OUR 2015 PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Plus the LITTLE COLORADO RIVER: a PORTFOLIO | 30 YEARS of PHOTO WORKSHOPS SEPTEMBER

2015 OUR 2015 PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS plus THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER: A PORTFOLIO | 30 YEARS OF PHOTO WORKSHOPS SEPTEMBER

ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE CHUCK ABBOTT on Photography An Excerpt From September 1955 — EUDORA— WELTY

THE PHOTO “A good snapshot a moment keeps from running away.” “A ISSUE

The Confluence, Grand Canyon National Park, by Jack Dykinga Grand Canyon CONTENTS 09.15 National Park 2 EDITOR’S LETTER > 3 CONTRIBUTORS > 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR > 56 WHERE IS THIS? Little Colorado River Flagstaff Montezuma Castle National Monument 5 THE JOURNAL 46 FRONTIER PHOTOGRAPHER Prescott McNary People, places and things from around the state, including a look Although his primary mission was to establish Sunday schools in back at iconic wildlife photographer Bill Ratcliffe, Montezuma Castle remote corners of the West, Albert C. Stewart spent a lot of his PHOENIX National Monument and Amelia Earhart’s unexpected landing in free time making photos with his No. 1 Panoram Kodak camera. Tucson McNeal, Arizona. BY KAYLA FROST McNeal PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT C. STEWART 16 THE MIGHTY COLORADO ... Bisbee 48 YOU’VE GOT TO GO BACK POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE IT’S NOT WHAT YOU’RE THINKING Mention the Colorado River to most people, and they’ll conjure TO GET THE GOOD ONES images of whitewater rafters slicing through Lava Falls. It’s one of Sixty years ago this month, Chuck Abbott, a world-renowned the world’s great rivers. Less famous, but also impressive, is the Little photographer and longtime Arizona Highways contributor, shared Colorado River, which runs for 338 miles from a small spring near his thoughts on the art of photography and what it took to rise to Greer to its scenic confluence with the larger Colorado in the depths the top of his profession. He also discussed camera equipment, of the Grand Canyon. which, six decades later, is especially interesting. A PORTFOLIO BY BILL HATCHER BY CHUCK ABBOTT TEXT BY TYLER WILLIAMS 52 SCENIC DRIVE 30 BEST PICTURE 2015 McNary to Vernon: This scenic drive winds in and out of the And the winner is ... Peter Coskun of Phoenix. It’s not the first time Sitgreaves National Forest, through stands of pines and spruce we’ve been impressed with his work. Peter was an honorable-mention interspersed with groves of aspens. winner in 2013, and last year, his photo of Lost Dutchman State Park was our Facebook Fan Favorite. Narrowing thousands of entries to a 54 HIKE OF THE MONTH single image isn’t easy, but when the final vote was tallied, he was the Hermit Trail: Although this trail will take you to the Colorado winner of our seventh annual photo contest. River and back, a more sensible day hike is the round-trip route EDITED BY JEFF KIDA & KEITH WHITNEY to Santa Maria Spring. 40 THE BEST OF FRIENDS It’s been 30 years since Jerry Jacka led a special photo workshop at GET MORE ONLINE Canyon de Chelly. It was the inaugural trip for Friends of Arizona www.arizonahighways.com Highways. Three decades later, the organization, now known as Arizona Highways Photo Workshops, has grown into a world- www.facebook.com/azhighways renowned nonprofit with outings as far away as China. @azhighways BY NOAH AUSTIN @arizonahighways

◗ A slender janusia (Janusia gracilis) blossoms. The delicate vine is native to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. | EIRINI PAJAK CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MARK II; SHUTTER: 1/800 SEC; APERTURE: F/5.6; ISO: 200; FOCAL LENGTH: 100 MM; 41 STACKED IMAGES FRONT COVER Below 6,365-foot Chuar Butte, the iconic light-blue water of the Little Colorado River approaches its confluence with the Colorado River near the eastern boundary of Grand Canyon National Park. | JACK DYKINGA CAMERA: NIKON D800E; SHUTTER: 1.6 SEC; APERTURE: F/16; ISO: 100; FOCAL LENGTH: 24 MM BACK COVER An Abert’s squirrel dines at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monu- ment. The squirrels are known for their tasseled ears. | EIRINI PAJAK CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MARK II; SHUTTER: 1/500 SEC; APERTURE: F/5.6; ISO: 1250; FOCAL LENGTH: 400 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

PETER COSKUN A Focus on Photography When it comes to landscapes, Arizona is a long way from Phila- SEPTEMBER 2015 VOL. 91, NO. 9 he bar is way up there somewhere. It’s a coincidence Photography Issue, we’re delphia. Distance-wise, it’s pretty 800-543-5432 far, too. So when Peter Coskun Right where Mr. Carlson left it in that we’re featuring rerunning the story. It’s www.arizonahighways.com T 1971. Although we’ve published the Little Colorado a good read that offers moved here from Philly with his some impressive words and photographs River exactly 50 years a glimpse into the life PUBLISHER Win Holden family in 2002, he says he was since he left, we still live in the shadow after Mr. Carlson of a landscape photog- EDITOR Robert Stieve “overwhelmed” by his surround- of our editor emeritus. Raymond Carlson. made it our cover rapher in the middle of ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, ings. “It took some adjusting, DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Kelly Mero When he showed up in the 1930s, the story in 1965. The the last century. Many but in high school, I was able to MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Vaughn magazine was an acquired taste. How- inspiration this time things have changed take a photography course and ASSOCIATE EDITOR Noah Austin ever, he knew what was missing. “How around came from since then, but not the enjoyed it quite a bit,” he says. EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Nikki Kimbel can we,” he wrote in July 1938, “through Bill Hatcher, who had long hours spent in “A few years later, I picked up a PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jeff Kida the medium of black and white, paint a been photographing remote corners of the camera of my own and began to focus on nature and wildlife. Eventually, my interest CREATIVE DIRECTOR Barbara Glynn Denney picture of the gold in an Arizona sunset, the river’s headwaters. state. Peter Coskun shifted primarily to landscape photography.” We’re glad it did. Coskun’s photo of the Kofa portray the blue of an Arizona sky, tell He’d just moved back knows what that’s like. ART DIRECTOR Keith Whitney Mountains (see Best Picture 2015, page 30) won our 2015 photography contest. Coskun’s the fiery red and green of an Arizona des- to Arizona, after living Peter was the win- DESIGN PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Diana Benzel-Rice photos have also appeared in Arizona Highways the past two years. His Lost Dutchman ert in bloom? We therefore resort to color in Australia for four MARKOW PAUL ner of our recent photo MAP DESIGNER Kevin Kibsey State Park photo was the favorite of our Facebook fans in 2014, and in 2013, he scored photography in this issue’s cover page to years, and was in the backcountry recon- contest. We don’t see a lot of stuff from PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Michael Bianchi an honorable mention for his West Clear Creek shot. For his Kofas photo, Coskun had faithfully portray one colorful portion of necting with the state. In the process, he the Kofa Mountains — it’s one of the WEBMASTER Victoria J. Snow scouted another composition for sunrise, hoping to catch a “sun star” bursting off the the state.” started sharing some of his images with most rugged ranges in the Southwest — CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Nicole Bowman mountains’ spires. “When I got my shot, I got out of the sun and started looking around That shot — a shot of Oak Creek Can- us. Wow. Look at that. Spectacular. Those so we were impressed with Peter’s hustle, FINANCE DIRECTOR Bob Allen for other compositions,” he says. “I saw this downed ocotillo surrounded by teddy bear yon by Norman Wallace — was the first- were the reactions in our photo depart- and even more impressed with his photo- OPERATIONS/IT MANAGER Cindy Bormanis chollas leading straight to the mountains. The sun was still hiding behind the spire, yet ever color photograph in the magazine. ment, so we sent Bill out to shoot the rest graph. In Best Picture 2015, you’ll see why. the cactuses were highlighted by the backlight. I felt it was a unique take on this area, It was our humble beginning. A single of the river for this month’s cover story. It You’ll also see some of the runners-up, CORPORATE OR TRADE SALES 602-712-2019 which I haven’t seen photographed much.” Coskun is moving toward becoming a profes- photo that would turn into tens of thou- was a few weeks later when we realized which were selected from a collection of SPONSORSHIP SALES sional photographer full time. To see more of his work, visit www.pjcphotography.com. REPRESENTATION On Media Publications sands of photos renowned around the that the Little Colorado was our cover more than 5,000 entries. Although we’ll Lesley Bennett world. Metaphorically, Arizona Highways story in September 1965. always toil in the shadow of our editor 602-445-7160 is the Little Colorado River, which begins While the subject is the same, the emeritus, I think Mr. Carlson would TYLER WILLIAMS as a single drop in a nondescript spring stories are different, and the covers were appreciate the range of photographers we LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] Tyler Williams says his life has largely consisted of “seeking Arizona’s most clandestine 2039 W. Lewis Avenue and varied environments.” That includes the Little Colorado River, which Williams first in the White Mountains and becomes a shot at opposite ends of the river. In 1965, feature every month. Bill Hatcher, Jack Phoenix, AZ 85009 rushing river that runs for 338 miles to we featured the headwaters — Wayne Dykinga, Peter Coskun ... we’ve come a experienced when he hiked to Blue Spring, one of the river’s sources, in 1990. “From that day forward, I always wanted to float the river from the spring to the Colorado River,” he the depths of the Grand Canyon. As riv- Davis made the photograph in the Mount long way since that first color photo by GOVERNOR Douglas A. Ducey ers go, it’s one of our most important. Baldy Primitive Area with a 4x5 Linhof Norman Wallace in 1938. says, but he never got the chance until his first writing assignment forArizona Highways DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT Here’s how Mr. Carlson described it in camera. This month, we went with a OF TRANSPORTATION John S. Halikowski (see The Mighty Colorado ... It’s Not What You’re Thinking, page 16). The assignment came

