office in Albuquerque must wonder about some of and live alone in isolated areas, to know the country and to been organized to put the forces of private of a lookout match some timber were burned. Hundreds of animals the individual fire reports sent in by the lookouts in the Lake- think coolly in emergencies. I wondered if the day would come advertising behind the war effort. After the were dead. Ugly black snags stood where side District. They are carefully documented and coded. One when a cowboy would have to fill out application blanks, take war, the name was changed to the Advertis- of the qualifications tall trees had grown. No grass remained. stated: a physical exam and swear a loyalty oath. The swearing should ing Council Inc. Business leaders poured Streams were thick with debris and dead Fire No.: 4; Name of Fire: Gallo; Size: Class A; General Cause: come easy, I thought. their efforts and money into peacetime of a cowboy. He must fish. The little cub’s wounds were treated by Recreation; Specific Cause: Warming fire. The lookouts in our district go on duty at 8 or 9 a.m. and campaigns — highway safety, better schools, veterinarians. He was fed baby food, petted Every able-bodied person in the Forest Service is responsible check in with the code “10-8,” which means that their radios cancer, religion, civil defense, Red Cross and have good eyesight, and cared for until he was well. The rangers during a fire. Wives and relatives are often called in to help. are on. If you leave the tower for any reason, you should say, forest fire prevention. Now, the advertising named him Smokey. Since his home had In an emergency, manpower may be recruited from local busi- “10-7 for five minutes,” or however long it takes you, and the industry provides the American people with good health, interest been destroyed, he was sent to Washington, nesses, the fire departments, jails or other districts. whole district immediately knows what you have in mind. an annual gift of $260 million worth of pub- D.C., to become the symbol of forest fire pre- Every day the fire danger is computed, recorded and sent to The dispatcher in the office checks your radio reception lic service. in his job, the ability to vention for the whole nation. He posed for the Weather Bureau in Phoenix. Fire danger depends on the and notes which men are on duty and their locations. When posters, which were sent everywhere. He fuel, moisture, wind and temperature conditions. Dead leaves, I started work late in April, the fire danger was already high. USING PROVEN ADVERTISING METHODS work and live alone in made personal appearances on radio and brush, dry grass and pine needles are fast-burning. Big trees, Lakeside District had two men in a pickup with a 50-gallon (the best attention-getters are animals and television. Schoolchildren learned his story stumps and logs are slow-burning. Fire spreads faster in a high water pumper to patrol the Lakeside area; two men with a children), Foote, Cone & Belding, plus the isolated areas, to know through movies, talks, coloring books, story- wind because it gets more oxygen and the wind directs flames 200-gallon pumper and two men with a plow mounted on a Advertising Council, created an animal char- books, comic books, songs and records. to more fuel. The probability of fire decreases at night because tilt-bed truck in the Lake Mountain area; and a 200-gallon acter who is as familiar and lovable as any the country and to think They repeat at home Smokey’s words of cau- the night air is moister. During the day, the sun-warmed air trailer pumper at the ranger station. All of them worked clear- Walt Disney creation. He is a friendly little tion: “Please be careful. Remember: Only draws moisture from the fuel. At night, the fuel draws mois- ing brush, mending fences, piling slash, fixing roads, et cetera, bear in Levi’s and a ranger hat. His name is coolly in emergencies. you can prevent forest fires.” ture from the air. Fires burn slower at night and are more easily when they weren’t smokechasing. Seven men to protect

