sign in sign up
<<
Home , Catalina State Park, Humphreys Peak, Kaibab Plateau, Mount Hayden (Arizona), Picacho Peak State Park, South Mountain Park

2015 FYI: THERE AREN’T ANY LOUSY PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE AUGUST

APACHE ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE WOLVES THEY’RE SACRED TO THE TRIBE, BUT ...

— VINCENT GOGH — VAN BEST OF AZ IN PHOTOGRAPHS FEATURING THE LANDSCAPES OF EVERY COUNTY IN “There in the storm.” is even peace

San Francisco Peaks, Coconino County

plus: CALIFORNIA CONDORS • TUMACÁCORI • O’LEARY PEAK • THE KAIBAB MEXICAN GARTERSNAKES • ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHER ALLEN REED • ARIZONA MOUNTAIN INN Kaibab Plateau Grand National Park CONTENTS 08.15 Tusayan Williams O’Leary Peak Flagstaff 2 EDITOR’S LETTER 3 CONTRIBUTORS PHOENIX 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

56 WHERE IS THIS? Tumacácori National Historical Park

5 THE JOURNAL POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE People, places and things from around the state, including a look back at iconic photographer Allen Reed, Tumacácori National Historical Park and the would-be toll road to the highest point in 44 Arizona. WING COMMANDER Chris Parish is a wildlife biologist for The Peregrine Fund. He’s 16 THE BEST OF ARIZONA well versed in many species, but he’s an expert on California If we were Texas Highways, we couldn’t do this portfolio — there condors. Among other things, the Flagstaff resident oversees the are too many counties (254) in Texas. In Arizona, however, where annual release of young condors over the Vermilion Cliffs. And his there are only 15, it’s a little easier to feature one of the scenic efforts are paying off. At last count, 74 of the rare birds were living wonders of every county in the state. As you’ll see, there are in the wild in Arizona and . beautiful landscapes all across Arizona. BY NOAH AUSTIN PHOTOGRAPH BY DAWN KISH A PORTFOLIO EDITED BY JEFF KIDA 32 MOUNTAIN LYING DOWN 46 RARE BIRDS Although not as uncommon as dodos and passenger pigeons, “The North Rim always teaches the same two lessons,” Charles California condors are few and far between. At last count, there Bowden wrote in 1991. “There is very little to say — witness the were only 219 in the wild, which means catching a glimpse of the silence of people clustered on the rim, staring into the chasm. largest flying land bird in North America is rare. However, for our And there is nothing to fix.” In the quarter-century since he photographer, it’s a different story. So far, he’s photographed penned that observation, the lessons have remained the same. about a third of Arizona’s wild condors, and he’s on a mission to AN ESSAY BY CHARLES BOWDEN capture the rest. 38 BA’CHO A PORTFOLIO BY JOHN SHERMAN To the White Mountain , Mexican wolves are known as 52 SCENIC DRIVE ba’cho. They’re culturally significant to the tribe, but not all tribal Grandview Loop: Taking this scenic route on the ’s members support the reintroduction of the endangered species. South Rim promises solitude and a journey back in time on a It’s a polarizing issue that pits elders and traditionalists against wagon road that ferried the park’s first tourists. outfitters and big-game hunters.

BY ANNETTE MCGIVNEY ◗ A California condor, one of only 54 HIKE OF THE MONTH 74 in the wild in Arizona and Utah, PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRUCE D. TAUBERT rests at Navajo Bridge over Marble O’Leary Peak Trail: There’s a lot to see from the top of this trail, Canyon. | JOHN SHERMAN including the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The best view, CAMERA: NIKON D4S; however, might be the look into . SHUTTER: 1/1000 SEC; APERTURE: F/8; ISO: 2500; FOCAL LENGTH: 1000 MM FRONT COVER Wildflowers blanket a hillside near the , one of the highlights of ’s Coconino County. | SHANE MCDERMOTT CAMERA: NIKON D3S; SHUTTER: 6 SEC; APERTURE: F/18; www.facebook.com/azhighways ISO: 200; FOCAL LENGTH: 22 MM GET MORE ONLINE @azhighways BACK COVER Sunset illuminates Sedona’s Cathedral Rock above www.arizonahighways.com @arizonahighways the rushing water of Oak Creek. | MARK FRANK CAMERA: NIKON D200; SHUTTER: 3 SEC; APERTURE: F/10; ISO: 100; FOCAL LENGTH: 22 MM

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS AVAILABLE Prints of some photographs in this issue are available for purchase. To view options, visit www.arizona highwaysprints.com. For more information, call 866-962-1191. www.arizonahighways.com 1 editor’s letter contributors

BRUCE D. TAUBERT The Land of Ahhhs The subject matter made Bruce D. Taubert (pictured in blue, with two Arizona Game and Fish AUGUST 2015 VOL. 91, NO. 8 t wasn’t a competition. “Hey, let’s see highlights in When you’re working Department employees) a natural choice to pho- 800-543-5432 tograph Ba’cho (see page 38), Annette McGivney’s which county in Arizona is the most County. It’s on a list with endangered spe- www.arizonahighways.com I beautiful.” It wasn’t like that. It was that includes Canyon cies, there’s no such story on endangered Mexican wolves. But the more like: “Here’s an idea — something de Chelly, Baldy Peak, thing as nine-to-five. PUBLISHER Win Holden logistics of the assignment took Taubert, a veteran we’ve never done. Let’s do a portfolio fea- the Petrified Forest It’s true for Jeff Dol- EDITOR Robert Stieve wildlife photographer, out of his comfort zone. “I’m turing the most scenic places in the state. and several packs of phin. And it’s also true ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, used to taking my time, learning about a subject, DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Kelly Mero And let’s map it out by counties.” Mexican wolves. for Chris Parish. selecting the time of day for the best light and MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Vaughn GEORGE ANDREJKO After 90 years, there aren’t a lot of Mexican wolves Chris is a wildlife behavior, and having more than one opportunity to ASSOCIATE EDITOR Noah Austin things we haven’t done in the magazine. are an endangered biologist for The Per- get the magic image,” Taubert says. “For this shoot, I was working with a deadline and had no EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Nikki Kimbel This month’s cover story is a first. species that was elimi- egrine Fund. He covers control over those things. It was more like photographing a sporting event than the style of PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jeff Kida In theory, it was pretty simple. There nated from the United a lot of ground, but his photography I’ve been doing for 40 years.” It was worth it, though: “Photographing biologists CREATIVE DIRECTOR Barbara Glynn Denney are only 15 counties in Arizona, compared States in the 1970s. As focus is the reintro- at work saving the remnants of a vanishing species was an honor. I also began to long for the ART DIRECTOR Keith Whitney with 254 in Texas, and zeroing in on the Annette McGivney duction of California old days when, as a research biologist, I was the one handling endangered species and trying most scenic spot in each couldn’t be that writes in Ba’cho, “the condors. Specifically, DESIGN PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Diana Benzel-Rice to make a difference.” Taubert is a frequent contributor toArizona Highways. MAP DESIGNER difficult. That’s what we thought. And wolves’ stellar hunting MARKOW PAUL he oversees the annual Kevin Kibsey then the photos started rolling in. We ability, which made them revered by the release of young condors over the Ver- PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Michael Bianchi knew there were beautiful landscapes all Apaches, made them despised by Euro- milion Cliffs. In Wing Commander by Noah WEBMASTER Victoria J. Snow JOHN BURCHAM around the state, but even those places pean ranchers and homesteaders who Austin, you’ll learn more about Chris and CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Nicole Bowman When we reached photographer John Burcham for this blurb, that are stereotyped as desolate surprised viewed the predators as a threat to their the work he’s doing. And in Rare Birds, the FINANCE DIRECTOR Bob Allen he was in Southern Mexico at the Parícutin , which us: Wow. Toroweap is in Mohave County? ... livelihood.” portfolio that follows, you’ll see some of OPERATIONS/IT MANAGER Cindy Bormanis erupted for nine years in the 1940s and ’50s. It’s part of a proj- I had no idea Yuma County could be so lush. ... In 1998, the wolves, a species native the best condor images we’ve ever pub- ect that involves shooting photos and videos of the world’s How can a county as small as Santa Cruz have to Arizona, were reintroduced to the lished. The photographer is John Sherman. CORPORATE OR TRADE SALES 602-712-2019 seven natural wonders using only Nokia Lumia smartphones. such broad panoramas? There were a lot of state when 11 captive-bred animals were “I’ve photographed about a third of SPONSORSHIP SALES The project has also taken Burcham to Mount Everest and REPRESENTATION On Media Publications surprises; however, there weren’t any in released into the Blue Range Primitive the Arizona population,” he says, “which, Lesley Bennett Victoria Falls, among other places. His assignments for this 602-445-7160 Coconino County. Area. The 4.4 million-acre recovery area, at last count, numbered 74. I got rare CHRIS TATUM issue weren’t quite as challenging: He photographed Anna’s It wasn’t a competition, but no matter which initially was limited to national permission to join the biologists at the Grand Canyon Coffee & Café and Arizona Mountain Inn & where you live, you have to agree that forest land, was expanded in 2000 release site. Otherwise, it’s off-limits to LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] Cabins (see The Journal, page 5). “Any photo shoot has its challenges,” Burcham says. “The 2039 W. Lewis Avenue cabins are tucked away in the woods outside Flagstaff, so I worked hard to make photos that Coconino is the Land of Ahhhs in Ari- when the White Mountain Apache Tribe the public.” That’s why his shots are so Phoenix, AZ 85009 zona. Consider what’s within its county opened its 1.7 million acres to the wolves. good. He has access. He also spends hun- captured that feel. And Anna’s had a lot of character that I tried to capture. Plus, I got to eat a Canyon burrito.” Burcham is a frequent contributor to Arizona Highways, and by the time you lines: Sedona, the San Francisco Peaks, Longtime Tribal Chairman Ronnie Lupe dreds of hours in the field, scanning the GOVERNOR Douglas A. Ducey , , Oak Creek says he joined the reintroduction pro- cliffs and staring at the sky. read this, he might have moved on to the Great Barrier Reef or the aurora borealis, the two DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT Canyon, Sycamore Canyon, Walnut Can- gram because “he wanted to hear wolves For the rest of us, he says, the best OF TRANSPORTATION John S. Halikowski remaining natural wonders on his list.