his September 1965 column: Jack Dykinga photo of the river as it ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION about through photographer Bill Hatcher, a frequent contributor to the magazine who’s approaches the Grand Canyon. He used a BOARD CHAIRMAN Kelly O. Anderson also Williams’ longtime friend. The Little Colorado is a “little” river but Nikon D800E. VICE CHAIRMAN Joseph E. La Rue “I always have a blast working and truly the “mightiest” little river of them all. Jack will tell you that equipment is MEMBERS William Cuthbertson playing with Bill,” he says. “We’ve In its short career from its birthplace in the important, but there’s a lot more to it. Deanna Beaver been adventuring together since high White Mountains to where it joins the big Chuck Abbott, one of Mr. Carlson’s favor- Jack W. Sellers exploring new canyoneering routes Colorado and loses its identity, it is a hodge- ites, said the same thing in a September Michael S. Hammond in the mid-1990s. I’ve learned a lot podge of moods and manners. It is many rivers 1955 story titled You’ve Got to Go Back to Pliny M. Draper from him about photography and to many people. To some it is a placid trout Get the Good Ones. In the piece, he shared backcountry skills. He’s really been stream, murmuring its placid way through his thoughts on the art of photography Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published monthly by a mentor of mine.” Williams also DERMOTT the Arizona Department of Transportation. Subscription price: c cool pine forests and beflowered mountain and the challenges that come with it. $24 a year in the U.S., $44 outside the U.S. Single copy: $4.99 U.S. contributes to Kayak Session and Call 800-543-5432. Subscription correspondence and change Canoe & Kayak magazines, and he’s meadows. To others it is a life-giving stream The best part of the story, however, is of address information: Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big SHANE M whose precious waters nurture farms and the personal stuff, especially the anec- Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, AZ, produced several outdoor-recreation orchards. Scores of ranchers bless it for water- dotes about his wife, Esther Henderson. COMING IN OCTOBER ... and at additional mailing office. CANADA POST INTERNATIONAL guidebooks under his own label, Fun- PUBLICATIONS MAIL PRODUCT (CANADIAN DISTRIBUTION) ing their cattle and sheep. To others it can be Like her husband, Ms. Henderson was a Our annual portfolio of autumn leaves, SALES AGREEMENT NO. 41220511. SEND RETURNS TO QUAD/ hog Press (www.funhogpress.com). a fearful stream, running wide in flood-stage, world-renowned photographer and long- and a special collection of images by the GRAPHICS, P.O. BOX 875, WINDSOR, ON N9A 6P2. POSTMASTER: “I’ve contributed a few photos to Send address changes to Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big so thick with silt it seems as if it were intent on time contributor to Arizona Highways. 5-year-old son of a National Geographic Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Copyright © 2015 by the Arizona Depart- Arizona Highways over the years,” he washing half of Northern Arizona into the sea. This month, as part of our annual photographer. ment of Transportation. Reproduction in whole or in part without adds, “but I’m more of a writer than permission is prohibited. The magazine does not accept and is not responsible for unsolicited mater ials. a photographer, so it’s gratifying to ROBERT STIEVE, EDITOR finally write for the magazine I’ve PRODUCED IN THE USA

Follow me on Twitter: @azhighways known since childhood.” — NOAH AUSTIN LISA GELCZIS

2 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 3 letters to the editor [email protected] THE JOURNAL 09.15

don’t live in Arizona. I subscribe to your national parks centennial > history > photography magazine for the photos. Sure I do. Just iconic photographers > dining > nature > lodging > things to do this once, however, I got lost in a story [The I Blue, July 2015]. I very much enjoyed the way Kelly Vaughn spoke of her time in the Blue. The words she chose and where she put them. If it had been my adventure, it would have ended with the first view of bear tracks. Goodbye ... Kelly, thanks for endur- ing. And for sharing. The photos were lovely, too, but this time, the story was lovelier. Victoria Gray, Reno, Nevada

July 2015

’m like a child waiting for area, because of the gentle hills and raig Childs’ essay [The Long, Deep I Christmas, only I’m waiting for my beautiful scenery. On an August 2003 C Trails of Water, June 2015] was a mas- next issue of Arizona Highways. They trail run, I made mention in my run- terpiece. This incredible, adventurous just don’t come fast enough. The July ning log that I witnessed an “amazing narrative of canyon exploration kept 2015 issue was superb. It highlighted sight” — a huge herd of elk number- me spellbound throughout. As a former some of my favorite places: Walnut ing more than 100. The elk herd was Earth-science teacher and still an avid Canyon, Lava River Cave, the San crossing the trail right in front of hiker, this was indeed right up my Francisco Peaks, Grand Canyon me, and I watched until the last one alley — plenty of science and a literal Railway. I’m distressed that Walnut disappeared into the forest. Although illustration of “boldly going where no Canyon [For Land’s Sake, July 2015] is I now live in Prescott, I still return to one has gone before.” The wise decision in a sensitive place due to develop- Campbell Mesa, one of Arizona’s best- to turn back when safety was compro- ment, but I’m thankful for those who kept secrets — until now. mised reminded me of another famous seek to protect it. I’ve visited only the Dennis Elley, Prescott, Arizona quote by Ed Viesturs of Mount Everest national monument, but it was such fame: “Getting to the top is optional. a spiritual experience. After walking f Bev Pettit is a rodeo fan in Arizona Getting down is mandatory.” A great down into the canyon, I walked along I [The Journal, July 2015], then she should lesson, indeed. the rim. I couldn’t leave. Something know that in Arizona we don’t “lasso” Tom Saxton, Green Valley, Arizona just held me there. Some things are cattle. We rope them. Also, team rop- more important than development ers do not “lasso” calves. They rope laughed when I saw the inside back and making a buck. Keep up the great steers. Calf ropers rope calves. This is I cover [Where Is This?, June 2015]. I have work in highlighting people and from a long line of team ropers. a bell, No. 3, cast in 1886, which has issues that make a difference. Charles Reynolds, Prescott, Arizona a weld on its yoke — I suppose 1886 Mary Lohr, Escondido, California just had weak yokes? I inherited mine X Marks read with interest your article on from my maternal grandparents, who his article [For Land’s Sake, July Ihiking, and how Baldy Peak is rated had it as their “farm bell” near Fayette, the Spot T2015] really hit home for me. “moderate” [Hike of the Month, June 2015]. Missouri. I don’t know where your The sun illuminates the sand- During my years in Flagstaff, I lived Years ago, before GPS and Internet Arizona bell is located, but mine is at stone layers of Canyon X, a slot canyon near Page and only a half-mile from the Campbell weather reports, our family made our my front door in Lubbock, Texas. By Lake Powell. The canyon, Mesa Trailhead. I soon discovered the only climb of Baldy Peak. We made they way, we’re longtime subscribers, more than 180 feet deep, is wonderful trails that loop through it to the top, but before descending, and we really enjoy your magazine. more remote and less visited the ponderosa pines on Campbell my 7-year-old nephew fell asleep, so I Pat Jury, Lubbock, Texas than nearby Antelope Canyon. Mesa and met Ralph Baierlein on one carried him down the mountain on my | SUZANNE MATHIA of those trails in 2003. He gave me back in a July monsoon storm under a contact us If you have thoughts or com- To book a tour of Canyon X a map of the trail system that was 55-gallon trash bag. I think he would ments about anything in Arizona Highways, we’d through the Powell Museum being developed at that time. It was agree that it was a moderate trip, but love to hear from you. We can be reached at in Page, call 928-645-9496 or [email protected], or by mail at 2039 visit www.powellmuseum.org. my favorite place for trail-running once was enough for me. W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. For more CAMERA: CANON EOS-1D MARK III; and mountain-biking in the Flagstaff Robert Graham, Show Low, Arizona information, visit www.arizonahighways.com. SHUTTER: 4 SEC; APERTURE: F/11; ISO: 200; FOCAL LENGTH: 17 MM 4 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 5 national parks centennial � �

EDITOR’S NOTE: In August 2016, the National Park Service 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 THE JOURNAL Montezuma Castle National Monument custodian Earl Jackson shows a visitor the Sinaguan ruin in the 1930s. MONTEZUMA CASTLE NATIONAL MONUMENT

ontezuma Castle is not a castle, and it Montezuma Castle was constructed from stones, has nothing to do with the Aztec emperor mud and tree trunks in a limestone alcove above Montezuma. Early settlers gave this name Beaver Creek. To preserve the ruins, visitors are not Mto what is actually an 800-year-old cliff allowed inside, but the National Park Service has dwelling built by the prehistoric Sinagua people. paved a walking path for unobstructed viewing. A Nestled 100 feet above the ground, the five-story, natural well, called Montezuma Well, sits 11 miles 20-room complex has outlasted the Sinaguans from Montezuma Castle. Additional ruins and a themselves. A resourceful people, the Sinaguans prehistoric irrigation ditch surround the well. The people who built lived in the dwelling for about 300 years, then sud- — KAYLA FROST Montezuma Castle are long denly vacated and integrated into other Native Ameri- gone, but this ancient cliff YEAR DESIGNATED: 1906 can societies. Now, Montezuma Castle is inhabited dwelling endures as a national AREA: 842 acres monument. only by creatures of the desert, such as the Western WILDERNESS ACREAGE: None diamondback rattlesnake. ANNUAL VISITATION: 407,017 (2014) Located near present-day Camp Verde, AVERAGE ELEVATION: 3,245 feet

NICK BEREZENKO www.nps.gov/moca

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

Amelia Earhart in Arizona McNeal, Arizona, has never been a hot spot for celebrity sightings. But one day in September, almost nine decades ago, one of the most famous women in the world dropped out of the sky. Literally.

eptember 12, 1928, to be kidding!” dawned hot and still It had been three months since in McNeal. Farmers Amelia Earhart’s trip across the S worked their fields in Atlantic had thrust her into celeb- the small agricultural commu- rity. She had just completed the nity about 20 miles northwest manuscript of her book, 20 Hours, of Douglas. Members of the 40 Minutes, about that flight. Ladies Aid Society prepared for This trip would mark the first their Wednesday lunch meeting. time a woman flew solo across the Then, a strange noise caught the country and back, but as Earhart attention of everyone in town. wrote in her autobiography, The Fun Fourth-grader Fred Stolp of It, she thought of it as a vacation, looked out the schoolhouse “a minor adventure in vagabond- window and watched, open- ing by air and a relaxation from mouthed, as a blue-and-silver writer’s cramp.” biplane, the first plane anyone Running low on fuel, Earhart in town had ever seen, circled made the landing. The mesquites overhead. may have punctured her tire. More “We were beside ourselves,” likely, an earlier patch failed. In Stolp recounted in a 1992 story in either case, Earhart lunched with Cochise Quarterly. “It was almost the Ladies Aid Society while Por-

like watching a miracle.” ter and Lewis Burton refueled the A summer monsoon storm rolls toward Tucson. | MARY SIML Kids jumped out of the win- plane and repaired her tire, writing THE JOURNAL

dows and raced to see the plane. BISBEE MINING & HISTORICAL MUSEUM their names inside. It took three Alva Rich Porter froze while tries to get airborne again, Earhart’s Taking Us by Storm pumping gas at McNeal Mer- tires twice more going flat. Famed aviator Amelia Earhart strikes a pose after landing in the For our third annual student photo contest, which we co-presented with cantile. Arnie Hongo, a local small town of McNeal in 1928. | BISBEE MINING & HISTORICAL MUSEUM “She circled McNeal, waving to farmer, grabbed his camera and us,” Stolp recalled, “then headed off The Nature Conservancy, it was Mary Siml of Tucson who impressed us most. came running. front of a stunned crowd, the pilot into the southeast,” leaving the residents The plane sputtered as it banked, climbed out wearing a skirt and close- of McNeal with a memory as lasting and or the second consecutive year, I Her father gave her a point-and-shoot rather than color. I asked Mary why she then touched down in a field studded fitting hat. ethereal as the sky. had an opportunity to be one of digital camera, and she and her father chose such a low horizon. She said she with tumbleweeds and mesquites. In “A woman?” Stolp thought. “You have — KATHY MONTGOMERY the judges for a student photogra- would go out hiking and shooting together. just moves the camera around until the F phy contest presented by Arizona She never ended up entering the Ameri- shot feels right. That tells me she has a Highways and The Nature Conservancy. can Girl contest, but thanks to the support very intuitive eye, which bodes well for her More than 200 high-school students of her parents, she learned that she had a future as a photographer. ARIZONA HIGHWAYS this ■ Tucson District button to start its draft for World War I The Little Colorado from around the state submitted photos. passion for photography. To see the other winners and finalists, No. 1 hires its first operation. are caught in the River, which starts in Sometimes, it’s difficult to select a winner, Mary made this image on the roof of her visit www.arizonahighways.com. And visit Chinese-American ■ Bubonic plague border city. 50 Years Ago the White Mountains but this year, among many strong entries, house as the monsoon storm was rolling our site later this year for details on next month teacher, Mae Don, makes its first ■ The El Conquista- and eventually joins one stood out. The photo above, Desert in. She shot some photos in color but didn’t year’s contest. — PHOTO EDITOR JEFF KIDA on September 6, appearance in Ari- dor Hotel in Tucson with the Colorado Monsoon, took first place. It was made like them as much. Maybe it’s no surprise in history 1941. zona on September faces the start of River, was the focus by Tucson’s Mary Siml, who is home- that she prefers black and white: One of ■ The Hoover Dam 18, 1929, in Yuma. its demolition on of Arizona Highways’ schooled and just completed her fresh- her heroes is Ansel Adams, and she says generates electricity ■ Prisoners over- September 25, 1968, September 1965 issue. for the first time on flow the Nogales jail 40 years after it It included features man year of high school. she used to try to copy his style. September 11, 1936, on September 22, opened. Later, the on the Lower Gorge, Mary is almost entirely self-taught. I like the natural framing of this shot. when President 1917, as people from location becomes Lyman Dam and the When she was younger, she wanted to The low horizon allows the high clouds the ADDITIONAL READING Franklin D. Roose- across the country Tucson’s first cov- history of the river and enter the American Girl Photo Contest; space to expand. It’s very dramatic, and Look for our book Arizona Highways Photography Guide, available at velt presses the trying to escape the ered shopping mall. its people. the prize was a doll, which caught the the black-and-white rendering adds to bookstores and www.shoparizona interest of both her and her older sister. that by making it an image about forms, highways.com/books.