32 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 33 160,448 acres of timber. Of that land, 24,200 acres were valued and gone to find the head of the fire. In the meantime, the fire Baldy Peak and McKays Peak. The blue jays scold the intruders at more than $2,000 per acre. had circled the mountain and surrounded them. He was nearly who fly in to set up camp for the summer. Then the west winds Kathy Raide broke me in on the use of the fire finder, radio trapped but managed to get out. Too few men arrived too late. come blowing in. They treat the forest rough, slap her around and orientation points. She had worked on towers for many The fire burned for 11 days and nights. Eight hundred men were and drain her of all the winter’s snow moisture. Around the years. Kathy was as bright-eyed and timid as a bird. She called in to work on the fire, including three crews from New first of May, you notice that the aspen groves on Wishbone knew every foot of the area she watched. Kathy was at times Mexico. Before it was over, 6,000 acres of timber were burned. are pale green. Weeds begin to push up in the warm places startlingly whimsical. When Ab Ellsworth, a longtime smoke- Billie said, “You can’t imagine how fast a fire can get out of under trees. Later still, wild irises bloom thick and fragrant in chaser, called in for his radio check one day, very little came control until something like that happens. Since the McNary the meadows. Toward the end of May, the cautious oaks leaf through but static. “Ab, you’re nothing but a little squelch,” she burn in 1956, this Lakeside crew jumps like a bunch of June out. “You can plant your garden when the oak leaves are as big told him. “If I didn’t know you better, Kathy, I’d be mad,” Ab bugs. Last week, when I turned in that smoke near Brushy, as squirrels’ ears.” Eula Merrill told me it was an old saying in answered. they were at it faster than turpentined cats.” the White Mountains. She warned me about staying away from the radio during Carl Haywood, a forestry student at Arizona State Univer- THE SHOW LOW, LAKESIDE AND PINETOP areas are heavily thunderstorms. Once, she called in to report a storm and felt sity, spent the summer of 1963 at Lake Mountain. He told me timbered. Cabins, houses and businesses are scattered among electricity go through her. “As well as I like to talk,” she said, about the day he backed out the door of the cabin, his arms the pines. It seemed next to impossible for me to differentiate “that’s one time I keep my mouth shut.” She told me about a loaded with binoculars, lunch, thermos and notebook. Some- between chimney smoke, trash burning, road dust and a real young lookout and his buddy, both more than 6 feet tall, who thing behind him said, Woof. He turned to face a hungry bear fire. If any doubt existed, we were to report the smoke. were up in the tower during a bad storm. Balls of fire started on his front porch. Kathy explained the terms to me. A legitimate smoke is one bouncing around the tower. When it was over, they were both The bear had a yearling cub. One day the cub ventured into from a sawmill, burning debris or authorized campfires. An Aspens guard a White Mountains meadow as spring wildflowers roosting on the 12-inch-square, insulated, glass-legged stool. camp by himself and started nosing around the chipmunks’ illegitimate smoke is one not authorized, or out of control. A bloom. “Probably every spring, even back in the days when Coronado food. A rock wall next to the cabin is a sort of chipmunk false smoke is something that looks like smoke under certain followed this route, these fields of flowers have made their annual ONE OF A LOOKOUT’S DUTIES is storm-watching. In the boarding house. The bear cub picked up an apple. That did salute to the season,” photographer Josef Muench wrote. light and weather conditions. It could be road dust, patches of summer, when thunderheads start building up in the south- it. A mother chipmunk with a litter of babies to feed jumped dead trees or “waterdogs,” the heavy mist that rises from the east, you watch them with mixed hope and apprehension. You out, bit him on the nose, barked and chased him up a tree. The ground after a rain. oriented to the country. I had taken the back roads this time, want rain as much as any rancher. Rain that comes steady and cub clung there, shaking, until the chipmunk went home. He A lookout is expected to describe smoke by size, color going out the Lakeside-Vernon Road, then cutting across strong, softening the brittle brush, crisp grass and leaves, the decided it was safe to come down but couldn’t remember how. and character. The Osborne Fire Finder is his basic tool. It Marshall Mountain in order to know the area better. I spent pine needles, and dampens the powdered earth. Rain that fills He turned himself around a few times, then started down measures the degrees to a smoke, like a compass. It must be the afternoon memorizing the names of mountains, streams, the tanks, nourishes the springs, pours in bright ribbons down headfirst, lost his grip and tumbled into a woodpile at the bot- leveled every day and oriented to the degree of certain fixed springs and roads. Billie made me locate them on the fire over the rocks and surges into the rivers. Rain that spreads a tom of the tree. landmarks. The fire finder is on a map of the country, with the finder and showed me how to watch for dust to see where the pine-fresh scent over the wide, rolling mountains and washes Carl saw a lot of animals that summer. A doe with twin lookout tower in the center of the map. The horizontal angle is roads were. them clean of dust. fawns would come to the cabin for handouts. He fed a flock called an azimuth. “My biggest worry,” I said, “is whether or not I’ll be able to You are afraid, too, of the flashing strikes of lightning that of wild turkeys every day as if they were chickens. One eve- After sighting a smoke, you read the location in degrees and see a smoke.” spear down from the clouds like silver javelins. Deadly light- ning, he was taking a walk down the mountain and happened minutes and try to estimate the distance from the tower. If “Don’t worry,” said Billie. “You’ll be able to spot them. A real ning that threatens the life of the forest. More than half of the on a big bull elk dozing behind a fallen log. The elk got up, only one lookout can see a smoke, the distance is very impor- smoke is just like a rattlesnake. You’d know it whether you’d fires on our forest are started by lightning. A lookout tries to stretched, looked at Carl and slowly walked away. Carl fol- tant. With two or three, a cross-reading may be taken. After ever seen one before or not.” determine where the ground strikes hit, records them and lowed him carefully. The elk would turn and snort, objecting the reading, you find the legal description (township, range, “You turned in one yesterday, didn’t you?” I asked. waits. Gradually, the forest dries out. Two or three days later, a to the invasion of his privacy, then go on down the path. section) on another map and try to determine if the fire is on “Yes. Some man out in the country club had cleaned out the thin trail of smoke may curl upward from a smoldering stump Carl told me about sleeping in the tower to watch a night national forest land. The next step is to radio the dispatcher. fireplace of his new home, put the hot ashes into a cardboard or tree. In a few minutes, sparks fly, the wind fans them, and a storm. One minute, the night would be coal black; the next You give the azimuth reading, the legal and local description, box, left it on his front porch in all that wind and had gone to fire begins. These latent fires are called “sleepers.” minute, the whole tower would glow with light. He was describe the smoke and hope for the best. All this must be town to get fire insurance.” The area around Lake Mountain is thick with logging slash. witnessing the phenomenon, often seen by sailors on the old done as quickly and accurately as possible. The most important Billie had worked on towers since 1953. She and Clark were Lightning, a cigarette, a smoldering campfire could send the schooners, called St. Elmo’s lightning. factor in the suppression of fire is time. One fire that burned a lookout-smokechaser combination at Rose Peak in the Clifton whole country up in flames when it is dry. Frank Malone told 1,500 acres was reported by five lookouts within three minutes. District of the Apache National Forest. They had to go into us, “If a fire ever gets started in that thinning area on a bad MY FIRST DAY OF WORK WAS APRIL 28. The fire danger was Springerville for groceries and supplies. Billie remembers the day, that’s all.” already in the high stage after an open winter. A 30 mph wind ANYONE WHO STILL THINKS a lookout has nothing to do queasy feeling of slipping over icy roads down into the Blue For millions of years, lightning fires were nature’s way of rocked the tower. Billie had warned me to dress warmly, but but sit and whittle all day, keep reading. The fireman’s guide with a load of dynamite and caps. The old truck carried a sign thinning and improving the forest. Saplings and brush would I still spent the morning hunting sunny spots like an old cat says a lookout must make extensive observations at 15-minute on the back, stating: “DANGER.” be burned out so that grass would grow and the wild animals with rheumatism. intervals during daylight hours. The entire country should be One of the worst fires they ever saw began with a storm. For would thrive again. But nature’s time is not man’s time. People I sat in one of the ice cream parlor chairs and shook with the divided into sections, and each section must be scanned thor- three days Billie had watched the areas hit by lightning, and and cities surround the forests. Nothing is wasted. Grass, wind, wondering why I had always liked wind when nobody oughly, back and forth, from the tower to the horizon. Areas of nothing had happened. They were completely out of supplies, water, timber and natural beauty must be used and preserved. else did. I remembered it sweeping over the Nebraska sand high hazard must be more thoroughly scanned. Under normal so she took a good check, then started into town 40 miles hills at my grandmother’s, and over the flat, plowed farms conditions, a lookout is allowed about five minutes to spot a away. On the way in, she met a truckload of men and equip- WHEN YOU’RE NOT FIRE-WATCHING, keeping records or of Kansas when I was a girl, and later, rolling endless clouds fire, pin it down and report it. In extreme fire danger, he must ment. “Better turn back,” they said. “A smoke just blew up.” housecleaning, you notice other things. In April, the forest is of red dirt across the ranching country around Holbrook. Up do the best he can in two minutes. She turned around and headed back. Clark had been fighting waking slowly from winter, warming itself in the clear spring there in the tower, I thought, The wind she blows, and no one can Over at Lake Mountain, Billie Wilkerson helped me get the 30-acre smoke by himself. He had tied his mule to a tree sunlight. Patches of snow stick to Greens Peak, Cerro Gordo, stop her. No scientist in a sterilized laboratory, no book of rules and regula-