yon, Marble Canyon, the , howl again on tribal land.” locations for seeing wild condors are ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION Sunset Crater, the Vermilion Cliffs, Ken- As you might expect, it’s a polarizing Navajo Bridge, which crosses the Colo- BOARD CHAIRMAN Kelly O. Anderson drick Peak, and issue, one that pits elders and tradition- rado River at Marble Canyon, and the VICE CHAIRMAN Joseph E. La Rue SHANE MCDERMOTT the . Most of the Grand alists against outfitters and big-game South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s not MEMBERS William Cuthbertson Shane McDermott has been visiting a hillside at Bonito Park near Flagstaff for nearly a Canyon is in Coconino County, too. The hunters. In her story, Annette spells out a competition, but Deanna Beaver decade to shoot wildflowers, but he’s never seen them more spectacular than they were in Grand Canyon. the dichotomy. She also recounts her time in case you’re keep- Jack W. Sellers 2010, when he made the image that appears on this month’s cover. “That hillside tends to get For the portfolio, we had to choose in the field with Jeff Dolphin, an Arizona ing score, both of Michael S. Hammond a lot of drainage from Sunset Crater Volcano,” McDermott says, “and the four o’clocks and one. It was like Sophie’s choice on Wal- Game and Fish biologist whose official those places are in Pliny M. Draper sunflowers can really go off. This shot was made at the tail end of the monsoon season. ton’s Mountain. In the end, we went with title is interagency field-team supervi- Coconino County. Besides the interesting foreground, I like the view into the San Francisco Peaks in the Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published monthly by distance.” McDermott says he’s always Havasu Creek — the Canyon ended up in sor for the Mexican Wolf Blue Range the Arizona Department of Transportation. Subscription price: Mohave County, we put the Peaks on our Reintroduction­ Project. COMING IN $24 a year in the U.S., $44 outside the U.S. Single copy: $4.99 U.S. amazed by what wildflowers have to SEPTEMBER ... Call 800-543-5432. Subscription cor­respon­dence and change endure at the elevation of the Flagstaff cover and Sedona on the back cover. If Around our office, he’s known as “Jeff of address information: Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big you’re a longtime reader, you know that Dolphin the Wolf Man.” Annette calls A look at the Little Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, AZ, area: “Even in late summer, it can get we feature Havasu a lot — the creek, the him a “wolf whisperer.” I met Jeff last , and at additional mailing office. CANADA POST INTERNATIONAL down to freezing,” he says. “I also PUBLICATIONS MAIL PRODUCT (CANADIAN­ DISTRIBUTION) canyon, the waterfalls — but the photo summer on Baldy Peak, and I don’t think from its beginning SALES AGREEMENT NO. 41220511. SEND RETURNS TO QUAD/ respect their mysterious nature — it’s

you’ll see inside isn’t typical. It’s a gor- he could care less what you call him. near Greer to its DYKINGA JACK GRAPHICS, P.O. BOX 875, WINDSOR, ON N9A 6P2. POST­MASTER: not easy to predict how good the Send address changes to Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big geous shot of the creek just before it emp- He’s more focused on his wolves — he’s confluence with the Colorado River, and Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Copy­right © 2015 by the Ari­zona Depart- season will be or where they’re going to ties into the Colorado River. It’s one of had more hands-on contact with them the winners of our 2015 photo contest. ment of Trans­­por­­tation. Repro­duc­tion in whole or in part with­­out bloom.” McDermott is currently display- permission is prohibited. The magazine does not accept and is not DERMOTT many spectacular images in The Best of Ari- than anyone, and he “can describe the responsible for unsolicited­ mater­ ials.­ ing some of his images at c zona, which opens with a panoramic shot activities of individual wolves the way ROBERT STIEVE, EDITOR and six retail locations in Grand Canyon PRODUCED IN THE USA

of Big Lake. The lake is one of the scenic neighbors catch each other up on gossip.” Follow me on Twitter: @azhighways National Park. — NOAH AUSTIN SHANE M

2 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 3 letters to the editor [email protected] THE JOURNAL 08.15

national parks centennial > history > photography ’ve been meaning to write to tell you how iconic photographers > dining > nature > lodging > things to do much I enjoy Kevin Kibsey’s illustrations on the hiking maps, and ask you to do an article I on him. Arizona Highways just arrived minutes ago, and to my joy, a whole portfolio of his art- istry is featured [Artist in Residence, June 2015]. What a wonderful artist. His sensitivity with color is thrilling. From the muted tones of the horse in Cowboy Photographer to the brilliant colors in the turkey on page 53, he catches the emotion of the subject with color. Charlotte Singleton, Arroyo Grande, California

June 2015

fter reading your article on sloths This month, I was enthralled with Craig excerpts from every one of all those years A and other prehistoric animals [Of Childs’ essay titled The Long, Deep Trails of is truly remarkable. Prehistoric Proportions, May 2015], I had Water [June 2015]. This man is a word- Jacqueline Johnson, Deerfield Beach, Florida to write. What a fascinating article and smith of the highest order. Every para- something I had never, ever heard of graph is a lyrical adventure. Imagine my ’m writing to let you know that as a before. We always enjoy your magazine, delight when I discovered his essay was Ilongtime subscriber to Arizona Highways, but this was exceptional and tragic, too. originally published in your book Grand I totally enjoyed this issue [April 2015]. In my wildest imagination, I cannot see Canyon: Time Below the Rim. I have that Of all the issues I’ve received, this is anyone ever destroying such a national book. It’s been sitting on the shelf for the only one that I’ve read from cover to treasure. What a shame. Thank you for 14 years. If you’ll excuse me now, I’m cover. I would very much like to see you exceptional reporting. going to go and actually read it! reprint many of those old articles from Larry & Sondra Morro, Mesa, Arizona Jean Hutton, Scottsdale, Arizona years past. I’m particularly interested in the ones about Native Americans, history raig Childs’ article [The Long, Deep ’ve just finished reading your new issue ... well, probably everything from past CTrails of Water, June 2015] moved me I [Summer Hiking Guide, June 2015]. I’ve issues. My son attended Embry-Riddle deeply and informed me at the same hiked most of the trails, but not the Aeronautical University in Prescott for a time. The side are magical, often Horton Creek Trail, which is now on my while, and we bought a home there. We photographed, often described in poetic bucket list. Being a former Green Beret kept it for many years after he stopped prose. However, Childs provides that and survival instructor, I thank you for post- attending the school, with the hopes that more, the context of the geology, the liv- ing your “10 Commandments of Hiking.” when we retired, we’d move out there, ing drama of the Earth itself. I would add a few things to your list. For but none of that ever materialized. I Carolyn Leigh, Tucson example, on No. 3, add your blood type. would travel to Arizona twice a year to On No. 8, use SPF 50 or higher sunscreen. check on the house and take the oppor- e moved to Arizona 38 years And on No. 9, carry a hiking stick to lean tunity to visit some of my favorite places, Wago, and started getting Arizona on. I look forward to your magazine each including the Grand Canyon, Williams Highways then. Sad to say, during our month, and every Veteran’s Day, I take and many more. Keep up the excellent Water. Log. child-rearing years, many issues got only my back issues to the VA hospital. work. I hope to see some of those old Aravaipa Creek swirls around a mossy log a cursory glance. I set them aside with John Jay Pelletier, Mesa, Arizona articles reproduced in future issues. near the eastern end of the Aravaipa Canyon good intentions to explore them later. Harry Thomas, Towson, Maryland Wilderness southeast of Phoenix. The 11-mile- I was always “gonna.” What a waste. ’ve been a subscriber to Arizona Highways long canyon is home to desert bighorn sheep What a disservice to myself, as well as Ifor many years. I always enjoy revisiting, and more than 200 bird species. | JEFF MALTZMAN to the numerous contributors to your through your gorgeous photography, the contact us If you have thoughts or com- For more information, contact the Bureau of excellent magazine. Now I have more places I’ve been to in your outstanding ments about anything in Arizona Highways, we’d Land Management’s Safford Field Office at time, and I recently savored every word state. This issue [April 2105] is a “keeper.” love to hear from you. We can be reached at editor@ 928-348-4400 or visit www.blm.gov/az. arizonahighways.com, or by mail at 2039 W. Lewis of the 90th anniversary issue [April It’s special to me, in part, because I, Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. For more information, CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MARK II; SHUTTER: 25 SEC; 2015] and the Route 66 issue [May 2015]. too, was born in 1925. Your collection of visit www.arizonahighways.com. APERTURE: F/18; ISO: 100; FOCAL LENGTH: 47 MM

4 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 5 national parks centennial � �

EDITOR’S NOTE: In August 2016, the will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Leading up to that milestone, we’ll be spotlighting some of Arizona’s wonderful national parks. ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY HISTORICAL ARIZONA Tourists gather outside Mission San José de Tumacácori in this undated photo. TUMACÁCORI NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK THE JOURNAL umacácori National Historical Park, about 45 miles south of Tucson, protects the ruins of three Spanish colonial missions. Mostly in shambles, the Guevavi and Calabazas missions can be visited only T through reserved guided tours. Tumacácori is the oldest mission in present-day Arizona and can be freely explored. Founded by Jesuit mis- sionary Eusebio Francisco Kino, Tumacácori was first established in 1691 as a visita, a small adobe station where a priest would visit, within a Tohono O’odham village. From 1800 through the early 1820s, the community con- structed the church we see today under the guidance of Franciscans who had taken over. Surrounding Tumacácori is a visitors-center complex that includes a museum, a bookstore, a courtyard garden and an orchard replanted with heritage fruit trees. Visitors can also hike along a section of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail (www.nps.gov/juba), which runs through the park. The trail passes through a mesquite bosque and a ripar- ian environment along the Santa Cruz River. — KAYLA FROST

YEAR DESIGNATED: 1908 (national monument), 1990 (national historical park) AREA: 360 acres WILDERNESS ACREAGE: None Mission San José de Tumacácori, a Franciscan church that dates ANNUAL VISITATION: 38,017 (2014) to the early 1800s, is the center- AVERAGE ELEVATION: 3,241 feet piece of Tumacácori National Historical Park.

KERRICK JAMES KERRICK www.nps.gov/tuma

6 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 7 history photography � � � �

San Francisco Peaks Toll Road Inspired by the scenic drive to in Colorado, a Flagstaff businessman imagined a similar toll road to in Arizona. However, Mother Nature and the stock market got in the way.

he alpine forests of Arizona’s went downhill from there. Bad weather, company on the brink of bankruptcy. His highest peak buzz with the raspy landslides and labor troubles slowed sister took over and petitioned the federal calls of Clark’s nutcrackers. But Weatherford’s progress. government to purchase the operation. It T if one Flagstaff man had gotten By 1926, the road stretched a little declined when estimates to complete the his way, the hum of traffic from vehicles more than 10 miles, and Weatherford road topped $800,000. sporting “My car climbed Humphreys staged a grand opening, with cars lining It took an act of Congress, but the Peak” bumper stickers might instead echo up along Leroux Street in Flagstaff for the government eventually bought out the through the bristlecone pines. drive to Fremont Saddle, where Governor shareholders. Weatherford estimated his In the late 19th century, John Weather– George Hunt and Senator company had invested $130,000 in the ford dreamed of a toll road to ferry tour- pontificated. road; the government paid $15,500. The ists 13 miles through the San Francisco But in 1929, Weatherford’s dreams 1978 designation of the Kachina Peaks Peaks to the summit of Humphreys Peak. crashed with the stock market. The $1 tolls Wilderness banned motorized travel The entrepreneur was inspired by a never even covered the cost of construc- in the area, but the road lives on as the memorable horseback ride and reports of tion. Weatherford died in 1934, leaving the Weatherford Trail. — KATHY MONTGOMERY a successful toll road operating on Pikes Peak in Colorado. After considerable delay, the U.S. sec- retary of agriculture granted a permit in May 1916. Weatherford incorporated the San Francisco Mountain Scenic Bou- levard Co. in 1917. He offered 300,000 A thin rivulet flows over bedrock at Grapevine Spring near Mayer. |JOEL HAZELTON shares at $1 per share but never sold more than half of them.