8 SEPTEMBER 2015 To learn more about photography, visit www.arizonahighways.com/photography. www.arizonahighways.com 9 iconic photographers � � THE JOURNAL COURTESY OF THE FAMILY RATCLIFFE BILL RATCLIFFE

t wasn’t that Bill Ratcliffe didn’t know how to use began working at Provo Flying Service. The airport a telephoto lens. It was that he didn’t want to. As was near Utah Lake, where Ratcliffe made scenic a nature photographer, Ratcliffe preferred to get photographs and filmed birds as a hobby. His short I as close to wildlife as possible, which sometimes filmBird Study landed him a photography job for the meant building makeshift hideouts and staking out Walt Disney Productions movie Perri. After two years animals for hours. “Many of the birds I have pho- of film work, Ratcliffe became a test photographer tographed could have counted the freckles on my for the Dugway Proving Ground. He photographed nose,” he said in a 1963 issue of Arizona Highways. throughout the Southwest for magazines and books Born in Utah in 1925, Ratcliffe discovered his inter- until his death in 2003. est in photography around the age of 21, when he — KAYLA FROST

ABOVE: Bill Ratcliffe was known, asArizona Highways Editor Raymond Carlson once wrote, for “his infinite patience to wait for days until the bird or animal he has been stalking will pose just right for a memorable photograph.”

RIGHT: Ratcliffe’s photo of a kit fox was part of an extensive wildlife portfolio that appeared in our October 1963 issue. BILL RATCLIFFE

10 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 11 dining nature � � � � Tourist Home Urban Market What once was a boarding house for Basque sheepherders is now Mexican free-tailed bats a small grocery store and café that features “American comfort food redefined.” have reddish, dark-brown It’s one more reason to hang out on Flagstaff’s Southside. or gray fur.

FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES, VISITORS AND its doors. By 2013, it seemed tearing down neglected place it was just a few years ago. residents steered clear of Tourist Home on the decaying building was imminent. The café and market offers quick-service South San Francisco Street in downtown Enter cousins Scott and Kevin Hei- breakfast and lunch items from its kitchen, Flagstaff. Rather than being inviting, as nonen, the chef and manager, respectively, as well as specialty foods and grocery the building’s fading of the successful Tinderbox Kitchen staples from the market shelves and deli flagstaff sign implied, the long- restaurant and Annex cocktail lounge cases. abandoned hostel was next door. With the help of a Flagstaff You can pick up milk and eggs at Tour- downright creepy, with whiskey bottles developer, the Heinonens acquired the ist Home, but you can also buy exotic littering the yard, boarded-up windows building and vowed to restore the historic cheeses, homemade pâté and gourmet and a collapsing structure that was a structure. cornbread mix. However, what really sets haven for vagrants. Tourist Home Urban Market opened this new venue apart from the growing Built in 1926 by Basque sheepherder in October 2014 as a small grocery store number of Southside restaurants is the Jesus Garcia and his mother, Tourist and Tinderbox-inspired café. While the selection of breakfast and lunch items, Home was originally a boarding house for original exterior structure has been forti- which are prepared in less than 10 min- The bodies of the bats are between 2 and 2.5 inches long. sheepherders. But after the sheepherding fied and preserved, the building’s interior utes but reflect the Tinderbox motto of industry disappeared, Tourist Home shut is clean, modern and the antithesis of the “American comfort food redefined.” They’re called “free- tailed” because their “We are focused on fresh, flavorful tails extend beyond the ingredients,” says Tourist Home general tail membranes. manager Dara Wong, who is also a gourmet pastry chef. “We are carrying over BRUCE (2) D. TAUBERT some menu ideas from the Tinderbox in terms of offering simple, bold food. Every- Mexican thing on our menu has minimal ingredi- THE JOURNAL nature factoid ents but is executed very well.” Free-Tailed Bats Take, for example, the pastrami sand- very week, a colony of moving according to how wich (pictured). This exquisite rendition Mexican free-tailed bats those sounds bounce back. of an American lunchbox staple is packed (Tadarida brasiliensis) The bats can be found 2 inches thick with pastrami made from Ecan eat hundreds of throughout Arizona until Octo- New York strip-steak loins, treated in a tons of insects, particularly ber, when most of them travel special brine and then smoked. The savory moths — some of which prey south to Mexico and Central sandwich is served on raisin-pumper- on cotton crops. The bats typi- America. However, some will nickel bread and also contains caraway cally roost in caves and attics, stay in Arizona in the winter, slaw and melted Gruyère cheese. Other under bridges or in abandoned particularly in the southern quick-serve items on the lunch menu buildings or mines. And they and western parts of the state. include a warm spinach salad with duck- often roost near water, which Those that leave return to attracts the insects they eat. Arizona in the spring, coincid- fat vinaigrette and a steak torta made Mexican free-tailed bats are ing with the mating season in with carne asada and queso fresco. And the smallest free-tailed bats, February and March. Wong always has fresh-baked pastries with bodies between 2 and Female Mexican free-tailed popping out of the oven. 2.5 inches long and wingspans bats bear only one baby each COMMON SUNFLOWERS Just about everything Tourist Home of about a foot. They’re also summer, in June or July. The Common sunflowers Helianthus( annuus) are recognizable by serves from its kitchen is house-made, among the fastest, moving at females and their babies will from the breads to the smoked salmon their height (up to 10 feet) and their characteristic movement up to 65 miles per hour and roost in maternity colonies, — they follow the sun across the sky throughout the day. Sun- and even the ketchup. “We are raising the feeding in flight, sometimes in separate from the males, flowers, actually classified as a roadside weed, have a depth bar for quick-service food,” Wong says. areas 50 miles away from their and the babies will stay in the of culinary, cultural and medical history. Originally cultivated by Native Americans, they’re part of the Iroquois creation myth — ANNETTE MCGIVNEY roost. As most bats do, Mexi- highest areas of the roost, and have been used to produce oil and coffee substitutes; treat can free-tailed bats navigate where it’s warmest. By about Tourist Home Urban Market is located at 52 S. San Fran kidney disease, chest pain and malaria; and kill flies, among cisco Street in Flagstaff. For more information, call 928- through echolocation, emitting a month old, the babies can fly other uses. — MOLLY BILKER

JOHN BURCHAM JOHN 779-2811 or visit www.touristhomeurbanmarket.com. clicks at a high frequency and and find food. — MOLLY BILKER

12 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 13 lodging � � STEVEN MECKLER STEVEN Copper City Inn

“THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO DO in Bisbee,” at nearby High Desert Market and Café. about relaxing: He’s the longtime bartender Fred Miller says, “but one of the best things The Mary Jane Colter and Louie de Bisbee and beverage manager at Bisbee’s Cafe is to not do anything.” rooms are perfect for couples, while the Roka. “We want to provide people with a THE JOURNAL bisbee Miller runs the three-room larger Warren Suite includes a full kitchen place where they don’t have to think about Copper City Inn — which and can accommodate up to four people. the stuff they left behind,” he says. “They he opened in 2005 and now co-owns with Each has its own décor and personality, but can just be here and enjoy.” — NOAH AUSTIN his wife, Anita Fox — with that mantra in all feature a private balcony, soft lighting The Copper City Inn is located at 99 Main Street in mind. Guests are treated to a bottle of red and soothing colors that encourage guests Bisbee. For more information, call 520-432-1418 or or white wine and a voucher for breakfast to relax. And Miller knows a thing or two visit www.coppercityinn.com.