34 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 35 tions, no amount of money or power, not even love can put her down. I looked down below and saw my shepherd dogs wandering from one comfortable place to another place that looked more comfortable, then getting up to bark at skunks in the bushes. A minute later, I heard Billie shouting, “Dog! Dog!” When I A lookout’s days looked down, there was old Bess, whose vanity would not allow her to believe she was stiff and clumsy and 13 years old, are long and confining, determined to climb the 60-foot tower in all that wind. I held my breath and felt sick. Brave old thing, slipping and sliding but different, every up the steps, leaning over to look down, teetering in the gusts of wind. I sent her back down. She gave me a sour look and one. He notices cloud went back to her chipmunk-watching and skunk-barking. I was drinking cold coffee and eating a bruised banana patterns, birds’ songs, when I looked up and saw a white smoke billow up in the west. I almost swallowed my tongue. I got an azimuth read- light and shade playing ing, tripped over the pedestal, got hit on the head with the overhead map when I tried to get it down, forgot all my radio in the green forest. procedure and never thought to log the time of discovery. The smoke rose and spread. I yelled out the window as loud He smells dry, dusty as I could. Frank and Billie ran out of the cabin. As it turned out, I hadn’t been too smooth. My reading was right, but I was leaves; brittle, cold 4 miles off on the distance. Somebody was burning trash in an old cinder pit, so no harm was done. morning air; moist pine ANY JOB HAS HAZARDS. A lookout’s hazards are different, needles; and sweet, that’s all. The most obvious one is falling off the tower. Billie went up one day in a 50 mph wind and her feet were swept out wet oak leaves. from under her, but she had a good hand grasp. Another haz- ard is being struck by lightning. You can crouch on your little insulated, glass-legged stool to keep from being electrocuted. When a thunderstorm is a mile away, you report it, switch off the radio, keep away from metal objects (which is difficult when the tower is made of metal) and remember your past sins. John Chambers asked me one day what I would do if a fire were burning around the lookout tower. I guessed I’d take off in the opposite direction. He told us about working across a river from a friend who was up in the tower. “There’s a fire just in front of you; you’d better get out,” the lookout told John. John looked up and radioed back, “That fire you see is right under you.” His friend proceeded down, out and away.

IN A LOOKOUT TOWER, you have all the company you need, The calm water of the White and none of them tell you their troubles. Swallows nest and Mountains’ Lake Sierra Blanca raise a family in a knothole under the window at Springer reflects summer clouds and ish herder up to the tower one day. He had a red beard and a A lookout’s days are long and confining, but different, every nearby evergreens. This reservoir Mountain. A mourning dove sings softly from a thicket. The is west of Alpine, along Three white grin. His name was Amadero, and he invited us to eat one. He notices cloud patterns, birds’ songs, light and shade sun glints off blue-black crow’s wings soaring above Lake Forks Road (Forest Road 249). with them. After work, I got my daughter and her friend, and playing in the green forest. He smells dry, dusty leaves; brittle, Mountain. A woodpecker hammers away at his favorite tree. Josef Muench we drove out to Porter Springs. It was dusk, and the sheep cold morning air; moist pine needles; and sweet, wet oak From somewhere near Danstone Springs, a power saw buzzes. were being moved into a wide cienega. We watched while the leaves. A lightning storm charges the air with sharp purity. Every evening at 5, a family of buzzards fly over from Wish- cocinero built a fire, set up cots and cut thick slices of lamb to Rain on Arizona’s red soil is sour and mineral. Always in the bone, gliding lazily on brown-fringed wings, looking for supper. broil. Paula spoke her good Spanish to the young herders. We air is the clean, sharp fragrance of the ponderosas. They stand About the first of June, I looked north toward Silver Creek ate well, smelling the carne asada, the coffee, the smoke, the with dignity and patience in their God-given places. You wait and saw a slow-moving cloud of yellow-ochre dust. The sheep sheep in the cold, clear night. While we washed the dishes, the for July and August, when the clouds will swell and darken were coming to spend the summer in the White Mountains. herder, Francisco, played many songs from the north of Spain in the southeast and come rolling over Baldy to bring rain to For days they moved, band after band, 1,500 to 2,000 sheep in on the harmonica. Then we drove away in the darkness, with- the thirsty land. Then our peaceful mountains will be safe for a band. Harry Little, of the range staff, brought a young Span- out lights, through the band of dozing sheep. another year.

36 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 37 The Gila River begins in a spruce forest in New Mexico, winds through canyons of volcanic ash and eventually drops into a series of rapids the locals call “the box.” That’s in New Mexico. INSIDE Shortly after crossing the Arizona border, the river carves the Gila Box, a hidden paradise that THE shelters a menagerie of vegetation, birds and mammals. BOX By Tyler Williams Photographs by Bill Hatcher

In the aftermath of a monsoon storm, sunset colors the sky over Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, which protects a remote section of the Gila River in Eastern Arizona.

38 JUNE 2018 E WERE CAMPED IN A NARROW CORRIDOR OF BLACK cliffs that actually felt like a box, but it hardly felt claustro- phobic. A whisper of breeze carried the rich, muddy scent Wof the river. Wispy clouds turned orange over a narrow slice of sky as daylight slowly filled the atmosphere. A cacophony of birdsong emanated from a curtain of greenery behind camp, building in intensity along with the coming light. It all felt very tropical. Three of us — Melanie Bell, a university biostatistics professor; her husband, photographer Bill Hatcher; and I — had convened at the Gila River without any visions of a tropical getaway. This was a desert river, and that title in itself was sort of an oxymoron, so we didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t floated the Gila in decades, and that was on the receding waters of a flood, when the restless river roiled across its wide bed, filling the canyon bottom, covering the bushes and some of the trees, swiftly ushering me through a wide desert land- scape — or so I recalled. This time was bound to be different. When I left my house in Flagstaff, the Gila River gauge read 89 cubic feet per second — about enough water to lubricate a gravel bar, but not enough to actually cover it. My first glimpse of the “river” along U.S. Route 70 west of Safford revealed no water at all, just a sandy, brush-filled lowland shimmering in desert heat. Rows of cotton, green and productive, soon lined the highway, offering some