THE JOURNAL A Change of Scenery Construction began in 1920 on a sign and tollgate. But the task of road-building Photo Editor Jeff Kida talks with photographer Joel Hazelton about his transition proved even more troublesome than from making skateboard videos to doing landscape photography. financing and the federal government had been. Early snow the first year halted JK: You’re an avid hiker; how did that lead deliberately, I work a lot better alone. So that’s JK: I see a still life here, but is there also a construction by Thanksgiving, and things you into photography? why I gravitated toward photography instead of narrative with the changing leaves? JH: Growing up, my family looked for inexpensive videography. JH: Last year, the monsoon seemed to last a A tollgate marks the start of a toll road ways to spend time together. Hiking was a good really long time, and we got really heavy rain

up the San Francisco Peaks in the 1920s. SOCIETY HISTORICAL ARIZONA way to accomplish that, and I’ve continued to do JK: This photo (above) has an interesting through September. It also was abnormally it as an adult. I wanted a way to share these awe- composition: The more massive and jagged cold for that time of year. At this elevation, the some hiking locations with my friends and family, rock formations are bisected by this small, leaves shouldn’t change color until late October, so I started borrowing a friend’s camera. That got smooth trickle of water. What else can you not mid-September. So I think I was drawn, ARIZONA HIGHWAYS ■ The average and his gang until kin ruins in Navajo Mystery was a central kind of awkward because I was borrowing it for tell me about it? subconsciously, to the juxtaposition of the yellow this family of four in help arrives when National Monument theme in Arizona High- weeks at a time, so I decided to buy my own. But JH: This is at Grapevine Spring near Mayer, which leaves and the surrounding greenery. It makes Tucson is shown to the gang tries to rob on August 9, 1909. 50 Years Ago ways’ August 1965 what I saw wasn’t translating to my photos, so I is southeast of Prescott. When you’re driving the viewer wonder what time of year it is and month live on $1,287 per the bank on August ■ A storm floods issue, which featured started learning about light and composition. Now, through Mayer and you look to the west, you look closer. year, according to a 6, 1896. The gang the Tucson power the scarcely traveled I spend every spare moment hiking, backpacking, see what appears to be this barren, high-desert Works Progress gets away empty- plant on August in history Aravaipa Canyon. The making photos and lugging huge packs of gear. wasteland, so you wouldn’t expect to find such Administration handed. 13, 1940, causing a issue also included an a lush oasis there. But after you drive 5 or 6 miles survey released on ■ An archaeologist citywide blackout. article on the Amerind Are you mostly self-taught? and hike 2 or 3 miles more, you find this secluded August 2, 1937. from the University ■ A round-trip train JK: ■ The president of of Arizona and his ticket from Tucson Foundation and its JH: I’ve never had any formal photography place with waterfall after waterfall. I made this the International party of six men to Phoenix on the studies of Native education — no workshops or classes. I’ve done image in September 2014, toward the end of the Bank of Nogales are the first non- Southern Pacific line American culture, a lot of online research. As a teenager, I was a monsoon season. We camped overnight and saw ADDITIONAL READING holds off “Black indigenous people to on August 22, 1933, peoples and collected skateboarder and wanted to make skateboard- only one other hiker. The photo is a 1/8-second Look for our book Arizona Highways Photography Guide, available at Jack” Will Christian explore the Betata- costs $2.45. artifacts. ing videos. But with video, I had to have other exposure at f/11, with an 11 mm lens that empha- bookstores and www.shoparizona people with me, and because I work slowly and sizes the rock in the foreground. highways.com/books.

8 AUGUST 2015 To learn more about photography, visit www.arizonahighways.com/photography. www.arizonahighways.com 9 iconic photographers � � THE JOURNAL COURTESY OF THE REED FAMILY ALLEN REED

he smell of chemicals often wafted through devoted himself to doing photographic justice to Allen Reed’s home as he spent hours his favorite Arizona landscapes, particularly Monu- developing photographs he’d spent hours ment Valley and the Four Corners region. He regularly T capturing. Reed’s son Brent, one of the pho- penned colorful stories to go along with his images, tographer’s four children, recalled his father’s dedica- and many of them ran in Arizona Highways over tion: “He would set up his bulky box camera on a tripod a career that spanned decades. Some of Reed’s in the dark and wait for hours on the edge of a remote “photo stories” were devoted to issues that were mesa to get the perfect image of a sunrise, or the per- important to him, such as the Navajos’ need for a fect cloud formation as the backdrop for a scene.” hospital. Reed died in Page in 2008 at age 92. After attending art school in Los Angeles, Reed — KAYLA FROST

ABOVE: “Allen Reed is an editor’s dream,” Arizona Highways Editor Tom Cooper wrote in 1977. “He can write, photograph and illustrate. Better yet, he does all of these things with expertise.” ALLEN REED RIGHT: Reed’s photo of “reflections of Navajo land and life,” made in , appeared on the back cover of our January 1974 “turquoise issue.”

10 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 11 dining nature � � � �

Anna’s Grand Canyon Coffee & Café Mexican gartersnakes can be distinguished from other Although its menu is all over the place — American, Mexican and Chinese dishes, gartersnakes by the stripes on their sides, which are with fish and chips thrown in for good measure — locals and tourists alike higher up on their bodies. line up for a bite to eat at this mainstay along Historic Route 66.

IT’S SAID YOU CAN’T BE ALL THINGS TO ALL ing his or her own favorites. include tuna melts, half-pound Angus people, but Anna’s Grand Canyon Coffee Current owner Anna Dick kept the Chi- burgers, french fries and milkshakes. It’s a & Café tries. And to a large extent, this nese standards (chicken teriyaki, fried rice winning combination for a restaurant that tiny, small-town restaurant with big ambi- and chow mein) and whimsically named serves customers from all over the world. tions succeeds. sandwiches, such as the Route 66 Brown But Anna’s also packs in the locals, who williams The menu, an odd mix Bag (sliced pastrami, sauerkraut and mostly come for the generously portioned of American, Mexican cheese) and the Mountain Man (“hefty” breakfast dishes, locally roasted coffee and Chinese dishes — with fish and chips roast beef, cheddar cheese and grilled (the house blend, irresistibly called Wake thrown in for good measure — reflects onions), and added breakfast items and Up and Kiss Me) and espresso drinks. the diversity of the restaurant’s ownership her mother’s Mexican dishes. Like the lunch menu, breakfast over the years, with each owner keeping As you might expect at a restaurant on selections are all over the map, but the the menu items that worked best and add- Historic Route 66, lunch selections also house specialty is the Canyon burrito: scrambled eggs, green-chile pork, pota- toes, cheese and onions served enchilada style with a side of house-made salsa. It’s as grand as the Canyon for which it’s The snakes range Their bodies are named: A half-portion could serve two. from 18 to 44 greenish brown And Anna’s serves hundreds of them. inches in length. with yellow- Females are white stripes. Whatever strikes your breakfast fancy, be larger than males. sure to order a side of cinnamon-raisin toast. Like the soups and sauces, it’s house-made and delicious.

Anna’s recently moved from the his- BRUCE D. TAUBERT THE JOURNAL toric Adam’s Grocery building to the Red Garter Bed & Bakery’s ground floor, a Mexican space that formerly housed the inn’s bak- nature factoid ery. “The Red Garter is the ‘bed’ and I’m Gartersnakes the ‘breakfast,’ ” Dick says. The inn’s baker exican gartersnakes can grow to be longer than will remain, adding yet another layer to ARID TANSYASTERS (Thamnophis eques) 3 feet. They find shelter in the dizzyingly multifaceted operation. You might encounter the spend their time in waterside vegetation — or in The new location provides a larger lavender-and-white sun- marshy areas and the water itself, if encountered. dining space and expansion of the res- M bursts of arid tansyas- streams, foraging next to the When threatened, they flatten ters on a dusty roadside taurant’s store, which sells mugs, T-shirts, water. In places with dense their heads and strike, some- or hiking through the shot glasses and all things Route 66. vegetation, such as riverbanks times giving off an unpleasant desert. These Arizona- There’s also a patio for alfresco dining in native wildflowers flour- and cienegas, they prey on musk from glands at their tails. ish in dry and sandy good weather, along with a terrace for frogs, tadpoles, native fish and A subspecies, the northern areas, including alkali expansion if all goes well. the occasional lizard or mouse. Mexican gartersnake (Tham- flats, washes and the The laminated world map where But the snakes have preda- nophis eques megalops), sides of desert streams. tors, too, including bullfrogs has been listed as threatened The delicate flowers countless tourists have marked their bloom from the ends and predatory fish, which by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife hometowns all over the globe also moved of slender, green stems, have been introduced to the from Anna’s former location. It documents Service because the snakes which are sticky and landscape. are losing habitat to overgraz- covered in fine hairs. generations of travelers who know Anna’s Mexican gartersnakes are ing, urbanization and lowered They host small upper Grand Canyon Coffee & Café spells good typically found in Central water tables, where the line leaves that stay pressed against the stems and food in any language. — KATHY MONTGOMERY and Southeastern Arizona. In between dry ground on top larger, spine-toothed particular, they’re known to live and saturated ground below leaves below. These Anna’s Grand Canyon Coffee & Café is located at near the Agua Fria River, Oak is lower than usual. In some flowers grow up to 16 137 W. Railroad Avenue in Williams. For more informa- inches tall. — MOLLY BILKER tion, call 928-635-4907 or visit www.grandcanyon Creek and the . areas, these snakes face local EIRINI PAJAK EIRINI JOHN BURCHAM JOHN coffeeandcafe.com. The stout-bodied snakes extinction. — MOLLY BILKER

12 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 13 lodging � � Don’t Just see the Canyon ...

things to do � in arizona � Cowboy Poets Gathering ExpEriEncE it! August 6-8, Prescott This 28th annual gathering aims to preserve the culture, traditions and cowboy poetry and music. Featured per- formers include Don Edwards, Trinity Seeley and Prescott’s own Belinda Gail. Informa- tion: 928-713-6323 or www.azcowboy poets.org Bird and Wildlife Festival August 12-16, Tucson Learn about the wildlife of Southern Ari- zona’s and “sky islands” at this Tucson Audubon Society festival, which includes workshops, a nature expo, family friendly activities and field trips to birding hot spots. Information: 520-629-0510 or www.tucsonaudubon.org Arts-and-Crafts Fair August 15-16, Kingman The Mountain Resort hosts this fair, which features handcrafted arts and crafts from local artisans. Delicious food and cold beverages will be on hand, too. Information: 928-757-3545 or www. hmresort.net World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo

THE JOURNAL August 20-23, Payson This rodeo has been entertaining crowds in Rim Country for more than 130 years. In addition to rodeos and barrel-racing, the event offers dances, a parade and much more. Information: www.paysonrim country.com