things to do in arizona � � Grand Canyon Salsa Festival town’s main drag. This free Celebration of Art percent of their profits to local September 3-6, Flagstaff celebration includes a chili September 12-January 18, historic-preservation efforts. Look, we won’t lie to you: This fes- cook-off, other contests, a Grand Canyon Information: 928-443-8909 or tival is about salsa-dancing, not kissing booth, live music and Help establish a permanent art www.visit-prescott.com salsa- . If the former is more more. venue at the Grand Canyon by TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT. eating Information: 520-432- your thing, treat yourself to four 3554 or www.facebook.com/ attending artist demonstrations, Photo Workshop: Every month, we showcase the most talented photographers in Our contest is open to amateur and nights and three days of dancing brewerygulchdaze an auction and a Kolb Studio Canyon de Chelly the world. Now it’s your turn to join the ranks. Enter your favorite professional photographers. All photos and workshops at Twin Arrows exhibit and sale. Information: October 21-25, Chinle must be made in Arizona and fit into Casino Resort. Information: 928- Fiesta de Tlaquepaque 928-638-2481 or www.grand Join Navajo photographer photo in the 2016 Arizona Highways Photography Contest. the following categories: Landscape 814-2650 or www.grandcanyon September 12, Sedona canyon.org LeRoy DeJolie on a spectacular and Macro (close-up). salsafestival.com Celebrate Mexico’s indepen- autumn tour to photograph the dence at the Tlaquepaque Antiques on the Square canyon, along with Canyon del You could win an Arizona Highways Photo Workshop Brewery Gulch Daze arts-and-crafts village. This September 20, Prescott Muerto. The workshop also valued at $2,500 or additional photography prizes. For details, visit www.arizona September 6, Bisbee year’s fiesta includes mariachis, More than 60 vendors showcase includes photo sessions with highways.com. First-, second- and Dress in costume and “party like flamenco dancers and mouth- antiques and collectibles at Navajo weavers, potters and third-place winners will be published it’s 1909” in Bisbee’s historic watering food from south of the Courthouse Square. The event jewelers in traditional dress. in our September 2016 issue and Brewery Gulch neighborhood, border. Information: 928-282- is sponsored by the Thumb Information: 888-790-7042 or online beginning in early 2016.

formerly the copper-mining 4838 or www.tlaq.com Butte Questers, who donate 100 www.ahpw.org HORN AMY

14 SEPTEMBER 2015 For more events, visit www.arizonahighways.com/events. THE MIGHTY COLORADO... IT’S NOT WHAT YOU’RE THINKING

MENTION THE COLORADO RIVER TO MOST PEOPLE, A PORTFOLIO BY BILL HATCHER AND THEY’LL CONJURE IMAGES OF WHITEWATER RAF- TEXT BY TYLER WILLIAMS TERS SLICING THROUGH LAVA FALLS. IT’S ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT RIVERS. LESS FAMOUS, BUT ALSO IMPRESSIVE, IS THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER, WHICH RUNS FOR 338 MILES FROM A SMALL SPRING NEAR GREER TO ITS SCENIC CONFLUENCE WITH THE LARGER COLORADO IN THE DEPTHS OF THE GRAND CANYON.

The light-blue water of the Little Colorado River meets the Colorado River near the eastern boundary of Grand Canyon National Park. Photographer Bill Hatcher made this photo at Cape Solitude, which overlooks the confluence from the south. “It’s considered one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the Grand Canyon, for obvious reasons,” Hatcher says.

16 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 17 The rapids sent us sluicing through boulders into a blur of action and reaction. Water plunged and recoiled into white curlers as photographer Bill Hatcher and I steered our little boats through the tumbling maze. It was hard to believe that we were actually “Big” Colorado, into which it empties. As a paddler, I’ve tracked these random floods with great paddling such a river. Just the anticipation as they roll downstream, only to be disappointed when I arrive with my boat to find a dry riverbed, the water completely absorbed by thirsty sands upstream. Summertime flash floods like this come from thunderstorms falling upon night before, we’d camped along the innumerable washes of the Painted Desert. In springtime, Little Colorado water comes from another source: clear snow- melt off the Mogollon Rim. Bill and I went to the Rim’s highest volcanic bulge — the a dry riverbed a stone’s throw White Mountains — to find the river’s source. We were zigzagging down a gentle slope of Engelmann spruce when Bill stopped and looked back at me with a sheepish grin. “Water,” he said. A boulder dripped a trickle from its base, upstream. But here it was — feeding a kitchen-sink-size pool of translucent liquid. The water emerged, our altimeter told us, at 10,120 feet, upon a lens of impervious rock that produced several seeps across the mountainside. We weaved through the forest of springs into clear and deep, and demanding meadows ringed in golden aspens, passing more damp rivulets, watching the little stream grow and then diminish, already struggling to stay on the surface, as if it knew that a harsh desert awaited below the high haven. our full attention. The Little Colorado emerges from the mountains into a perfect, green valley ringed by cliffs of basalt, where a few well- The water came from a natural wonder called Blue Spring. kept cabins line the floodplain. This is the X Diamond Ranch, With a flow of more than 90 cubic feet per second, it is the established in 1879. Wink Crigler has lived here her entire life, largest spring in Northern Arizona, but hydrologists have yet watering fields of corn and hay with the river’s water in sum- to identify the water’s origins. It boiled up from magical depths mer and walking slippery, makeshift bridges of ponderosa beneath a gray cliff of limestone, offering a bit of Caribbean pines following floods. splendor to the surrounding brown canyon country. Following “The river used to spread across this valley,” she explained, the improbable stream through the rapids and deeper into the gesturing out her front window, “but the flood of ’68 cut a new gorge, we drifted, surrounded by rock, on a river of turquoise. channel. I watched our bridge wash away in the flash of an eye.” Such an incongruous match of elements is natural for Ari- It was difficult to imagine such a tame little stream over- zona, the land of contrasts. The Little Colorado River links whelming a stout, timber-framed bridge, and I stared, ques- verdant, spruce-lined meadows in its upper reaches with sand- tioning, until Crigler reminded me: “This river is dynamic.” blown deserts downstream, carving a single, winding path “Dynamic” and “determined” are defining adjectives for across the northeast quadrant of the state. This is one of the the Little Colorado. Its story might end just beyond Crigler’s most unique rivers anywhere. Its drainage basin covers an area ranch, where it is diverted into farmers’ fields near the town of the size of South Carolina, yet its channel is normally dry. Still, Springerville. The remnants are sent trickling through basalt it can sometimes flood into a red-hued monster larger than the gorges before slamming into a dam at Lyman Lake. The moun-

18 SEPTEMBER 2015 ABOVE, LEFT: Hatcher and me to wrap our tains of the river’s birth fade into the far horizon, and the Little pack-raft descent below Blue Spring, I sat at that confluence skis along the Little minds around the idea Colorado adopts a new persona that challenges our notions of a and tried to envision a tram and boardwalk teeming with tour- Colorado’s West Fork that this little moun- river, diving beneath the sand before re-emerging quite unex- ists. It wasn’t easy. Cape Solitude soared silently 3,500 feet after a spring snow- tain stream is the same storm. “I used a remote river system as the pectedly amid the steppes. The Little Colorado has more than overhead, and the Little Colorado gently swirled the last of its to make this photo,” he milkshake-colored 1,200 springs in its system, just enough to keep the channel milky turquoise into the big, dark Colorado River. says. “I do this some- water of Grand Falls,” moist as it wends across endless high desert. My mind traced the river’s journey from spruce-cloaked times to give a place a Hatcher says. sense of scale. I skied LEFT: Aspen leaves float The river is poised to cascade over 185-foot Grand Falls and mountains to surreal volcanic grasslands, through black gorges all the way up to the begin its plunge into canyon country when it runs past North and past sandstone monoliths to fantastically blue springs, in a small pool that spring where the fork marks the East Fork’s Leupp Family Farm, where I met manager Tyrone Thompson finally tumbling into pools fizzing like champagne while originates, following source. “We went up in the shadow of the San Francisco Peaks. The river’s water plunging into the greatest chasm ever known. a series of long there looking for the meadows.” sustains fields of squash, corn and kale at the farm, where That spectacular path seemed too unlikely to be real, as source, expecting it to ABOVE: Writer Tyler be coming out of a locals can rent a plot for a nominal fee. “I want people here to unbelievable as the insult of human infrastructure might be at Williams walks on crack in the rock,” have the chance to eat healthy, from the land,” Thompson said. the river’s grand finale. rocks in the river’s East Hatcher says. “What That’s not always so easy along an ephemeral river of mud, but Regardless, this determined little river will keep chipping Fork about 4 miles we found instead was from that fork’s source this beautiful, quiet people have been doing it for centuries. away, blue water gnawing at red rock, long after any tram has in the White Mountains. pond.” Today, the Little Colorado is at the center of controversy come and gone and withered back into the desert. Despite “It was hard for Tyler over a proposed development at its confluence with the Colo- what we might think a river should be, the Little Colorado rado River in the Grand Canyon. As Bill and I finished our presses on at its own pace, because this is a river like no other.