LEFT: A desert bighorn sheep finds safety on the steep cliffs above Eagle explanation for the dry riverbed below. This is the Gila most HE GILA BEGINS AMONG SPRUCE FORESTS ATOP Creek, one of the major tributaries that flow into of us see: an emasculated ghost river offering its last trickle New Mexico’s 11,000-foot-high Mogollon Mountains, the Gila Box. to agriculture. At Florence, and farther downstream where T just across the state line from Arizona’s White ABOVE: Writer Tyler it passes beneath Interstate 10, the Gila is usually waterless. Mountains. It races through canyons of compressed volcanic Williams navigates his Upstream from Safford, however, the scene changes. My next ash laced with cliff dwellings, twists through miles of rugged kayak down the Gila River beneath the Orange Cliffs glimpse of the Gila was here, and it was significantly more and blocky hills covered in oaks and pines and junipers, and after a monsoon storm. encouraging. Beyond the cotton fields, the river snaked along, empties into a bucolic valley peopled by old-time settlers and golden brown with recent runoff. This was good news. New Age farmers before plying another range of mountains in We’d been spared a low-water kayak drag-fest by a random a series of rapids that New Mexicans call “the box.” Shortly return of monsoon rain. It wasn’t high water by any stretch, after crossing the indecipherable Arizona border, the river but it would be enough to sluice our one-man boats through carves Arizona’s Gila Box. Here, the little waterway hides the cobbles. The rain hadn’t fallen nearby. There was no scent beneath ridges of crumpled desert grassland in a canyon of or sign of a recent storm, but distant blue highlands offered secluded grottoes. This 25-mile stretch of wildness above a clue. As the crow flies, the Gila’s source was only 70 miles Safford is the final crescendo of the upper river, the last place away, and that was plenty of terrain to gather a downpour where water still flows before succumbing to irrigation canals within this rich, rugged corner of the Southwest. and scorching desert sands. In effect, the Gila Box is the last

40 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 41 piece of the living Gila. The river’s nourishing liquid has served as a travel route for as long as humans have walked the Southwest. The Hohokams, the Salados and other ancient peoples left archaeological evidence near the Gila. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado crossed the river in his quest for the Seven Cities of Gold in the 1540s, but his cumbersome army avoided the Box. Three centuries later, Gen- eral Stephen Kearny’s troops begrudgingly traversed the slopes above the Box en route to California, dubbing the route “the devil’s turnpike.” At that time, 1846, much of the Gila formed the border between the United States and Mexico. From its confluence with the Colorado River at Yuma, the international boundary followed the waterway upstream, finally departing the river on a line of southerly longitude at the mouth of the Box. Above here, the river was mostly unknown. In 1854, the Gadsden Purchase moved the international border south to its present location, and broader European settlement near the Gila began to take hold in the following decades. The residents of Safford established an effective network of diversions just below the Box, and they soon learned the difficulties of harnessing this capricious river. The Gila, diminutive as it might be, can sometimes rage. In 1905 and 1906, floods forced residents to rethink irrigation strategies. In 1916, floodwaters registered 100,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), a flow larger than the Colorado River carried dur- ing its spring freshet. Then came a relative respite until the 1970s, when several high-water events occurred. The biggest Gila flood since settlement came in 1983, after an October hurricane remnant that tracked right through the Gila’s headwaters. The winter of 1993 produced another big flood, but since then the really big flows have been more limited. The highest water this century was a measly 38,000 cfs, in 2005. Even a flood of this magnitude produces massive silt deposits along the Gila, which in turn provide ample footing for a menag- erie of vegetation, birds and mammals. More than 200 species of birds use the corridor, just one reason the Gila Box is a national riparian conservation area. A black hawk circled overhead as we rigged our boats, and a great blue heron glided low and grace- fully over the water.

LEEPING BAG, PAD, TENT, LUNCH BAG, DINNER bag, clothes bag ... Bill and Melanie secured it all into Stheir open inflatable kayaks, while I stuffed the insides of my plastic boat, beneath a picturesque bridge that has stood since 1918. A slightly more modern version of Kearny’s turn- pike, the old Clifton-to-Safford road is today’s Black Hills Back Country Byway — a lonely, winding strip of plowed dirt offering a wonderfully slow and bumpy ride to the isolated Gila. Scenic as it was, we were happy to leave the dusty ride behind and ease onto a new road, one of quiet, mocha-brown flowing water. The river coursed through a ribbon of green that seemed to create an environment entirely autonomous from the sparse des- ert above. Thick-spreading cottonwoods, dense and wavering Illuminated by a camera flash, bats fly over the willows, tree tobacco plants full of yellow bell-shaped flowers … riparian area of Eagle they all overhung the narrow river, sometimes making a tunnel Creek, which is cradled by of vegetation that we drifted into slowly, cautiously, as if an ana- the Gila Box’s steep cliffs. conda might dangle from a limb at any moment. One tree noticeably scarce in the riparian jungle was tama-

42 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 43 risk. Imported from the Middle East in the 1800s, this riverine tree found its new home in the American West perfectly suitable, even ideal. Today, it’s rare to travel a desert river in the United States without seeing thickets of thirsty tamarisks crowding the banks. In many locales, the willowy tree has taken over the habitat, creating dense, impenetrable hedges where open floodplains of willows and cottonwoods once existed. In the Gila Box, however, tamarisk is only a minor player within the river forest. Aesthetically, it seems to comple- ment the native species with its feathery fronds and purple flowers. Tamarisks are kept in check here, partly due to the river’s regular floods — nature’s housecleaning. Native vegetation withstands the torrents, maintain- ing a shade canopy that inhibits tamarisk growth. With no dams upstream to regulate the flow (the first Gila dam, Coolidge, creates San Carlos Reservoir 60 miles below Safford), the upper Gila maintains naturally random cycles of flood and drought. Diversions above the Box have some impact, mainly making times of low water — such as the 89 cfs we were anticipating — even lower. Still, the wild Gila can change with little warning. Melanie was escaping the afternoon heat, floating in the water beside her boat under a royal blue sky, when I made a weather-wise comment about high pressure subduing the monsoon. Minutes later, the sky massed with billowing white clouds, throw- ing dark shadows. A powerful gust sprang a dust devil to life along the open floodplain. Cottonwoods trembled boisterously. A few raindrops wetted river cobbles, bringing their various colors to life momentarily before they quickly dried back into a uniform paleness. We kept floating, thinking that the gather- ing storm might be just a tease. A nearby crack of lightning quickly changed our opinion. We scrambled to shore and pursued different electrocution survival strate- gies. Bill sat in his rubber inflatable, exposed to the coming rain, while Melanie and I cowered ineffectively beneath willows. She sat on her personal flotation device. I rested on a plastic camera box, just one foot on the ground so as to not allow a full circuit of electricity to go in one foot and out the other in case of a nearby ground strike. The hard rain approached in silver sheets, plummeting in five-second bursts