JOHN BURCHAM JOHN Thunder Over Flagstaff August 22, Flagstaff This annual aviation event, previously held Arizona Mountain Inn at Valle Airport near the Grand Canyon, moves to Flagstaff Pulliam Airport for & Cabins 2015. The event includes a car show, a fly-in, aviation displays, vendors and food. ARIZONA MOUNTAIN INN & CABINS FEELS rustic pine furniture and a wood stove or Information: 928-635-5280 or www. like a Four Seasons camp, with log cabins fireplace, and many offer views of the San valleairport.com and A-frames scattered among 13 acres Francisco Peaks. Head to the horseshoe Capture Your Moment of vanilla-scented pines. pits or volleyball court for camp-style Photo Symposium flagstaff Located just five minutes camaraderie. Or hole up in one of the November 7-8, Phoenix rand anyon ield nstitute from the heart of Flag- Tudor-style inn’s three bed-and-breakfast Arizona Highways Photo Workshops staff, the property borders the Coconino suites and warm your insides with the celebrates its 30th birthday at this event, From hands-onG archaeology surveysC and backcountry F I National Forest on three sides, making it in-room hot cocoa and brandy service. which features keynote speakers Jack adventures to rim-based day tours and photography Grand easy to imagine you’re deep in the woods. Whichever you choose, you’ll be wishing Dykinga, Joel Grimes, Alan Ross and workshops, the Grand Canyon Field Institute offers expert Guy Tal. Photo Editor Jeff Kida and other Seventeen cabins range from cozy one- for s’more. — KATHY MONTGOMERY photographers will lead breakout sessions insight into the natural and cultural history of the world’s Canyon bedrooms to a hogan that sleeps 16. The Arizona Mountain Inn & Cabins is located at 4200 Lake on a wide range of photography topics. most famous natural wonder. family- and pet-friendly lodges each fea- Mary Road in Flagstaff. For more information, call Information: 888-790-7042 or www.ahpw. Association ture beveled tongue-and-groove paneling, 800-239-5236 or visit www.arizonamountaininn.com. org For a complete list of programs, call 866-471-4435 or visit www.grandcanyon.org/fieldinstitute

14 AUGUST 2015 For more events, visit www.arizonahighways.com/events.

GCFI ad2_0813.indd 1 5/17/13 1:45 PM THE BEST OF ARIZONA If we were Texas Highways, we couldn’t do this portfolio — there are too many counties (254) in Texas. In Arizona, however, where there are only 15, it’s a little easier to feature one of the scenic wonders of every county in the state. As APACHE you’ll see, there are beautiful landscapes all across Arizona. COUNTY SEAT: St. Johns FOUNDED: 1879 A PORTFOLIO EDITED BY JEFF KIDA AREA: 11,198 square miles POPULATION: 71,518 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Alpine, Chinle, Ganado, Springer- ville, Tsaile, Window Rock GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Apache County is home to the headwaters of the two forks of the . It also includes White Mountains destinations such as Big Lake, Hawley Lake and Baldy Peak, along with the Navajo Nation’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument and most of Petrified Forest National Park.

First light colors the ponderosa pines and tall grass surrounding Big Lake, a popular recreation spot in the White Mountains south of Springerville. | LAURENCE PARENT

16 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 17 COCONINO

COUNTY SEAT: Flagstaff FOUNDED: 1891 AREA: 18,619 square miles POPULATION: 134,421 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Page, Sedona (partial), Tusayan, Williams GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: The Grand Canyon is a pretty big one, we suppose. But Coconino County also includes wonders BELOW: The clear water such as Lake Powell, Marble Canyon, of Havasu Creek feeds Sunset Crater, the Vermilion Cliffs and an abundance of plant the San Francisco Peaks. The latter life in Havasu Canyon before emptying into the feature 12,633-foot Humphreys Peak, Colorado River. Arizona’s highest point. | DEREK VON BRIESEN

COCHISE

COUNTY SEAT: Bisbee FOUNDED: 1881 AREA: 6,166 square miles POPULATION: 131,346 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Benson, Douglas, Sierra Vista, Willcox GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: The are Cochise County’s best- known range, but others include the Dragoons and the Whetstones. Between ABOVE: Sugarloaf Mountain, the highest Sierra Vista and Bisbee, the San Pedro point in Chiricahua Riparian National Conservation Area National Monument, protects part of the San Pedro River, offers a view of the distant Chiricahua the last major undammed, free-flowing Mountains. river in the American Southwest. | GEORGE H.H. HUEY

18 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 19 GILA

COUNTY SEAT: Globe FOUNDED: 1881 AREA: 4,758 square miles POPULATION: 53,597 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Miami, Payson, Pine GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Gila County’s ter- rain ranges from the cool pines of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests to the BELOW: Cibecue Creek saguaros of the Sonoran Desert. Attrac- cascades over a tions include , waterfall on White , Canyon and Mountain Apache Tribe land shortly before Lake, the largest emptying into the Salt reservoir located entirely in Arizona. River. | JACK DYKINGA

GRAHAM

COUNTY SEAT: Safford FOUNDED: 1881 AREA: 4,623 square miles POPULATION: 37,220 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Pima, Thatcher GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Graham County’s Pinaleño and Galiuro mountain ranges offer myriad recre- ation opportunities. The county also contains most of the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, which protects portions of the and Bonita Creek.

The distant , topped by 10,695-foot , loom over the calm water of Grant Creek at sunset. | JACK DYKINGA

20 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 21 GREENLEE

COUNTY SEAT: Clifton FOUNDED: 1909 AREA: 1,843 square miles POPULATION: 8,437 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Duncan, Morenci GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Arizona’s second-smallest and least-populated county is known for Hannagan Meadow and the Blue Range Primitive Area, the last such area in the U.S. The Coronado Trail (U.S. Route 191) traverses most of the county from north to south.

BELOW: Wildflowers and other plants bloom in Hannagan Meadow. Legend has it that the meadow was named for a rancher who was chained to a tree there after refusing to pay a debt. | PAUL GILL

LA PAZ

COUNTY SEAT: Parker FOUNDED: 1983 AREA: 4,500 square miles POPULATION: 20,489 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITY: Quartzsite GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: La Paz is Arizona’s youngest county and the only one

formed since Arizona gained statehood ABOVE: The cattail-ringed in 1912. The Parker Strip section of the Hart Mine Marsh of the Colorado River is a major tourist attrac- Cibola reflects the tion, while Quartzsite is a popular des- nearby tination for winter visitors to the state. at sunset. | JACK DYKINGA

22 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 23 MOHAVE

COUNTY SEAT: Kingman FOUNDED: 1864 AREA: 13,311 square miles POPULATION: 200,186 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Bullhead City, City GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Much of the longest remaining unbroken stretch of Historic Route 66 runs through Mohave BELOW: The sheer drop from Grand County. There’s also a section of Grand Canyon National Canyon National Park, the striking Park’s Toroweap Point landscape of Lake Mead and part of the creates a dramatic view of the Colorado , the remote northwest River 3,000 feet below. corner of the state. | DAVID MUENCH

MARIC0PA

COUNTY SEAT: Phoenix FOUNDED: 1871 AREA: 9,200 square miles POPULATION: 3,817,117 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Gila Bend, Mesa, Scottsdale, Wickenburg GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Nearly 60 percent of Arizona’s population calls Maricopa ABOVE: Winter runoff fills County home. In Phoenix, 2,680-foot a wash in the is a popular Wilderness at sunset. and strenuous hike. Other attractions The area’s namesake peaks are visible from the include the Four Peaks Wilderness, Phoenix area on a clear Bartlett Lake and . day. | ELIAS BUTLER

24 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 25 NAVAJO

COUNTY SEAT: Holbrook White Mountain Apache tribal land. FOUNDED: 1895 Attractions include Monument Valley, AREA: 9,950 square miles the Painted Desert and a section of the POPULATION: 107,449 (2010) Mogollon Rim, which cuts across much OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Heber, Kayenta, of Arizona from east to west. Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low, Winslow BELOW: The iconic Totem Pole formation rises from GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: About two-thirds the sand-covered landscape of Monument Valley. of Navajo County is Navajo, Hopi and | DEREK VON BRIESEN

PIMA

COUNTY SEAT: Tucson by 9,130-foot , over- FOUNDED: 1864 look Tucson, and the two sections of AREA: 9,187 square miles bracket the

POPULATION: 980,263 (2010) city on the east and west. There’s RIGHT: Primroses bloom OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Ajo, Green Valley, also the Tohono O’odham Nation, along Sutherland Wash Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita Buenos Aires National Wildlife Ref- in near Tucson after a GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Pima County’s uge and Organ Pipe Cactus National summer monsoon , topped Monument. storm. | JACK DYKINGA

26 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 27 PINAL

COUNTY SEAT: Florence and the county is also home to FOUNDED: 1875 , Casa AREA: 5,366 square miles Grande Ruins National Monument POPULATION: 375,770 (2010) and . You OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Apache Junction, can explore much of the county on Casa Grande, Coolidge, Maricopa, the Pinal Pioneer Parkway (State Oracle, Superior Route 79). GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: The Supersti- LEFT: Plants flourish in and around Aravaipa tion Mountains rise in northern Creek in the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Pinal County east of Phoenix, southeast of Globe. | JEFF MALTZMAN

SANTA CRUZ

COUNTY SEAT: Nogales hub of Santa Cruz County, but other FOUNDED: 1899 attractions include the Pajarita and AREA: 1,237 square miles wilderness areas, POPULATION: 47,420 (2010) Tumacácori National Historical Park, OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Patagonia, Sonoita, the and the ghost Tubac, Tumacacori town of Ruby. GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: The Nogales area ABOVE: A monsoon thunderstorm brings — including the sister city of Nogales, wind, rain and lightning to the hills Sonora, across the border — is the surrounding Sonoita. | JEFF MALTZMAN

28 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 29 YAVAPAI

COUNTY SEAT: Prescott FOUNDED: 1864 AREA: 8,124 square miles POPULATION: 211,033 (2010) OTHER MAJOR CITIES: Camp Verde, Chino Valley, Cottonwood, Jerome, Sedona (partial) BELOW: Along the Parsons Trail north of GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Throw a rock in Yavapai County and Cottonwood, the calm you’re bound to hit something spectacular: the red rocks of water of Sycamore Sedona, the lakes of the Prescott area, Montezuma Castle Creek nourishes a vibrant plant National Monument and Castle Hot Springs, to name a few. Of community. course, we don’t endorse rock-throwing as a general practice. | DEREK VON BRIESEN

YUMA

COUNTY SEAT: Yuma Wildlife Refuge. The city of Yuma rose FOUNDED: 1864 to prominence as an early Colorado AREA: 5,514 square miles River crossing, and the Ocean-to-Ocean POPULATION: 195,751 (2010) Bridge, the first vehicle bridge across the OTHER MAJOR CITY: San Luis river, is located there. GEOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS: Yuma County ABOVE: Teddy bear chollas and spindly ocotillos grow includes the Kofa National Wildlife Ref- in the northeast of Yuma. uge and part of Cabeza Prieta National | GEORGE STOCKING

30 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 31 MOUNTAIN LYING DOWN

“The North Rim always teaches the same two lessons,” Charles FROM OUR ARCHIVES AUGUST OUR 1991FROM Bowden wrote in 1991. “There is very little to say — witness the silence of people clustered on the rim, staring into the chasm. And there is nothing to fix.” In the quarter-century since he penned that observation, the lessons have remained the same. An Essay by Charles Bowden