20 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 21 LEFT: Tyrone Thompson, Grand Falls. “When I got Francisco Peaks. “Henry’s the manager of North there, there was no water family has a number of Leupp Family Farm, coming over the falls,” homes between the splashes water at the Hatcher says. “These peaks and Grand Falls,” farm’s stock tank near people showed up and Hatcher says. “The terrain Leupp. “The source for sat down, and then the here exemplifies that this water is the Little river started flowing. middle ground between Colorado,” Hatcher says, Remnants of a large the mountains and the “and the tank is filled tropical storm had blown lower desert.” using a solar-powered through the White BELOW: Photographer pump.” Mountains and created a Jerry Cagle, who joined pulse flow on the river.” “RIVERS KNOW THIS: THERE IS NO HURRY. WE SHALL GET THERE SOMEDAY.” LEFT, CENTER: Phoenix- Hatcher on a trip to Grand area college students on LEFT, BELOW: Henry Cody, Falls, watches as water a geology field trip watch 85, herds sheep toward tumbles over the falls’ — A.A. MILNE as chocolate-colored the Little Colorado edge. In the background is water cascades over beneath the distant San 5,358-foot Roden Crater.

22 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 23 ABOVE, LEFT: The three “He flipped his boat photos on this spread after he did this drop,” were made on the same Hatcher says. day within a 6-mile “WATER IS THE PRINCIPLE, OR THE ELEMENT, OF THINGS. ALL THINGS ARE WATER.” TOP: Williams walks stretch of the Little across a travertine dam. Colorado, and they illus- The river features its — PLUTARCH trate how much the wa- trademark light-blue ter’s color can change. color. Here, Williams drops off a travertine fall while ABOVE: Williams scouts a boating from Blue particularly challenging Spring to Big Canyon. set of rapids.

24 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 25 LEFT: Hikers camp near 25 years, and this was BELOW: Hatcher stands Blue Spring, where the the first assignment atop 6,365-foot Chuar Little Colorado’s base where I had to use my Butte, which overlooks flow originates. “It took skills in hiking, skiing, the Colorado-Little a 3- to 4-mile hike to get mountain-climbing and Colorado confluence. here, and it involved a boating. After that many “I handed my camera to lot of climbing and years, to have a ‘first’ is fellow adventurer Glenn descending cliffs,” always notable.” Rink to make this photo,” Hatcher says. “I’ve been he says. “He didn’t want a photographer for to stand by the edge.”

“THE CARE OF RIVERS IS NOT A QUESTION OF RIVERS, BUT OF THE HUMAN HEART.”

— TANAKA SHOZO

26 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 27 “WHEN YOU PUT YOUR HAND IN A FLOWING STREAM,

YOU TOUCH THE LAST THAT HAS GONE BEFORE AND

THE FIRST OF WHAT IS STILL TO COME.”

— LEONARDO DA VINCI

The Colorado and Little Colorado rivers converge at sunset. “I made my photos for this assignment in 2014, which was a very wet year,” Hatcher says, “so the lower part of the Little Colorado was flooded and brown. I wanted to photograph the blending of the rivers, but I wanted it to be its iconic blue color. I waited for months before my opportunity came. I hiked to a spot upstream and waited for sunset.”

28 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 29 BEST PICTURE 2015 And the winner is ... Peter Coskun of Phoenix. It’s not the first time we’ve been impressed with his work. Peter was an honorable- mention winner in 2013, and last year, his photo of Lost Dutchman State Park was our Facebook Fan Favorite. Narrowing thousands of entries to a single image isn’t easy, but when the final vote was tallied, he was the winner of our seventh annual photo contest. EDITED BY JEFF KIDA & KEITH WHITNEY GRAND-PRIZE WINNER Mountain Minions, by Peter Coskun Sunrise illuminates teddy bear chollas and ocotillos in the rugged Kofa Mountains of Western Arizona. “This is one of the nicest photos I’ve seen from the Kofas,” says Photo Editor Jeff Kida. “There’s plenty of detail and texture in the foreground and background, and the dead ocotillo in the foreground forms a triangle that leads the viewer up into the payoff: the rising sun behind the mountain. It’s a well-framed and complete photograph that tells a story.” Camera: Canon EOS 6D; Shutter: 1/15 sec; Aperture: f/16; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 19 mm

30 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 31 SECOND PLACE Facing the New Day, by Chris Couture A juvenile bald eagle watches the sun come up at Woods Canyon Lake on the Mogollon Rim. “This is a story about contrast and environment,” Kida says. “The colder blue and green hues of the lake and trees balance the warmer light in the foreground, while the harder texture of the rock contrasts with the soft mist rising from the lake. It’s a nice moment.” Camera: Sony Alpha DSLR-A900; Shutter: 1/15 sec; Aperture: f/4.5; ISO: 200; Focal Length: 120 mm

32 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 33 ASDGASGSDFGSDFG

THIRD PLACE Black Aspen, by Gerry Groeber Aspen leaves blanket the dark ground of Lockett Meadow northeast of Flagstaff. Kida notes that those leaves lead the viewer into the trunks of the aspens themselves: “The way the leaves have grouped together creates a path — a yellow-brick road — that contrasts with the dark hues around it. It’s a well- composed and well-thought-out shot that’s almost monochromatic — if you took this to black and white, it’d be every bit as powerful.” Camera: Nikon D7100; Shutter: 1/60 sec; Aperture: f/10; ISO: 400; Focal Length: 15 mm

34 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 35 HONORABLE MENTION HONORABLE MENTION Rosa del Desierto, Working It, by Gary Smith by Rich Helmer Honeybees search for nectar near a Southwestern pricklypoppy in Sierra Vista. “This is a great Hedgehog-cactus blooms close-up that shows patience,” Kida says. “Rather than the bees sitting in the flower, they’re in flight, match the magenta of sunset and it creates an interesting dynamic that we don’t normally see. It’s also strong compositionally: in the San Tan Mountains The flower’s petal is semicircular and draws the viewer’s eye back to the center of the flower.” southeast of Phoenix. “There’s Camera: Nikon D600; Shutter: 1/2000 sec; Aperture: f/8; ISO: 400; Focal Length: 105 mm a wonderful balance here,” Kida says. “Rich had the patience to shoot long after sunset, with a long exposure. That creates great soft tones, which is ideal for digital photography. I also like the way the detail on the cactus contrasts with the monolithic form in the background.” Camera: Nikon D90; Shutter: 175 sec; HONORABLE MENTION Aperture: f/10; ISO: 200; Focal Length: 15 mm Tatahatso Morning, by Mark Metternich The Colorado River flows around a bend in Marble Canyon, as viewed from Tatahatso Point near Grand Canyon National Park’s eastern boundary. “The harsh, jagged and rugged forms in this photo are balanced by the soft, puffy clouds,” Kida says, “and even though it’s largely symmetrical, that composition really works — it cradles the bend in the river.” Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Shutter: 1/15 sec; Aperture: f/6.3; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 14 mm

HONORABLE MENTION Some Days, It’s About Hanging On, by Peggy Coleman A jumping spider clings to a yucca leaf in Mesa. Kida says the yucca leaf creates a strong diagonal line, but the spider is clearly the focal point. “The spider’s brown tones are complemented by the brown at the tip of the leaf,” he says. “It’s more interesting than if it all were perfectly green. I like the light in the spider’s eyes, too — even though it’s a spider, we’re always drawn to eyes in nature.” Camera: Nikon D800; Shutter: 1/250 sec; Aperture: f/16; ISO: 800; Focal Length: 105 mm