LEFT: Melanie Bell and Tyler Williams enjoy the Gila Box’s calm water. In as if flung from some unseen force in the sky. Downstream, the curving over a river bend. Lichens streaked down the wall, times of drought, the area’s low water flow drops washed across rocky outcrops, bouncing upward to be popping lime green in the misty half-light. can pose challenges for swept away by the wind in clouds of gray spindrift. It came in Fearing a rise in water level from thunderstorms that still kayakers. waves like this for 45 minutes before settling into a gentle rain. rumbled in the distance, we pitched our camp 20 feet above ABOVE: On the last night of the trip, the Soaking wet, we all sat on Bill’s boat and shared a beer. the water, surrounded by spiny desert plants like ocotillos adventurers set up camp The sudden drop in temperature, from 90 degrees to 70, and agaves. We talked about how the Gila Box differed from in the lush greenery caused the Gila to magically turn into a hot-spring river. Of our expectations, as loose as they might have been. I decided along the Gila River. course, this was simply a function of relativity. When the air it was completely different than my recollections from the last was a dry 95 degrees, the water felt pleasantly cool. Now that trip, and we agreed that given the water levels and seasons, it it was a damp 70 degrees outside, the 80-degree river felt dis- might be a different place on every visit. I took comfort in that. tinctly warm, almost hot. Bill sprinted off to capture a developing rainbow that arched Dipping my chilled feet into the Gila brought instant relief, over the hills behind us. Meanwhile, I stood in the wet sand like stepping into a warm bath. I paddled that way, feet and looked down at the Gila’s green corridor, listening to its dangling out of my kayak in the tepid stream, as a mist rose gurgling flow, grateful for the magical sound of flowing water around us beneath the Orange Cliffs, a band of volcanic tuff in the desert.

44 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 45 A visitor to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park looks Light pollution is nothing new — through a telescope during the Grand it’s been a concern for decades. In Canyon Star Party, an annual event that takes advantage of response to the harmful glare, the the Canyon’s lack of light pollution. International Dark-Sky Association THE DAWN was formed in Tucson in 1988. Its goal is to change “the nature of the human relationship with artificial light at night.” In other words, to make it dark OF THE outside so people can see the stars in places like Flagstaff, Fountain Hills and Grand Canyon National Park. BY NOAH AUSTIN DARK AGE PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN BURCHAM

HEN YOU’VE BEEN DRIVING for seven hours in search of a starry sky, there are a few things Wyou don’t want to see near the end of the trip. Clouds are one of them. My wife, Jen, and I are approaching the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park for the Grand Canyon Star Party, an annual event in mid-June that takes park visitors on a journey much longer than the roughly 350-mile drive from the Phoenix area. On both the North Rim and the South Rim, amateur astronomers offer up their telescopes, some of which are worth more than a secondhand Subaru, for public viewing of planets, star clusters and other wonders of the night sky. But the more remote and less developed North Rim boasts less man-made light — the technological hazard that’s increasingly blotting out the stars and sending astronomers of all skill levels, and telescopes of all sizes, to the few remaining dark corners of the modern world. The trip is worth it to Steve Dodder, who coor- dinates the North Rim event for the Phoenix-based Saguaro Astronomy Club. “It’s just so much fun to see some of these first reactions to seeing the stars,” he says. “It’s a connection to what’s around us — to the rest of the universe.” But a monsoon storm can sever that connection, I note while watching clouds gather over the Canyon as we head down State Route 67.