Puffy clouds fill the Grand Canyon during a rare total cloud inversion, as viewed from the South Rim’s Moran Point. Across the Canyon is the higher and more secluded North Rim. ADAM SCHALLAU

www.arizonahighways.com 33 EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re a longtime reader of Arizona Highways, beyond telling caresses them. A storm system has slipped off you’re familiar with Charles Bowden. For decades, his beautiful the Pacific and rakes the entire Southwest, and the Canyon words appeared on the pages of our magazine. Sadly, on August 30, itself boils with fog. A few minutes before, I walked on a forest 2014, Chuck passed away unexpectedly. As a writer, teacher and path as slipped in and out of the mists, disturbed friend, he left a void that cannot be filled. However, to mark the by my presence but hardly frightened. anniversary of his passing, we’re resurrecting one of his many Since that day in 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt essays. In this piece, he writes about the Kaibab Plateau and the set aside the first slab of the North Rim as the world’s then- North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which he first visited in 1960. largest game preserve, a gun has seldom been fired here. Through the decades, the ground has mutated into a Grand Canyon National Park and — and HE HAS BEEN WALKING BESIDE THE WAGON changed less than we may have feared. for a long time to spare the horses. Since an acci- The aspens this late September day are flaming into gold, dent years ago, the woman moves with pain. Sharlot Hall and soon, in a few weeks, the snows will come and bury stands in the huge pine, fir, spruce, and aspen forest this place, bury the path, bury the highways, cloak the hotel of the Kaibab Plateau on the North Rim of the Grand perched on the edge, and silence will fall until late spring. Just Canyon. It is August 1911, and she is just about the as it has since Utes called this 8,000-foot plateau the Moun- first tourist to reach this spot. She sees two things tain Lying Down. Just as it has since tribesmen trading deer- at once. “Here, almost unknown to Arizonans,” skins with Mormon colonists in the desert below prompted she realizes, “is a forest containing over 3 billion the immigrants to call this place Buckskin Mountain. For the board feet of merchantable lumber, fine yellow North Rim has remained a singular place, getting 10 percent of pine, spruce, and fir — ‘ripe,’ as lumbermen say, the traffic that throngs to the South Rim, and being closed to for the cutting.” vehicles from mid-October to mid-May when the snow comes She is enough of a child of the frontier not to scant such and no one bestirs themselves to fire up a plow. We still, like potential. In 1882, at the age of 11, she had ridden a gray mare Sharlot Hall, have moments when we look at this ground and for three months from Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to see board-feet instead of trees, new hotels instead of moun- Arizona as part of her family’s wagon train to a new life. That tain. But then sanity returns, and these thoughts drift away. was the trip on which she took a bad fall, the results of which The vast deer herd is just entering the rutting season, and would plague her until the day she died. For years, she helped bucks move through the morning half-light like gods search- grub out a living on the family place on Lynx Creek just out- ing for potential worshippers. The wild turkeys clump on side of Prescott, living the hard life of a woman in a male the edge of the long meadows, and, once in a great while, a world of dirt, muscle, and poverty. She now keeps memories black bear stumbles through. Below Point Imperial and Cape of those times at bay by calling them “the frontier days.” A Royal in House Rock Valley, buffaloes graze, a legacy from spur-of-the-moment poem written on the kitchen table had the days of Jim Owens and C. J. “Buffalo” Jones. Owens is a brought her to the attention of magazines and her fellow citi- man Sharlot Hall meets on her visit, the official warden of a zens, and now, in 1911, the year before the Territory becomes place hardly any American had even seen or heard of. He and a state, she is on a 75-day wagon trip across largely roadless Jones had brought the buffaloes north of the Canyon in 1906 Northern Arizona in pursuit of facts, lore, and impressions for to breed them with cattle, and when this venture failed, the her position as Territorial historian. herd was left to graze, as its descendants do to this day on the But even the memories of hunger, of being a young woman desert below the park. branding cattle, splitting wood, toiling in the fields, even the Owens enters Hall’s life accompanied by the baying of his cold reach of those bleak days cannot overwhelm what she hounds as he rides up to her camp on the rim of the Canyon. is seeing. And oh, she knows hardship so well, once having She is staring at the South Rim “14 miles across on an airline written an essay titled Why Women Want to Leave the Farm. As but nearly 500 miles away by the wagon road which we had the 41-year-old woman takes in the board-foot potential of been obliged to follow [215 miles by modern highway].” He the North Rim forest, she admits to her second thought: “The climbs off his horse and promptly takes over as guide. In his spruce alone would furnish a large supply of paper pulp, but cabin, she discovers the walls are covered with the skulls, one can wish that it may not soon be used, for these spruce paws, and skins of mountain lions and wildcats. Killing them forests, reaching like a great green cloak over the softly was not only Owens’ job, but also his life. Under the game- rounded mountaintops and along the open parks, are beautiful management theories of the time, Owens was paid to kill any- beyond telling.” thing that ate deer. And so he slaughtered lions wholesale. I am standing at Point Imperial, where Sharlot Hall stood that late summer day, and we still tend to see this place Wildflowers and aspens bring color to the Grand Canyon’s through her eyes. People walk the pathway down to the edge remote North Rim. With an average elevation of more of the Canyon, some speaking German, some Japanese, some than 8,000 feet, the North Rim’s vegetation differs signifi- that frisky English we call American, and when they reach cantly from that of the well-traveled South Rim. the edge of the big drop, they all fall silent while that beauty ADAM SCHALLAU

34 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 35 In 1913 he guided Roosevelt and his hunting party all grudgingly. “He hated mightily to obey that order,” Hall over this place he had saved with a scratch of his presi- scribbles in her diary, “for he talks to the shy little things dential pen. And Owens once brought a young Eastern as if they were children — but no one else is ever allowed dentist up here, a man so bewitched by the land and the to shoot them.” More importantly, we must not scorn him hunt that he first wrote a biography of Owens called The because if we do we will be blind to our own acts. For Last of the Plainsmen and then switched to penning novels. surely our descendants will look at our years of caring for His name was Zane Grey. this ground and, in a world of inevitably shrinking free Owens regales Hall with his experiences, telling her and wild land, question and regret some of our decisions. about the time “he found some lion pups in a cave here and When Theodore Roosevelt first glimpsed the Grand was lying flat ... to twist them out like rabbits with a stick Canyon in 1903, he said: “Leave it as it is. You cannot when the dogs scented the mother, and she made for the improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it, and cave in such haste that she didn’t see Mr. Owens at all but man can only mar it.” And, since that day, his insight has clawed his back as she went in. He managed to get both her been both a warning and burden for all of us. and the pups but at closer quarters than was pleasant.” As Sharlot Hall scouts the North Rim, she constantly shifts from being stunned by the beauty to being seduced by the potential. The meadows, in her eyes, someday will be dotted with houses. The grass will sustain great herds of cattle; the trees, well, the trees will become boards. Of the Canyon itself, a sight which has strained the skills of generations of writers, she is wise enough to remain silent. “As we neared the rim,” her diary records, “the Painted Desert came into view to the east ... I almost for- got the vast and gorgeously colored chasm at our feet, the distant view was so strange and bewildering and yet so beautiful.” The North Rim always teaches the same two lessons. There is very little to say — witness the silence of people clustered on the rim, staring out into the chasm. And there is nothing to fix. Roosevelt was right. This place cannot be improved. Because we are human, we never will cease to come up with ideas for enhancing this place: a road here, a building there, a new policy on this, second thoughts about that. But we always will be missing the point. Hall, child of the frontier, bone weary from a lifetime of hard work, is no different than we are with her dreams of towns, ranches and sawmills. But like us, she, too, could

LEFT: The rising sun illuminates , not keep the power of the North Rim at bay. On August 30, as viewed from the North Rim’s Point Imperial. 1911, the woman with the injured back wrote in her diary: ADAM SCHALLAU “I ran on ahead ... the wind singing down over the trees ABOVE: A bison bull grazes at DeMotte Park. Bison were like some great tide coming in. Asters of all shades of blue introduced to the North Rim in the early 1900s and and lavender and yellow stood as tall as my head and have since become a nuisance in the national park. bright penstemons gleamed crimson up in the rocks. Now JACK DYKINGA and again I found fossil shells in the road, worn smooth with passing wheels ... Running down grade like some That night Hall and Owens dine on (“I didn’t Atalanta [the fleet-footed hunters of mythology], to whom mind half as much as the first shrimp I ever ate”), which shells and flowers were only a moment’s stay, I wheeled she rates not quite as good as lion meat. Like Owens, Hall ’round a point of red hill, and the full glory of the country has no doubts about killing predators. Today, game man- ... lay unrolled. No wonder the early Mormon explorers agers believe that lions and other killers are essential to believed that God had revealed to them a land to be all the health of the deer herd in this place. their own.” It is easy for us to scorn men like Owens, and, like On the first page of her diary of that 1911 trip by wagon, most easy things, it is a mistake. In part because this Hall wrote down a thought: “There is something better cheats him of his humanity. When government muse- than making a living, making a life.” All we have to do is ums ordered Owens to kill a dozen of the unique Kai- remember that single sentence. When we go to the North bab squirrels for their collections, the old man did it Rim. We must. Always.

36 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 37 To the White Mountain Apaches, Mexican wolves are known as ba’cho. They’re culturally significant to the tribe, but not all tribal members support the reintroduction of the endangered species. It’s a polarizing issue that pits elders and traditionalists against BA’CHO outfitters and big-game hunters. BY ANNETTE McGIVNEY PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRUCE D. TAUBERT

or the White Mountain Apache Tribe, history lives in the spoken word. Significant events from the past, cultural practices and spiri- tual teachings are often transmitted and preserved simply by the telling. Among the most treasured of the tribe’s oral traditions is the “wolf song.” According to Ramon Riley, the tribe’s cultural-resource director, tribal members used the song to summon the wolf’s power before going into battle. The song harks back to a time before European immigrants arrived in the Apache homeland — a time when both the wolf and the Ftribe thrived across a large swath of the Southwest. “The wolf song is not written down anywhere. I keep it recorded in my mind,” Riley says. He’s a youthful-looking 73 years old, which he attributes to his regu- lar use of a sweat lodge. He grew up on the tribe’s land in Eastern Arizona and learned the wolf song from tribal elders when he was young. Now he passes it on to others during sweat ceremonies. “The wolf song does not translate into English,” he adds. “You have to live with the land and know the Apache language to understand it.” It’s August 2014, and I’m visiting Riley in the tribal town of Whiteriver to get his perspective on Mexican wolves. Called ba’cho in the White Mountain Apache language, the species carries deep cultural significance for the tribe but in recent times has been the subject of heated debate, both on tribal land and in communi- ties throughout Arizona and New Mexico. We sit in Riley’s office in the Nohwike’ Ba’gowa (House of Our Footprints) museum, Mexican wolves hold a treasured place in located on the grounds of Fort Apache, the base from which the the White Mountain U.S. Army waged war against the tribe in the 1800s. Riley’s desk is Apache Tribe’s lore, piled high with stacks of papers he’s sifting through to request the but the reintroduction of the species remains return of tribal ancestors’ human remains from museum collections controversial even in other parts of the country. among tribal members.