36 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 37 HONORABLE MENTION Watson Snake, by Michael Wilson A gartersnake enjoys the cool water of Watson Lake near Prescott. Kida points to the diagonal line formed by the snake’s body and the framing of the photo as strong compositional elements. “I also like the photographer’s patience in waiting for the snake to flick its tongue,” he adds. Camera: Nikon D7000; Shutter: 1/60 sec; Aperture: f/2.8; ISO: 400; Focal Length: 105 mm

HONORABLE MENTION The Waiting Game, by Robert Jensen A green lynx spider perches on a datura blossom at the base of Madera Canyon in Southern Arizona. “This photo is beautiful HONORABLE MENTION in its simplicity,” Kida says. “The spider’s legs catch your eye and draw Day’s End, by Peter Coskun you in — they’re so articulate, you The calm water of Watson can’t help but look. And the white Lake reflects the surrounding flower creates a strong diagonal Granite Dells at sunset. “Peter that contrasts with the green of the has very adeptly kept a little spider and the background.” HONORABLE MENTION separation between the Camera: Nikon F4S; Film: Fujichrome Sensia II; bush at the end of the rock Shutter: 1/250 sec; Aperture: f/22; Curious Baby Owls, in the foreground and the ISO: 100; Focal Length: 200 mm by Alyson Brendecke shoreline in the background,” Baby owls peek out of a hollow Kida says. “They’re part of elm tree in Phoenix’s Arcadia each other, but there’s not neighborhood. “This is a sweet an intersection, so it makes family portrait,” Kida says. “Alyson a clean composition. And used a long lens to stand back and he shot during the ‘magic allow the owls their safety and light,’ so the colors all come privacy. The tree frames the owls, together and the reflections and there’s contrast between the are illuminated beautifully.” soft birds and the gnarly textures Camera: Canon EOS 6D; Shutter: of the tree. The soft light is nice, 0.4 sec; Aperture: f/14; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 16 mm too. It all works together.” Camera: Pentax K-x; Shutter: 1/160 sec; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400; Focal Length: 450 mm

38 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 39 THE BEST OF

FRIENDSIt’s been 30 years since Jerry Jacka led a special photo workshop at Canyon de Chelly. It was the inaugural trip for Friends of Arizona Highways. Three decades later, the organization, now known as Arizona Highways Photo Workshops, has grown into a world- renowned nonprofit with outings as far away as China. BY NOAH AUSTIN

Two Arizona Highways Photo Workshop participants take aim at the Grand Canyon from the South Rim. | JOHN FRELICH

40 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 41 Amid a buzz of activity, a photographer lines up a shot in Antelope Canyon near Page during a workshop. | ALAN FELDMAN

T STARTED, APPROPRIATELY, on an Arizona highway. Aboard a houseboat, frequent Arizona Highways contributor Hugh Harelson, the publisher of Arizona Highways from Gary Ladd (left) and workshop participants go over a map of 1982 to 1995, and his wife, Jan, were on one of their long Lake Powell. | JOHN FRELICH commutes between their home in Prescott and the magazine’s headquarters in Phoenix. It was 1985 — “the good old days when no one could get you by phone, so people were willing to pay to be under their tutelage.” you wouldn’t get interrupted,” Jan says. The program’s first workshop was at Canyon de Chelly On this trip, the Harelsons were discussing Friends on the Navajo Nation. Jerry Jacka led that workshop, of Arizona Highways, which had formed in 1970 as an using his personal connections among the Navajos to get auxiliary to the magazine and had become a resource for participants the best possible access. Photo Editor Peter tourism and photography enthusiasts. But the magazine’s Ensenberger went along, and Jan was there, too, as the charter didn’t include operating as a tourism bureau. hostess. Together with friend Shannon Rosenblatt, the Harel- “The people attending the workshop assumed I was a Isons formed a plan to incorporate Friends of Arizona photographer,” she says. “I had to explain to them that I Highways as a nonprofit organization that would recruit was known for taking snapshots of my eyeball by holding the magazine’s contributors to lead educational photo- the camera the wrong way.” graphic trips. That organization, now known as Arizona Since then, AHPW has grown into an international Highways Photo Workshops (AHPW), is marking its 30th organization offering single- and multiple-day trips in anniversary this year. Arizona, other states and Canada. Roberta Lites, AHPW’s There weren’t many similar programs on which to base executive director since 2010, says the organization now the organization — in part, Jan says, because Arizona averages about 70 workshops per year. Since its inception, Highways is one of a kind. it’s offered more than 800 of them. “I don’t think any other magazine had quite the mys- The trips have traditionally been all-inclusive, but in tique that Highways had,” she says. “We had — and still 2016, Lites says, AHPW will add an option for partici- have — a phalanx of world-renowned photographers, and pants who want to arrange their own transportation,

42 SEPTEMBER 2015 LEFT: Weavers Needle rises from the Superstition Wilderness near Phoenix in this photo by Colleen Miniuk-Sperry, who got her start as a photo-workshop participant and is now a professional photographer. | COLLEEN MINIUK-SPERRY RIGHT: Another AHPW success story, Suzanne Mathia, made this shot amid the jagged rocks of the Colorado River. | SUZANNE MATHIA

meals and lodging. It also will embark on its first trip outside North America when photographer Beth Ruggiero-York leads a workshop in China. That trip came about after AHPW surveyed past participants about the international locations they’d like to visit. Ruggiero-York lived in China for years and is fluent in Mandarin. Colleen Miniuk-Sperry got involved with AHPW in 2003, when she attended a Colorado fall-colors workshop led by Jim Steinberg. “The experience was life-changing,” she says. “I learned so much about photography and how to connect with my environment. I never intended to become a freelance photographer, but after that workshop, I thought to myself, This could really be my life path.” these wonderful locations.” Two years later, photographer and AHPW volunteer Hugh Harelson died of cancer in 1998 at age 67, but he Paul Gill suggested that Miniuk-Sperry consider volun- left a lasting impact on Arizona Highways and AHPW. His teering. That put her on a path that today has her regularly changes helped safeguard the magazine’s future, and the leading workshops in places such as Monument Valley and workshops have grown into a self-sustaining entity that Maine’s Acadia National Park. She’s also a frequent con- continues to introduce people to the beauty of Arizona tributor to Arizona Highways and other publications. and the joy of photography. Miniuk-Sperry says her memories of how nervous she Jan Harelson is 78 now, and although she’s retired from was on that first trip have made her a better instructor. her work with AHPW, she’s proud that the organization “I really try to encourage a learning environment,” she born on a long car trip has become a key part of Arizona says. “It’s OK to make mistakes and try new things. Highways history. That’s how we learn.” “In the beginning, we were more focused on adding A commitment to learning sets AHPW apart, Lites friends than adding funds,” she says, “but now it’s hold- says: “Our whole purpose is education: helping people, ing its own, and I’m thrilled about that.” one on one, to develop their skills in photography. I want everyone to walk away with great images, having learned To learn more about Arizona Highways Photo Workshops, call 800-790-7042 something and having had an amazing experience at or visit www.ahpw.org.

30TH ANNIVERSARY PHOTO CONTEST To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Arizona Highways Photo Workshops is sponsoring a special photo contest. The winner will receive a $500 photo-workshop voucher, and one of the winning photographs will be published in a future issue of Arizona Highways. The contest is open to amateurs and professionals, ages 18 and older. For details and official rules, visit www.ahpw.org/2015photocontest.