46 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 47 ODDER SPENT HIS CHILDHOOD summers in 60 entries long, but it includes several Arizona sites, such D Ontario, Canada. “My mother would take us up there as Grand Canyon National Park, Wupatki and Sunset for three weeks,” he says. “We would be in the middle of Crater Volcano national monuments near Flagstaff, and nowhere, and we could see the Milky Way and the stars Oracle and Kartchner Caverns state parks in the Tucson so clearly. It’s visceral. We’re so isolated in our own little area. And Flagstaff, Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek and things — our phone apps and Twitter and whatnot — even Fountain Hills, near Phoenix, are among the IDA’s that we just don’t look at the sky anymore.” As a byprod- handful of International Dark Sky Communities — places uct of what he calls “very high-quality family time,” he where light pollution might exist, but policies are in and his family would climb a bluff over a lake and watch place to keep it from getting worse. the stars. The seed was planted. However, the aptly named Valley of the Sun poses chal- Dodder hopes to do the same for Grand Canyon visi- lenges for astronomers. “There’s now almost no corner tors at the Star Party, which he and his wife first attended of the state that does not see the light on the South Rim in 1997. Later, after a Utah organiza- from Phoenix,” Barentine says. Threats STARGAZING TIPS tion pulled out of the North Rim side of the event, the to federal public lands, which often act You don’t have to own an Saguaro Astronomy Club took over. Dodder has been as a “reservoir of darkness,” and the expensive telescope to get coordinating since 2007. proliferation of LED billboards, which a good view of the stars, Most of the club’s members have day jobs, but Kevin blast their light horizontally and can’t the Saguaro Astronomy Kozel, the group’s secretary, recently retired from a long be effectively shielded, are other con- Club’s Steve Dodder says. career designing roads for the Arizona Department of cerns, he says. All you really need are a pair Transportation. Like Dodder, he developed an interest in But the IDA believes the growing of binoculars, a good star the night sky at a young age — but his inspiration was “astrotourism” industry is among many chart and someone who can more terrestrial than Dodder’s. “My doctor had a poster compelling reasons to save our starry teach you how to use both. of the solar system on his wall, above the examining nights. “People are willing to travel And while there aren’t many table,” Kozel says. “I could sit there on the table and just great distances, in some cases, to see a places in Arizona as dark as look right there. I thought, This is cool!” really dark night sky,” Barentine says. the North Rim, Dodder says Later, at age 11, Kozel watched the epic 1966 Leonid “And an astrotourist is somebody who, you can get a decent view meteor shower from Phoenix’s Thunderbird Drive-In. guaranteed, will do an overnight stay.” of the night sky by driving “That was like watching [Operation] Desert Storm over That could be an economic boon, he about 60 miles from Tucson Baghdad,” he says. “There must have been 300 or 400 at adds, in rural areas of the American or 75 miles from Phoenix. any one time.” He now owns several telescopes and West — places where “they have this Dodder is the chairman of High-powered telescopes line Grand Canyon Lodge’s deck during the Grand Canyon enjoys getting out of the Phoenix area for a clear view of resource already, and to keep it, they the club’s Novice Group, Star Party. The North Rim hosts daytime and nighttime observing during the event. the stars. “It’s almost a spiritual thing,” he says. “It’s as don’t have to do very much.” which helps beginners get enjoyable to look at as it is to watch a good movie.” The Canyon posed a unique chal- into astronomy. For more This movie, though, is in increasingly limited release. lenge for the IDA, which usually information, visit www some of which are 6 to 8 feet tall. WHEN YOU GO Light pollution has robbed urban areas of views of the honors sites with less infrastructure .saguaroastro.org. Jen and I are tired, but I’m mostly wondering how I’m The 2018 Grand Canyon Star Party is Saturday, June 9, through Saturday, June 16, Milky Way and other celestial wonders. In big cities like and fewer visitors. The South Rim, in going to explain to my editor that I took an overnight trip on both the North Rim and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Either Phoenix, only the brightest constellations and planets cut contrast, is home to a village of around to the North Rim to see stars that weren’t there. But then location offers nightly telescope viewing and educational programs; on the North through the glare. 2,000 people, and more than than 5 million others visit we get a gift from the monsoon gods: an opening in the Rim, solar observing is available during the day. The event is free with park It’s an issue where John Barentine, an advocate for a that side of the park every year. In partnership with the clouds (Dodder calls it a “turkey hole”) through which admission. For more information, call 928-638-7888 or visit www.nps.gov/grca. less familiar form of environmental protection, hopes to Grand Canyon Association, the park staff took inventory Jupiter and a starry sky are visible. Dodder swings his make an impact. of the more than 5,000 lights in the park and began ret- 20-inch scope into action, aiming it at the solar system’s Barentine echoes that sentiment but says there are rofitting them to reduce light pollution. That led to the largest planet — named, appropriately for tonight, for the other entry points — such as economic benefits, energy ARENTINE IS DIRECTOR OF CONSERVATION for Canyon’s 2016 provisional designation as an International Roman god of thunder — and its four biggest moons. conservation and public health — to a discussion of why B the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), a group Dark Sky Park, and its goal is to complete the retrofitting Dodder now lives in Maricopa, south of Phoenix. He we need the darkness. And when people tell him he’s founded in 1988 in Tucson and still based there. Thirty in time for the park’s 2019 centennial. moved there before it was an incorporated city — when fighting a hopeless battle, he points to a battle that ended years ago, he says, people were just beginning to see light The sky is even darker than usual during the eight-day there was “nothing out there” and the community had sooner than anyone expected: “When was the last time pollution as a problem — particularly in Tucson, which Grand Canyon Star Party, which is timed to coincide an unspoiled view of the sky. Now, though, light pollu- you went into a restaurant and were asked, ‘Would you is near observatories on Mount Lemmon and Kitt Peak. with June’s new moon. As I’m reminded, that’s also tion from Phoenix has marred the northern horizon. He’s like smoking or nonsmoking?’ ” Now, the IDA — whose mission, in Barentine’s words, is around the time Arizona’s stormy season begins. advocated at city meetings for sky-friendly streetlights, I peer into the eyepiece of Dodder’s scope and see about “changing the nature of the human relationship but there’s only so much one person can do. That’s part the swirling cloud bands of Jupiter, a planet that seems with artificial light at night” — boasts 3,000 members HIS IS NOT GOING WELL, I think. It’s approaching of why he’s here — to get others thinking about what a wholly indifferent to the Earthbound storm vexing these worldwide, along with chapters in most states and sev- T 10 p.m., and I’m sitting in one of the worn Adirondack night sky means to them. stargazers. Here, at Arizona’s best-known natural wonder, eral countries. chairs on the deck of Grand Canyon Lodge. It’s plenty “People just don’t see them anymore,” he says. “They we’re experiencing the wonder of a world hundreds of It’s no accident, Barentine says, that the group got dark for stargazing, but so far, the monsoon has clouded come out here from the cities, and they see what a dark millions of miles away. its start in Arizona, which has some of the darkest the view and spurred Kozel to instead point his telescope sky can really do and what you can see in it. We just “Oh, wow,” I say, almost subconsciously. Despite the skies in the contiguous United States. The IDA’s list of at a forest fire burning near the South Rim. And now, hope we can reconnect somebody with that — the little darkness, I can tell Dodder is smiling. “ ‘Oh, wow’ is International Dark Sky Parks, places that feature starry a light rain has begun to fall, sending a dozen astrono- ones, especially. Hopefully, they’ll push their parents to good,” he says. “Amateur astronomers are paid by the nights and efforts to reduce light pollution, is only about mers scrambling to cover their sophisticated scopes — do some activism.” ‘wow.’ ”

48 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 49 An Essay by Kelly Vaughn / Photograph by Jack Dykinga