38 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 39 ment for sustaining a healthy population in the wild. After vis- the White Mountain Apache Tribe joined the project as a lead iting Riley, I make my way to the hearing and sit in a ballroom partner (along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona filled with government officials, representatives from environ- Game and Fish and the U.S. Forest Service) and opened its mental groups, wolf supporters who have traveled from across adjoining 1.7 million acres to Mexican wolves, providing cru- the West, and cowboys wearing knee-high boots and 10-gallon cial additional habitat. hats. Participants walk up to a microphone, one by one, and Although Dolphin and his team report that 90 percent of shoot their comments into the audience like arrows. A rancher the Mexican wolves’ diet in the recovery area consists of elk, from Catron County, New Mexico: “We’ve got kids sitting in there were 28 confirmed cattle kills in 2013, up from 19 in cages waiting for the bus. If you’ve got to worry about your 2012. A fund administered by the independent Mexican Wolf/ kids getting eaten by something, that’s something you don’t Livestock Coexistence Council pays ranchers market value for need to have around.” An 8-year-old girl from Phoenix: “I love cattle that are killed (a total of $24,343 in 2013), as well as a sti- all wildlife, especially wolves. I’m counting on you to protect pend for the presence of wolves in their grazing allotments. For them for me when I have my own children and for all future many ranchers, though, even one wolf roaming near their cattle generations.” is one too many. While no White Mountain Apache Tribe members speak at Crigler serves on the board of the Coexistence Council. She the hearing, the tribe’s sensitive-species biologist, along with tells me, during a visit Dolphin and I make to her X Diamond tribal game-and-fish officers, sits in the audience and listens. Ranch, that “the payment is minuscule to adequately compen- Somehow, the heated rhetoric filling the ballroom — both for sate for the cost of what happens.” She’s a fourth-generation and against the wolves — seems far removed from the legend- rancher in the Greer area; her great-grandfather raised cattle to ary predators Riley described. Where is that wolf power? I won- feed the soldiers stationed at Fort Apache. She points out that der. Where is the magical creature that lives in Apache stories and modern ranching has focused on changing cattle genetics to songs? I want to see a wolf in the wild, or at least spend time make the animals fatter, more docile and without horns. with people who regularly observe wolves in the wild, to find “We’ve bred the defensive instinct out of them to produce out if ba’cho is still out there, somewhere. a quality product,” she says. “It’s like feeding candy to a baby with these wolves. This one endangered species just doesn’t fit into our current culture.” eff Dolphin’s official title is interagency field-team Crigler says she’s “at the end of [her] rope” because she and supervisor for the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintro- her sister have each lost two cows over the past two weeks. duction Project. But he’s more like the program’s chief The flip side of the cattle problem is the illegal killing of “wolf whisperer.” Based out of Alpine, in the heart of Mexican wolves. Between 1998 and 2013, 55 wolves were killed wolf country, the 34-year-old Dolphin, a biologist with illegally — a heavy toll on an endangered population that Arizona Game and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, has had more numbered only 83 animals in the wild at the end of 2013. Just Fish Department wolf For Riley, what has happened to Mexican wolves specialist Jeff Dolphin of Southwestern public-lands management. It has pit- Jhands-on contact with Mexican wolves than just about anyone two of those illegal killings have been prosecuted. Ranchers and his own people are one and the same. carries a Mexican wolf ted environmentalists against ranchers, wilderness- in the program and can describe the activities of individual and others experiencing problems with wolves are supposed “The invaders came and brought their own laws. to a workstation after loving hikers against trophy-craving hunters, city wolves the way neighbors catch each other up on gossip. to call Dolphin and let his crew manage the situation, usually sedating it from a They killed all the predators, like the wolf and the helicopter. The wolf will dwellers against rural residents — and, on tribal I’m shadowing Dolphin for three days in September 2014 as by tracking a derelict wolf and moving it to a captive-breeding grizzly, and they put us on the reservation,” he says. have its health checked lands in wolf country, traditionalists against those he carries out his normal routine: monitoring the movements of facility. But too often, people living in wolf country who don’t “They taught us to live in a way that forgets our and get a new collar who put economic concerns first. In the first year of radio-collared wolves; setting traps to catch wild-born, uncol- want the predators threatening their property use a different dependence on nature. The value of creation became before being re-released the reintroduction program, four of the 11 released lared wolves and collar them; looking for signs of wolves; and tactic: “Shoot, shovel and shut up.” into the wild. money.” wolves were shot illegally (a federal offense under the responding to angry calls from ranchers reporting wolf-caused Dolphin has been working in various capacities for the wolf With a historical home range that extended from West Endangered Species Act). And the program has limped along problems with their cattle. program since 2007. He logs about 25,000 miles a year driving Texas across New Mexico and most of Arizona, and down to ever since, with illegal shootings continuing, anti-wolf groups “It never lets up,” he says as I climb into his pickup on the washboard roads on the Arizona side of the recovery area, usu- central Mexico, the once-prolific Mexican wolves were elimi- lobbying hard against any expansion of the program and envi- afternoon of the first day of my visit. He’s been on the go since ally with his window down so he can more easily spot wolf nated from the by the 1970s. The wolves’ stellar ronmental organizations suing to have the Endangered Species before sunrise. Game and Fish wildlife technician Julia Smith tracks. After he finishes up with Crigler and grabs a bowl of hunting ability, which made them revered by the Apaches, Act upheld. caught the alpha male from the Hawks Nest pack in a trap, and chili at Alpine’s Bear Wallow Café, we cruise forest back roads, made them despised by European ranchers and homestead- Riley is reluctant to give me details about the wolf song, but Dolphin drove to the remote site at dawn to help collar and looking for the Bluestem pack. ers who viewed the predators as a threat to their livelihood. he’s quick to point out why he believes Mexican wolves should release it. Then he got a call from rancher Wink Crigler, report- Mexican-wolf packs have only one breeding pair. “The Blue- However, after the federal Endangered Species Act passed be welcomed onto tribal lands. “The wolf and all the animals ing one of her calves had been killed by a wolf. Dolphin spent stem alpha female has been a very successful breeder,” Dolphin in 1973, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was charged with were here first,” he says. “In the Apache world, we learned how hours assisting the investigation of the carcass to confirm it says. “She kicked her mother out of the pack, who was 11 years the recovery of Mexican wolves, the rarest subspecies of the to live in nature from the animals; they showed us the trails to was a wolf-caused death so Crigler could be reimbursed for the old and had been the breeding female. The mother dispersed northern gray wolf. In 1977, the last seven Mexican wolves the water holes. We are connected to the wolf, and all the ani- loss of her livestock. into New Mexico and was shot.” remaining in the wild were retrieved from Mexico and a cap- mals, through what they have taught us.” Unlike the successful recovery program for endangered gray The original breeding female was a founding member of tive-breeding program began in the United States. In 1998, the But not everyone sees it this way. Down the road, at the wolves in the northern Rockies, carried out largely in the the nine-member, captive-born pack that was released into wolves returned to the wild when 11 captive-bred animals were tribe’s Hon-Dah Casino and Conference Center near Pinetop- 20 million-acre Yellowstone National Park, the Mexican-wolf the recovery area in 2002. Since then, the Bluestem pack has released with much fanfare into Eastern Arizona’s Blue Range Lakeside, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting a project is mostly on national-forest land that is also used for thrived despite one breeding male being illegally killed and Primitive Area. hearing to gather public comments on the agency’s plan to cattle-grazing. The 4.4 million-acre recovery area, established another dying of natural causes. The pack has produced several Over the past 17 years, the Mexican-wolf recovery program significantly expand the Mexican wolves’ recovery area and in 1998, encompasses all of the Apache National Forest in Ari- generations of wild-born wolves, with some members dispers- has remained one of the most polarizing issues in the history modify the program to comply with a legally mandated agree- zona and the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. In 2000, ing and founding new packs, which is critical to the species’

40 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 41 survival. In 2014, the Bluestem pack numbered 12 wolves, stripped bare by the 2011 Wallow Fire, the last whisper of day- are seeking refuge on the land of the nearby San Carlos Apache ists also oppose the new rule’s more liberal regulations, which including five new pups. Its territory in the middle of the light is fading. We wave at camouflage-clad elk hunters who Tribe, which has a competing hunting business and does not will enable ranchers to legally shoot a Mexican wolf in the act Apache National Forest ranges over 200 square miles of aspen- fill the twisting back roads as they return to their camps. The allow Mexican wolves on its land. And Palmer adds that his of attacking livestock. covered mountains, rocky ravines and grassy cienegas. explosive growth of aspens after the fire has given elk in the department has taken steps to address other factors that could As for the White Mountain Apache Tribe, longtime Tribal Since eight of Bluestem’s 12 wolves have radio collars, Dol- White Mountains a boost thanks to the abundant food source, be causing the elk displacement, leaving Mexican wolves as the Chairman Ronnie Lupe says the tribe will continue to receive phin often is able to track their movements, but today, they which Dolphin says also helps the wolves that eat the elk. likely cause. the wolf with open arms. “Why not? It’s their natural habitat,” remain elusive. We drive past a meadow he says is a “rendez- While some big-game hunters welcome wolves into the area, The White Mountain tribe is the only Native American he says. Lupe, 85, recalls when he was a young boy growing vous site” where the pack has been gathering since the pups others do not want the top-of-the-food-chain carnivores to nation in the Mexican wolves’ large historical range that up in Cibecue and hearing Mexican wolves howling. “We all became too big for their den. In the blue light of dusk, we stare intrude on their territory. This conflict is especially intense on accommodates the predator and maintains its own recov- lived with the wolves back then,” he says. Lupe decided that hard into the distant meadow. “There has been a juvenile male White Mountain Apache Tribe land. Trophy elk-hunting brings ery agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service. There are the tribe would join the Mexican-wolf reintroduction program staying behind with the pups to babysit while the others go out in a much-needed $1.4 million annually to the tribe, where several packs that live full time on the tribe’s land, and lone in 2000 because he wanted to hear wolves howl again on tribal and hunt,” Dolphin says. 47 percent of tribal members live in poverty. wolves are constantly moving through in search of new terri- land. “I look at the world through Apache eyes,” he adds. “All Dolphin, along with two other biologists who have been “Based on the impacts we are seeing now with the elk tory. In addition to the wolves, the tribe is working to recover life is sacred.” other endangered species that are part of its cultural heritage: , Chiricahua leopard frogs, Mexican spotted owls and Southwestern willow flycatchers. olves are also sacred to Mary Newby. She lives “We manage wolves as part of the environment,” says biolo- in a trailer off a remote road in the southern gist Cynthia Dale, who has worked as the tribe’s sensitive- part of the Apache National Forest. She calls species coordinator for 20 years. She agrees that wolves are Dolphin on the second day of my September changing the behavior of elk on tribal land, but she views this visit to report that the entire Bluestem pack as a positive. “Now, the elk run when they hear wolves howl. ambled through her front yard that morning. It’s better for the elk and the forest habitat because the elk are W“I was outside listening to elk bugling when I first noticed always on the move,” she says. And Dale thinks that also pres- three wolves about 100 yards away,” Newby tells me when I ents a better challenge for sportsmen. contact her later. “And they kept coming until I saw all 11. I Despite the challenges of illegal wolf killings, cattle preda- could even see black fur on the pups’ tails. They looked at me tion and pushback from hunters, Dolphin is bullish on the cur- and then kept walking across the meadow.” rent state of the recovery program. “It feels like there will be Newby, 58, moved to Greenlee County from Phoenix 14 years an uptick in the wolf population [in 2014],” he says. “We’ve got ago, after she learned she had terminal liver disease. “I just more pups, more packs and more breeding pairs.” The latest wanted to live in wolf country, but I was very lucky to wind up population report, released in February 2015, proves him right: moving into a rendezvous site,” she says. The meadow where Compared with the program’s record-low population of just 42 she lives used to be a hangout for the Hawks Nest pack, but Mexican wolves in the wild in 2009, there were a record-high now it’s been taken over by Bluestem. “When you see wolves 109 in 2014 among 19 different packs. in the morning, it is amazing,” she adds. “I shouldn’t be alive And the wolves now have much more room to roam. After right now. I attribute my health to clean living and wolves.” receiving some 40,000 public comments on its proposed At dusk on my third day of shadowing Dolphin, we’re cruis- changes, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced in January ing the roads near Newby’s residence, still trying to catch a 2015 major revisions to its 1998 recovery plan. The new rule glimpse of the Bluestem pack. Dolphin has the receiver on his greatly increases the area Mexican wolves can occupy, from truck seat tuned to the frequency of the wolves’ radio collars. 7,212 square miles to 153,853 square miles, and also greatly As we drive in silence, I think back to my visit with Riley. expands the territory where captive-born wolves can be I had pressed him for details about the wolf song, and he released. In addition to the Apache and Gila national forests, had said the words described a tribal member’s desire to run the larger recovery area now includes all of Arizona’s Sit­ and hunt like the wolf: “It goes, ‘Like the black wolf that I greaves National Forest along with the Payson, Pleasant Valley am …’ ” Then he had stopped, mid-sentence, and burst into A Mexican wolf rests in and Tonto Basin ranger districts of the . song. English could do this cultural treasure no justice. From studying wolves in the recovery area, says the Blue- the White Mountains’ population, [the tribe’s Game and Fish Department It also includes the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola behind his paper-filled desk, Riley had closed his eyes and tall grass. The wolves’ stem pack has become increasingly stealthy over the of elk has doesn’t] want more wolves on the reservation,” says National Forest in New Mexico. And the new rule triples the released the ancient Apache chant toward the office ceiling, years. “They don’t like people,” Dolphin adds, noting complicated the the tribe’s big-game biologist, Jesse Palmer, who helps recovery program’s existing population goal of 100 wolves, hanging on every word. that wild-born wolves like those in Bluestem are far White Mountain manage the lucrative tribal hunting business. Cli- increasing it to between 300 and 325 animals roaming the wild Just as Dolphin and I are about to head back to Alpine, the more successful at survival and less likely to prey on Apache Tribe’s hunting industry. ents pay $20,000 for a weeklong, fully outfitted and of Arizona and New Mexico. transceiver beeps. A few seconds later, there is an explosion cattle than captive-bred wolves released into the wild. guided trophy-elk hunt. Palmer says that on average, While environmental groups welcome the larger recovery of beeps like popcorn cooking in a microwave. Dolphin parks However, captive-bred wolves provide the small wild popula- 90 percent of the tribe’s business is return customers who want area for the wolves, representatives say it’s still too small the truck to assess the pack’s location and the reason for all tion with crucial genetic diversity. Rather than releasing adult a larger trophy than the year before. to sustain a species that is highly territorial and can travel the beeping. Below the road is a 700-foot-deep, rocky ravine captive-bred wolves into the recovery area, Dolphin prefers a “On the eastern part of the reservation,” he says, “elk are 60 miles in a day. The Center for Biological Diversity, which that drops into darkness. “They’re all down there hunting,” more surgical approach called “cross-fostering” where several being displaced from their summer and winter ranges, and we brought the lawsuit that pressed the federal government to he says. This is as close as we’re going to get to the Bluestem captive newborn pups are placed with a wild female that has are pretty sure the main culprit is the wolf. The elk calves are revise the wolf plan, maintains that in order for the species pack, which is close enough. Down there, beyond the reach of just given birth to her own pups. That technique was success- easy pickings, and the wolves will even haze the mature, tro- to recover, it needs to be allowed to disperse north into the humans or politics, Mexican wolves are going about their busi- fully implemented for the first time in May 2014. phy-class bulls.” Palmer says that not only are there fewer elk Grand Canyon and Northern New Mexico, and to grow to a ness in their native habitat, as they have for millennia. Down As Dolphin and I drive past Big Lake and through forests on tribal land because of the wolf, but the big trophy animals population of at least 750 animals in the wild. Environmental- there is ba’cho.