Armed with measuring tape, water quality testing supplies, maps and a constellation of GPS points where water could be, we found a route deep within the wilderness, tracing the ecently, a friend spoke of walk- mostly dry streambed, boulder-hopping into side ing with wilderness, instead of canyons. We looked for wells and springs. We walking across or through it. That scrambled up and over ridgelines and cliffs and prepositional shift was a thing of through beds of dried sycamore and cottonwood beauty, the idea lovelier still. leaves. We passed our packs down to each other Down in the Pajarita — so near when we needed to, wiggling our bodies through to Arizona’s border with Mexico too-tight spaces. Rthat a person could sneeze and have it echo in Along the way, silence. Breath. The longing for Álamos or in foreign canyons — that sort of wild the cry of a bird or the slow hum of a passing air- intimacy, that walking with, is a natural thing. plane or the call of some wild creature. The space — in comparison to others — is tiny, The water was — in spots — elusive, the quiet as is its name. Pajarita. “Little bird.” palpable. At 7,499 acres, the wilderness is home to more But there was evidence of movement within than 660 species of plants, as well as an impres- the canyon, along veins of trail where water once sive canyon, Sycamore, through which a seasonal was. The detritus of human migration. Aban- stream struggles to wind. doned backpacks. Jugs of water. Cans whose In years when the rains are rich and weighty, labels were bleached by sun and time. the stream swells. The plants grow fat and green, We saw the remnants, never the people — they the grasses greener still. In drier times, the water must move so quietly through time and space, trickles. The world dances in shades of yellow from darkness into and through darkness and and brown, as though autumn is the sticking sea- back again. son. Sometimes within this wild, quiet space, the Eventually, we found a well. I rested in the temperatures and the terrain conspire to make shade of a nearby mesquite while the men made the Pajarita a place of violent beauty. measurements and photographs. I wondered Two friends and I traveled there in early when the water was last used and whether by December, when the region choked on dust and people or livestock or wildlife or just the dragon- dryness. We went in search of water on behalf of flies that shimmered against its surface like ghosts. the Sky Island Alliance, a nonprofit agency whose Later, and within a mile of the border, a man mission is to protect and restore the biodiversity moved toward us. He was in search of birds, and and natural heritage of the Madrean Sky Islands, we were nearing our turnaround. Our voices 57 mountain “islands” surrounded by desert and broke the quiet — our collective dream — the grassland “seas.” Most of the sky island ranges in way drums do, echoing through the canyon and the United States are tucked within the Coronado off cliff walls before bouncing away and into the National Forest, where you’ll find the Pajarita. past.

In years of abundant rain, Sycamore Creek flows between volcanic rocks in the Pajarita Wilderness’ Sycamore Canyon.

50 JUNE 2018 www.arizonahighways.com 51 scenic DRIVE

BIG BLACK MESA A century ago, this mesa was booming with prospec- tors. Today, it’s a quiet place where agave stalks rise from limestone- covered hillsides and green gullies are filled with oaks and junipers. BY ANNETTE McGIVNEY / PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEFF KIDA

filled with oaks and junipers. This rocky tableland, bordered by Big Chino Valley to the south and Hell Can- yon to the north, is Big Black Mesa. The area is rich with wildlife, including mule deer, javelinas, coyotes and pronghorns. Bird species commonly seen here include gray and ash-throated flycatchers, gray vireos and golden eagles. What you prob- ably won’t see is another human. Since the lime company shut down in the 1930s, Big Black Mesa has remained wild and undeveloped. geology changes from limestone to red opened in 2011, long after George Punten- Around Mile 10, FR 573 climbs above flagstone, which lines the route, now ney’s business closed, but it draws from Limestone Canyon, offering a bird’s-eye called Bullock Road, for 7.5 miles before the same dream and mineral riches. The view and a welcome respite from the you reconnect with SR 89 and the mod- lime rush lives on. technical four-wheeling. This panoramic ern world. vista at the drive’s halfway point is an You can hang a left and drive a few SCENIC excellent picnic spot. Hell Canyon drops miles north to Ash Fork and Interstate 40, DRIVES of Arizona’s ADDITIONAL READING: Best Back away to the north, and on the northeast- or drive south on SR 89 to complete the 40 Roads For more adventure, pick up a copy of our book Arizona ern horizon, Bill Williams Mountain loop. If you’re heading back to Prescott, Highways Scenic Drives, which rises to a 9,170-foot summit. From here, you’ll notice the Drake Cement plant on features 40 of the state’s most beautiful back roads. To order, it’s another 2 miles across rutted red the north side of Hell Canyon, just up the visit www.shoparizonahighways Edited by Robert Stieve dirt to the national forest boundary. The highway from the ruins of Puntenney. It and Kelly Vaughn Kramer .com/books.

hile Prescott and Jerome were the Prescott National Forest. This 21-mile and George and his wife, Lucy, raised legendary a century ago for ramble across scenic, wildlife-rich coun- five children there. Today, about all Wthe metal deposits that drew try remains much as it was during Ari- that’s left is the kiln. fortune seekers from around the globe, a zona’s Territorial days. As you continue on FR 573, on the right TOUR GUIDE town nearby had its own, lesser-known As you drive north on SR 89 from is Hell Canyon — likely named for how Note: Mileages are approximate. mineral claim to fame. The village of Prescott, FR 573 is on the west side of hard it was to get a wagon across the LENGTH: 21 miles one way (from State Route 89) Puntenney, just north of Prescott, was the highway, just past Milepost 344. The steep, rocky chasm. For 21st century driv- DIRECTIONS: From Prescott, go north on State Route 89 for 33 miles to Forest Road 573. Turn left onto FR 573, the epicenter of Arizona’s “lime rush” in unsigned turnoff is easy to miss — if you ers, the unmaintained road doesn’t seem which later becomes Bullock Road, and continue 21 miles the late 19th and early 20th centuries. cross Hell Canyon, you’ve gone too far. much easier, with 2-foot-deep ruts and back to SR 89. Rendered from limestone and cooked Head west on the dirt road for 3.2 miles steep descents in some stretches. And VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: A high-clearance, four-wheel- drive vehicle is required. Technical four-wheel-drive in a kiln, lime was used to make mortar, to reach what remains of Puntenney: a while navigating the road demands your experience is recommended. Do not attempt the route plaster and glass, and to tan leather. The crumbling, 40-foot-tall brick tower. After attention, it’s hard to not be distracted in wet weather. rocks between Prescott and Ash Fork George Puntenney discovered the lime- by the scenic piñon-juniper landscape. WARNING: Back-road travel can be hazardous, so be aware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of harbored rich limestone deposits, but stone deposit on the south side of Hell Agave stalks rise from limestone-covered water. Don’t travel alone, and let someone know where few were as big as the one discovered Canyon, he staked his claim and built hillsides, and far below, green gullies are you are going and when you plan to return. by Ohio native George Puntenney in this tower, which is believed to be the INFORMATION: Chino Valley Ranger District, the late 1800s. For a tour of what’s left first lime kiln in Arizona. A small town, ABOVE: Forest Road 573 winds through a rugged 928-777-2200 or www.fs.usda.gov/prescott landscape in the Prescott National Forest. Travelers in Arizona can visit www.az511.gov or dial of Puntenney’s empire, detour off State including a school and a post office, OPPOSITE PAGE: George Puntenney’s old lime kiln 511 to get infor­ma­tion on road closures, construc­tion, Route 89 onto Forest Road 573 through formed around the Puntenney Lime Co., is a highlight of the drive. delays, weather and more.

52 JUNE 2018 MAP BY KEVIN KIBSEY www.arizonahighways.com 53 HIKE of the month

WHITE HOUSE RUINS TRAIL As hikes go, this is one of the easiest in Arizona. You won’t work up a sweat, but it’s the only way to set foot in Canyon de Chelly without a hired guide. BY ROBERT STIEVE

he easiest way to go back in time ric of existence. The downhill continues for another might be along the White House The adventure begins at an overlook 10 minutes to a point where the trail T Ruins Trail. In just over a mile that offers drive-by tourists a long- enters a short, 40-yard tunnel. It’s more of moseying downhill, you go from distance photo op of the prehistoric than hollowed-out rock, though. It’s the 21st century to sometime around dwelling. There’s a sign there for the where visitors transition from tourists on A.D. 1060. As hikes go, this one won’t trail, but it can be a little confusing. The one side to honored guests on the other. test your endurance, but the experience easiest thing to do is veer right and head It’s a rabbit hole into another world, one of descending into the canyon and even- for the flat rock. There’s no well-worn that’s been inhabited for nearly 5,000 tually standing at the base of the ruins path to guide you, but there’s only one years — no other place on the Colorado makes this trail one of the best trails in way to go. And as you go, you’ll get some Plateau has been occupied longer. families migrated to the area. Eventually, that photography isn’t allowed. You’ll that the settlement, built around Arizona. Or anywhere else. In addition, remarkable views of the canyon. The Ancestral Puebloans, also known homes were built in some of the canyon’s be tempted to pull out your camera, but A.D. 1060, may have had as many as it’s the only way to set foot in the canyon After a few minutes, the flat rock leads as Anasazis, showed up more than a alcoves to take advantage of the sunlight please don’t. Instead, respect the wishes 80 rooms and four kivas during its peak without a hired guide. to a tunnel flanked by some benches. thousand years ago — the canyons were and natural protection. White House of your gracious hosts. occupation. There’s less there now, but Although Canyon de Chelly is pro- This is where you’ll join the actual trail, ideal for raising crops. Initially, they built Ruins is one of the most impressive, but From the hogan, the trail turns to it’s still a fascinating glimpse back in tected and managed as a national monu- which begins as a series of long switch- pit houses, which were replaced with it wasn’t enough to keep the Puebloans sand and quickly merges with a bridge time. And it’s the payoff on one of the ment, all land within the park is Navajo backs. The descent is steep, but not more sophisticated homes as additional from moving on by the mid-1300s. After that crosses a wash. In the vicinity, best trails in Arizona. tribal trust land, and approximately 40 severe, and after about 10 minutes the they were gone, the Hopis settled in. But you’ll see four-wheel-drive tracks from Navajo families still live in the canyon. trail narrows to a ledge. There’s a nice they, too, moved on, making way for the the heavy-duty vehicles used by Navajo BELOW: The colorful, sheer cliff walls of Canyon de Thus the restrictions. However, because juniper along this stretch. Trees are rare Chelly were created by millions of years of land uplifts arrival of the Navajo people, who con- guides. You’ll also see what’s left of an of the overlapping jurisdiction, hikers in this national park, with the exception and stream cutting. David Muench tinue raising sheep and corn in the can- old barbed-wire fence that parallels part ADDITIONAL READING: have a rare opportunity to glimpse a way of down below, where clusters of old OPPOSITE PAGE: Canyon de Chelly National yon as they have for hundreds of years. of the trail. Trudging through the sand, Monument was authorized in 1931 to preserve For more hikes, pick up a copy of Arizona Highways Hiking of life that dates back several centuries. cottonwoods have been shading sheep- important archaeological resources that span Back on the trail, just beyond the you’d never know that 100 yards away is Guide, which features 52 of the It’s time travel without warping the fab- herders for generations. thousands of years of human occupation. Paul Gill tunnel, you’ll get a close-up look at the a place the Navajos call Kinii’ ni gai, which state’s best trails — one for each Navajo presence. Ahead and to the right translates to “white house” — the name weekend of the year, sorted by seasons. To order a copy, visit is a hogan, which is a traditional Navajo comes from the light-colored plaster on www.shoparizonahighways home. There’s a sign warning visitors some of the rooms. Archaeologists believe .com/books.

TRAIL GUIDE LENGTH: 2.73 miles round-trip DIFFICULTY: Easy ELEVATION: 6,258 to 5,577 feet TRAILHEAD GPS: N 36˚07.827', W 109˚28.652' DIRECTIONS: From the visitors center at Canyon de Chelly National Monument, follow the South Rim Drive for 4.9 miles to the turnoff for White House Overlook. Turn left onto the park road and continue 0.5 miles to the trailhead. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: None DOGS ALLOWED: No HORSES ALLOWED: No USGS MAP: Canyon de Chelly INFORMATION: Canyon de Chelly National Monu- ment, 928-674-5500 or www.nps.gov/cach LEAVE-NO-TRACE PRINCIPLES: • Plan ahead and be out all of your trash. prepared. • Leave what you find. • Travel and camp on • Respect wildlife. durable surfaces. • Minimize campfire impact. • Dispose of waste • Be considerate of properly and pack others.

54 JUNE 2018 MAP BY KEVIN KIBSEY www.arizonahighways.com 55 WHERE IS THIS?

Window Guessing Bob Dylan (and, later, Jimi Hendrix) might have been inspired by this historic structure, designed nearly a century ago by a prolific architect whose works can be found all over the South- west. These days, the struc- ture celebrates Arizona’s Native American heritage. RIDE THE SKY SOAR NOW OPEN 1,000 FEET ABOVE THE CANYON FLOOR

Win a collection of our most type “Where Is This?” in the subject address and phone number. One win- answer will be posted in our August REACHING SPEEDS UP TO popular books! line. Entries can also be sent to 2039 ner will be chosen in a random drawing issue and online at www.arizona To enter, correctly identify the location W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009 of qualified entries. Entries must be highways.com beginning July 15, 2018. pictured above and email your answer (write “Where Is This?” on the enve- postmarked by June 15, 2018. Only the to [email protected] — lope). Please include your name, winner will be notified. The correct 40 MPH 56 JUNE 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY A.O. TUCKER