42 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 43 beautifully ugly birds still need help. “I’d like to know another species as well as I know condors,” he says. “But there’s a lot of work to do.”

Condors are scavengers, so for them to survive, another animal has to die — or be killed — before they get to it. In that way, an increased human presence in condor habitats was a good thing for the birds. “We were just another predator that would leave remains of carcasses,” Parish says. But the condor population declined for decades, and by 1982, just 22 remained in the wild. Around that time, scientists implicated poisoning from lead bullets in the deaths of three condors. The remaining birds were captured and put into cap- tive-breeding programs to save the wing species from extinction. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that lead poi- soning was confirmed as the No. 1 cause of condor deaths. Parish, 44, grew up in a small oil and ranching community outside commander Bakersfield, California, and recalls Chris Parish is a wildlife biologist for seeing condors soaring over the San Joaquin Valley. He also hunted and fished, which he says informed his career choice. The Peregrine Fund. He’s well versed “To be a good hunter or fisherman, you have to ask ques- in many species, but he’s an expert on tions about how those animals behave, so naturally, you start California condors. Among other things, asking questions about what they have to do to survive,” he the Flagstaff resident oversees the annual says. “I feel morally obligated to try to understand the prob- lems these species face, the same as I do for our own species.” release of young condors over the Ver- He attended Northern Arizona University, where he earned milion Cliffs. And his efforts are paying a bachelor’s degree in biology with an emphasis on fish and off. At last count, 74 of the rare birds were wildlife management (he’s back at NAU now, pursuing a Ph.D.). living in the wild in Arizona and Utah. After college, he joined the Arizona Game and Fish Department, where he worked on the reintroduction of black-footed ferrets of lead poisoning, which tells Parish that more awareness is and his team can monitor their movement and health. BY NOAH AUSTIN | PHOTOGRAPH BY DAWN KISH in the Seligman area. In 1997, he transferred to Game and Fish’s needed among hunters and other gun users. The Peregrine Fund’s efforts are paying off. At last count, Flagstaff office to coordinate the department’s work with con- “Because there are so few condors, you can know the person- 74 of the 219 condors now living in the wild were in Arizona dors. He’s been with The Peregrine Fund since 2000. ality of each bird,” he says. “It makes it hard when you see one and Utah. And last year, a wild-hatched condor in the region Parish remains an avid hunter. That’s been invaluable, he needlessly die. That’s the sad part of the story, and it gives you produced its own young, the first time that’s happened since says, in the organization’s efforts to reduce the use of lead the energy to keep sharing the same story with [people] over reintroduction began. It’s an important step toward creating a ammunition in the condors’ range. It’s made him better at com- and over again, letting them know how they can help.” self-sustaining population of the birds. “I’d like to put myself out of work,” municating the issue’s importance to other hunters. But old For Parish, his family has gotten involved, too. In 2011, his Chris Parish says. It’s an arresting statement from a man with habits die hard. Condors don’t exactly make Parish’s job easy. wife, Ellen, and daughters, Anna and Emma, appeared with obvious passion for his job. But Parish, who’s been working “Human beings have difficulty changing long-held traditions,” In the wild, adult females normally lay only one egg every Parish in Anna, Emma and the Condors, an award-winning film with endangered California condors for nearly two decades, Parish says. “People say, ‘Why not ban lead ammunition?’ That other year, and they usually don’t produce their first young about the family’s conservation efforts. Anna and Emma are in knows ultimate success with the species would make his job makes perfect sense in an equation, but changing a law doesn’t until age 8. Captive-breeding programs produce more chicks high school in Flagstaff now, and Parish says they’re “coming unnecessary. change behavior.” but also pose a new challenge. Condors don’t have an innate to understand that not everyone has a job like Dad has.” But With a wingspan of nearly 10 feet and a bald, pinkish head Conservationists and gun-rights advocates have politicized fear of people, and a chick that “imprints” upon a human han- that job is still vital, which is why Parish will keep getting ideal for digging around in a carcass, condors are one of North the idea of a lead-ammo ban, he says, and that’s become a dler will never make it in the wild. So The Peregrine Fund’s people involved in telling the condors’ story — and envisioning America’s largest and most distinctive birds. They’ve been on major impediment to recovery efforts. He’s hoping to show workers use puppets that look like adult condors to feed the a future in which the condors can tell it themselves. the continent for thousands of years. But by the 1980s, poison- people there’s a better way. chicks without directly interacting with them. “You can tell a great story and people can be greatly affected ing from lead ammunition had helped push the species to the “Despite the overwhelming body of scientific knowledge When they’re old enough, the condors spend time in a by it, but it’s a continued presence in that process that results brink of extinction. about the dangers of lead, we still have to convince ourselves pen in Idaho to learn to live as a flock and develop a social in real, lasting change,” he says. “The small successes make Parish is a wildlife biologist for The Peregrine Fund. Since as a society — especially the shooting public — that this is a hierarchy. They’re then trucked to another pen at the Vermil- us feel great, but until it actually produces a result, we’re still 1996, the nonprofit has been hatching and raising condor real problem and that it’s worth solving,” he says. “We have to ion Cliffs, where they can observe wild condors feeding and going to be pressing on.” chicks at its Idaho facility, then taking them to the Vermilion figure out how to market this transition.” develop an affinity for them. Finally, in late September, the Cliffs of Northern Arizona for annual releases into the wild. So far, the response by hunters is promising: For nearly a birds are released as hundreds of people watch from below the Parish supervises that effort, and he’s also part of a regional decade, more than 80 percent of hunters on the Kaibab Plateau cliffs. Within six months, they’ll usually make their first trip The Peregrine Fund’s 2015 condor release is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, at the Vermilion Cliffs west of Page. For updates on the release, follow the Condor push to reduce the use of lead ammo. In partnership with have voluntarily participated in lead-reduction programs, and to in Utah or the South Rim of the Grand Cliffs Facebook page at www.facebook.com/condorcliffs. For more information hunters and state agencies, he’s making progress, but these in 2014, participation hit 91 percent. But condors are still dying Canyon. The birds wear tags and tracking devices so Parish about The Peregrine Fund, call 208-362-3716 or visit www.peregrinefund.org.

44 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 45 Rare Birds Although not as uncommon as dodos and passenger pigeons, California condors are few and far between. At last count, there were only 219 in the wild, which means catching a glimpse of the largest flying land bird in North America is rare. However, for our photographer, it’s a different story. So far, he’s pho- tographed about a third of Arizona’s wild condors, and he’s on a mission to capture the rest.

A PORTFOLIO BY JOHN SHERMAN

46 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 47 “If a sparrow flies 10 feet above your head, you might not even notice. If a hawk does that, it’s like, ‘Whoa, cool.’ But when a condor with a 9-foot wing- span flies that close, it’s an experience you’ll never forget.” — John Sherman

PRECEDING PANEL: California condors gather atop the Vermilion Cliffs at a spot that over- looks House Rock Valley. The spot is near where condors raised in captivity are released annu- ally into the wild. “I’ve photographed about a third of the Arizona popula- tion, which, at last count, numbered 74,” photographer John Sherman says. “I got rare permission to join the biologists at the release site. Otherwise, this spot is off-limits to the public.”

LEFT: “When you make your living digging around inside carcasses, it’s smart and healthy to have an easy-to- clean bald head,” Sherman says. “The yellow-orange, pink, blue and purple hues become even more vivid during court- ship and mating season.”

RIGHT: Two adult condors engage in “neck-wrestling.” The condor in the background had just bitten the other condor’s cheek and then tugged at one of its neck feathers as a sign of submis- siveness. “Condors are very social, and neck-wrestling helps reaffirm bonds and enforce the pecking order,” Sherman says.

48 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 49 “It can be hard enough to see any condors at all, so photographing all 74 of them would be very hard, but it would be great to t r y.” — John Sherman

TOP: An inquisitive condor flies straight at Sherman. “It kept coming nearer and nearer until my lens couldn’t focus any closer, then passed 6 feet over my head,” he says. “It was like standing at the end of a runway and having a 747 pass right over my head, but a thousand times cooler.”

ABOVE: A juvenile condor comes in for a landing on a small ledge beneath Navajo Bridge. “The bridge and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon are two of the best places to see wild condors,” Sherman says.

RIGHT: A condor suns its wings in a morning preflight ritual. “This con- dor’s black head indicates it’s a juvenile,” Sherman says. “It will not get its orange, yellow and purple head until it’s about 4 or 5.”

50 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 51 scenic drive

Taking this scenic route on the Grand Canyon’s South Rim Grandview Loop promises solitude and a journey back in time on a wagon road that ferried the park’s first tourists. BY ANNETTE MCGIVNEY

here are two ways to get to century visitors who arrived on stage- 180) in Tusayan, break free from the Grand Canyon National Park’s coaches and horse-drawn wagons via parade of cars cruising toward the T South Rim. You can choose the the Grandview entrance. The 30.4-mile park’s south entrance and head east on 21st century route via the park’s paved, Tusayan-to-Grandview Loop offers an Forest Road 302. Controlled burns in patrolled and sometimes-crowded south alternate and more secluded way into this part of the Kaibab National Forest and east entrances. Or, if you value the park, and it also treats travelers to a have restored it to how it looked in the scenery and history over convenience, journey back in time. 19th century. Meadows are punctuated you can follow the path taken by 19th From State Route 64 (also U.S. Route with monsoon-fueled wildflowers. Keep your eyes peeled for elk, deer and other animals that frequent the stock tanks near the road. When you turn left onto Forest Road 310, you’ll be on the original wagon road to the Canyon. The earliest tourists to the natural wonder traveled this road in the 1880s. In 1892, the Flagstaff to Grand Canyon Stage Coach Line began opera- tions and further developed the road to support a growing number of tourists. Just beyond the intersection is the and taking paved SR 64 back to Tusayan. numerous pullouts on this stretch of Grandview Lookout Tower. Built by the Otherwise, continue on FR 2718 to a road for primitive forest camping. As SCENIC Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936, junction with Forest Road 2719, a rough you bump along for 6 teeth-rattling DRIVES of Arizona’s Best Back the tower is staffed during the summer trek over rocky ledges and around deep miles, imagine what it was like to travel ADDITIONAL READING: 40 Roads For more adventure, pick up a fire season, and visitors can climb the gullies. A high-clearance vehicle is a this country in a buckboard wagon. copy of our book Scenic Drives, 80-foot stairs and admire the view from must, and four-wheel-drive is also wise Turn right onto FR 302 and drive west which features 40 of the state’s most beautiful back roads. To the platform. In addition to a raven’s- for navigating mud and deep puddles to complete the loop. Soon, you’ll be order, visit www.shoparizona Edited by Robert Stieve eye panorama of the Grand Canyon, you during monsoon season. You’ll find back in Tusayan and the 21st century. highways.com/books. and Kelly Vaughn Kramer can gawk at the subtle pastels of the Painted Desert, the San Francisco Peaks, the forested and even tour guide nearly 100 miles away. Note: Mileages are approximate. Back on FR 310, continue north to LENGTH: 30.4-mile loop Forest Road 2718. Just beyond this DIRECTIONS: From Tusayan, go east on Forest Road 302 intersection on FR 310 is the Grandview for 14.3 miles to Forest Road 310 (Coconino Rim Road). Turn left onto FR 310 and continue 2.1 miles to Forest entrance to Grand Canyon National Road 2718. Turn left onto FR 2718 and continue 1.5 miles Park and a graded dirt road that leads to Forest Road 2719. Turn right onto FR 2719 and continue 6 miles to FR 302. Turn right onto FR 302 and to the East Rim Drive. From the late continue 6.5 miles back to Tusayan. 1880s until 1901, when the railroad to VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: A high-clearance vehicle is the Grand Canyon was completed, the required for forest roads 2718 and 2719, and four-wheel- drive is recommended. Other vehicles may modify the Grandview entrance was the gateway to route by entering Grand Canyon National Park and the park and connected visitors to tent taking State Route 64 back to Tusayan. accommodations at Hance Camp (near SPECIAL CONSIDERATION: There is no ranger station at the present New Hance Trailhead) or a the Grandview entrance, but park fees still apply if you enter Grand Canyon National Park. You can pay them at hotel at Grandview Point. the south or east entrance station. If you’re driving a passenger car, WARNING: Back-road travel can be hazardous, so be complete the loop by entering the park aware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of water. Don’t travel alone, and let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return. LEFT: A horse grazes on private land near Tusayan, INFORMATION: Tusayan Ranger District, 928-638-2443 the start of the Tusayan-to-Grandview Loop. or www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab; Grand Canyon National | TOM BROWNOLD Park, 928-638-7888 or www.nps.gov/grca OPPOSITE PAGE: The route passes near Grandview Travelers in Arizona can visit www.az511.gov or dial Point, which offers superb views of the Grand Canyon. 511 to get infor­ma­tion on road closures, construc­tion,

| ADAM SCHALLAU KEVIN KIBSEY delays, weather and more.

52 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 53 hike of the month

O’Leary There’s a lot to see from the top of this trail, including the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The best view, however, might be the Peak Trail look into Sunset Crater. BY ROBERT STIEVE

’ Leary Peak is a lava-dome to think about as you make your way to but it’s not conventional. If you want volcano, not a cinder cone like O’Leary Peak. conventional, head to the Kachina Trail. O Sunset Crater Volcano, its better- As trails go, this one is a little differ- If you want something different, this is a known counterpart to the south. Here’s ent. There’s the surrounding field of lava, good place to start. the difference: Cinder cones are created of course. That’s different. Also, there The hike begins near O’Leary Group from particles and blobs of congealed aren’t any long treks through thickets of Campground. You’ll see a locked gate lava ejected from a single vent, while lava trees — this route is mostly out in the when you pull up, and a small parking domes are formed by relatively small, open. And then there’s the trail, which area. Through the gate is the jeep road. bulbous masses of lava too viscous to isn’t a trail. It’s an old jeep road that Hit the road, and within a few minutes, flow any great distance. There won’t be allows for tandem hiking. That’s not you’ll get your first look at the lava flow a quiz on this later, but it’s something unprecedented in our Hike of the Month, on your right. Along its edges are some small aspens, ponderosas and a few spruce. It’s a fascinating landscape that trees to take root in the area. In addition, Beyond the big tree, the road narrows you can see the Inner Basin of the San begs to be explored, but there are better there are 166 documented plant species, and steepens as you make the final ascent Francisco Peaks and the North Rim of opportunities in the national monument including rabbitbrush, Utah juniper, clif- to the summit. There’s a gate at the top, the Grand Canyon. Maybe even more to the south. frose and Apache plume. which is the last obstacle before the impressive, you can see into Sunset Cra- Along with the rocks and trees, you’ll Back on the trail, the switchbacks lookout tower. During fire season, if the ter, which, as you know, is a cinder cone, start catching glimpses of a lookout tower continue. The slopes are sprinkled with tower is open, you can climb the 39 steps not a lava dome. to the north. It’s there for spotting fires, pines, including a gnarly old codger, to the observation deck and say hello to but it also offers some perspective on about 90 minutes in. It looks like the the ranger on duty. If no one is around, ADDITIONAL READING: where you’re going — and where you’ve apple tree that accosted Dorothy in The no matter. There’s a great lookout area to For more hikes, pick up a copy of been, once you’re headed back down. Wizard of Oz, but this one doesn’t have the southeast of the tower. You have to Arizona Highways Hiking Guide (#AGHS5), which features 52 of After about 15 minutes, the road, any leaves or apples, and it doesn’t talk. scramble over some rocks and around a the state’s best trails — one for which has been mostly level to this point, Not in our language, anyway. It does, few trees to get there, but it’s worth the each weekend of the year, sorted by seasons. To order a copy, visit begins a slight ascent. Fifteen minutes however, speak to the challenges of effort. The views are spectacular. www.shoparizonahighways. later, it steepens significantly and veers survival in a harsh landscape like this. Among other natural landmarks, com/books. northwest, toward the summit. The switchbacks are long, and lead to a sad- dle between O’Leary Peak and Darton Dome. The views of the San Francisco trail guide Peaks are nice. Very nice. Snap a few LENGTH: 10 miles round-trip photos, and then turn your head to the DIFFICULTY: Moderate south, where you’ll see the evolving land- ELEVATION: 6,846 to 8,916 feet TRAILHEAD GPS: N 35˚22.315’, W 111˚32.467’ scape of Sunset Crater Volcano National DIRECTIONS: From downtown Flagstaff, go north on Monument. U.S. Route 89 for 15.7 miles to Forest Road 545 (the Although it’s been almost 1,000 years road to Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki national monuments). Turn right onto FR 545 and continue since the volcano erupted, about half 1.7 miles to Forest Road 545A. Turn left onto FR 545A the monument is still barren, with little and continue 0.3 miles to the trailhead, which is located obvious vegetation. Things are chang- at the O’Leary Group Campground. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: None ing, though. Along with the evergreens DOGS ALLOWED: Yes (on a leash) and aspens at the outset of the hike, HORSES ALLOWED: Yes the cinder fields are dotted with piñon USGS MAP: O’Leary Peak pines. The oldest are about 250 years old INFORMATION: Flagstaff Ranger District, 928-526-0866 — biologists believe they were the first or www.fs.usda.gov/coconino LEAVE-NO-TRACE PRINCIPLES: • Plan ahead and be out all of your trash. LEFT: The hike to O’Leary Peak offers a view of prepared. • Leave what you find. Sunset Crater Volcano and other volcanic peaks. • Travel and camp on • Respect wildlife. | TOM DANIELSEN durable surfaces. • Minimize campfire OPPOSITE PAGE: Sunflowers blanket the • Dispose of waste impact.

mountainside along the trail. | PAUL GILL KEVIN KIBSEY properly and pack • Be considerate of others.

54 AUGUST 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 55 where is this? MIND IF WE TAG ALONG? THE STATE OF ARIZONA GAVE US OUR OWN LICENSE PLATE, AND WE’D LIKE YOU TO TAKE US FOR A RIDE.

June 2015 Answer & Winner Strawberry School- house. Congratula- tions to our winner, Leslie Cox of Paw- leys Island, South Carolina. NICK BEREZENKO

Win a collection of our most popular books! To enter, correctly iden- tify the location pictured at left and email your answer to editor@ arizonahighways.com — type “Where Is This?” in the subject line. Entries can also be sent to 2039 W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009 (write “Where Is This?” on the envelope). Please include your name, address and phone number. One winner will be chosen in a random drawing of qualified entries. Entries must be postmarked by August

RICK BURRESSRICK 15, 2015. Only the winner will be notified. The correct answer will be A Game of Bridge posted in our October issue and online at www.arizonahighways. This bridge over an Arizona waterway has been around awhile — in fact, it was built less than a decade com beginning after Arizona Highways began publishing. Back then, an engineer said it looked “more like a delicate piece of September 15. To order an officialArizona Highways license plate, visit filigree” than a highway bridge. Its 162-foot main span has since been bypassed, but you can still walk on it. www.arizonahighways.com and click the license plate icon on our home page. Proceeds help support our mission of promoting tourism in Arizona. JEFF KIDA 56 AUGUST 2015