44 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 45 LBERT C. STEWART’S TONGUE SIZZLED with the word of God. In 1916, camera in hand, Stewart left his family’s Nebraska farm to undertake missionary work for the American Sunday School Union. According to The Journal of Arizona History, the union’s motto was “We go where others don’t.” For Stewart, that slogan was true. “There is no place too isolated for me to reach or too small for my visits,” he said, according to the April 18, 1917, edition of Pres- cott’s Weekly Journal-Miner. Stewart frequently walked FRONTIER PHOTOGRAPHER up to 35 miles a day to reach remote mining camps, homesteads, cattle ranches and other small communi- Although his primary mission was to establish Sunday schools ties. He found joy in donating money and clothing to struggling homestead families along the way. A Stewart organized Sunday schools throughout these isolated in remote corners of the West, Albert C. Stewart spent a lot of his areas. Homesteaders’ wives who wanted to earn more money for their families often taught the classes. The Weekly Journal-Miner described quick support TOP: In 1939, Albert C. Stewart made for one of Stewart’s schools near Jerome Junction — now a ghost town: “It is only by this panoramic photograph of a free time making photos with his No. 1 Panoram Kodak camera. co-operation that the fruitful month’s work, just ended, has been made possible.” Saturday afternoon in Buckeye. ABOVE: This Stewart photograph, Stewart wanted to document his work and the rural conditions he came upon, so he circa 1917, shows students and BY KAYLA FROST | PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT C. STEWART snapped photographs throughout his ventures — probably with a No. 1 Panoram Kodak, teachers at Signal Union Sunday made for sweeping landscapes and large groups. His images, published by The Sunday-School School near Kingman. Missionary magazine, provide a “view of these struggling workers who are underrepre- | ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (2) sented in our visual history,” according to The Journal of Arizona History. In 1943, after nearly 30 years as a missionary, Stewart retired to the life of a Tucson min- ister. He died in 1966. Today, Stewart’s photographs are housed at the Arizona Historical Society Library and Archives in Tucson.

46 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 47 From Our Archives: SEPTEMBER 1955

no place excels our wonderful state of Arizona! Its varied colorings and elevations, seasons and weather caprices always serve to confuse us. When it snows, we don’t know whether to dash up to Grand Canyon, Indian country, or stay home and catch it fresh in local mountains; when it frosts, you YOU’VE GOT TO don’t know where to seek autumn coloring first. Friends throughout the state phone us of local conditions but when these calls present ideas in opposite directions then doubt and conflict occur. We may gamble on one area, run into bad weather, lose our situation there and be too late to catch an alternative situation in the opposite direction. Even GO BACK TO GET in this fair land where “the sun always shines” it may rain for a week; when fall trees are at their peak, a one-day gale may tumble the leaves to the ground. Wildflowers may peter out before we learn of their whereabouts and a late frost may kill all possibility of orchard blossoms until the following THE GOOD ONES year. Under these circumstances, you can see how many times during our eighteen years’ residence in BY CHUCK ABBOTT Arizona we have had to go back to get ’em. When seeing the sad photographic results of a friend’s one-time trip through the state, I wondered EDITOR’S NOTE: ears ago there was a book titled The Man Who how a man could have gone where he did and got- Sixty years ago Came Back, and while I never read the book or ten so little from places that offer so much. The this month, Chuck knew anything about the man or what he came answer is time and conditions. If the conditions Abbott, a world- back from or to, years later when I went into aren’t right, you have to go back, and if you haven’t renowned photog- the photographic business, that title rang in my rapher and longtime the time to do so, your results may well be inferior Arizona Highways ears many times as I found myself personifying to what is possible. contributor, wrote Ynot only the man who came back but the one who My wife once said to me that photography con- a story for us titled came back again and again! sisted of fifty percent Providence, fifty percent You’ve Got to Go When asked by complimenting amateur pho- good equipment, fifty percent leg work and two Back to Get the Good tographers: “Oh, Mr. Abbott, how do you get such Ones. In it, he shared his thoughts on the good pictures? I was there and mine didn’t turn art of photography out at all well,” my answer is invariably the same: and what it took to “You’ll have to go back and try another day, another rise to the top of his light, another season.” Meanwhile, I am mentally profession. He also recalling that “good” picture; was it really good, discussed camera couldn’t it have been better, and shouldn’t I go equipment, which, six decades later, is back again and do it over? especially interest- For that’s the trouble with this picture business ing. Perhaps most — there is so little satisfaction in it! You are always interesting, however, beset with the haunting thought that every picture are his anecdotes could be improved, if not by you, then by someone, about his wife, sometime; so you end up traveling in a circle, peri- Esther Henderson. Like her husband, odically returning to do a better, or at least a dif- Ms. Henderson was ferent, interpretation of the subject. Perfection, of a world-renowned course, is the goal. photographer and When it comes to haunting a photographer, longtime Arizona Highways contributor. As you’ll see, this RIGHT: Chuck Abbott poses with some of his camera is a good read. gear. Hauling 20 pounds of gear was just part of being a photographer, he wrote in 1955. | ARIZONA HIGHWAYS ARCHIVES OPPOSITE PAGE: This photo of Fremont cottonwoods in St. David, a small town in Southern Arizona, appeared on the inside front cover of our September 1953 issue. | CHUCK ABBOTT

48 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 49 percent brains. I replied that you could only have one hundred when all others are sleeping. I shall dash from my warm house (snow, sea, pre-dawn and twilight); only experience with your percent in a whole. “That’s what I mean,” she said. “It takes without flinching and I shall drive miles before sunrise. I shall meter will tell you what to do; keep a record of your trial expo- more than the most to get a good picture.” be ready to shoot at sunup and if the scene is not best rendered sures so that you can add or deduct according to your meter. Seriously though, I think it takes more than two percent at this time, I shall return home unperturbed. I shall tramp the The numerous booklets and color film instruction sheets brains, taste, judgment or whatever you may call the requisite mountains in chilblain weather and I shall stagger over the des- are right in the sense that they are trying to give the average behind the finger that clicks the shutter. One man’s finger is ert in midsummer. I shall do without water because I shall not person the most foolproof times of day and light positions as good as another’s; it’s the judgment behind the finger that be able to carry a canteen in addition to my other equipment. in which to shoot color. If you follow the instructions, your changes a snapshot into a picture. “I shall inform my wife of my absence from dinner and I pictures will probably be adequate but not inspired; dynamic Providence, equipment, leg work and viewpoint; to me these shall return home after a glorious sunset. The next day when I effects are usually not obtained between the recommended are the four indispensables in picture-making. You may get fair have developed the results of my labors, I shall maintain equa- hours of ten to four nor will your subjects be dramatic bathed results with lesser combinations but you can’t click completely nimity of soul and expression when I find the results far short always in full light. If you seek the unusual and interesting, without all four. The only exception to this is my wife, who of my expectations. I shall not browbeat my models; I shall not break the rules at the cost of some film; never take the obvious. takes a dim view of leg work when burdened with photo- brag to my friends; yea, verily will I share the secret of my loca- Use your imagination and ingenuity; many an ordinary picture graphic equipment. She alone can find a good picture vantage tions with my competitors.” Whoops! What am I saying? is rescued from the commonplace by using a fresh viewpoint or point while standing in the strip-shade of a Saguaro; can back Another concomitance of photography is the reviewing of interpretation of the subject. up to a picture-taking position until she hits a rock to sit on! the files, a costly but necessary diversion, wherein we hope to Sometimes this question is put to us — “Why can’t I get the In guiding the family chariot to picture destinations, I again add more than we subtract; that is, replace old shots with new same picture you do at the same place?” The answer: because hand it to my wife. I use the word “guiding” advisedly because and better ones. Sometimes we are aghast to see again what we we have four lenses of varying focal lengths, we have perhaps I do all the driving and she does the running commentary. In thought at the time represented our best effort. Such an experi- just the right focal length lens to best interpret the subject, guiding she works hand-in-glove with Providence, taking the ence only convinces us that today’s work, while improved, will whereas the average amateur photographer usually has only stand that it doesn’t matter where we go because the Lord will fall short of what we can do in the future. the lens that comes with his camera. This is usually a good, send something our way if we are just on hand when He dis- By now you are acquainted with me and I would like you to all-purpose lens but one lens alone simply will not give you the penses it! As long as it’s a toss-up anyway, I would just as soon meet the rest of the family: Momma, my wife, whose pictures adaptability of viewpoint that the subject requires. let the Lord (and my wife) handle the matter. appear under her maiden name of Esther Henderson; Carl, Capturing the Monument Valley campfire scene that appeared on the September If, after purchasing your “musts” — that is, camera, meter 1955 cover of Arizona Highways was the result of four years of persistence, Chuck People often say to us, “You folks must have a lot of fun just aged twelve; and Mark, aged eight. We maintain our home and Abbott said. | CHUCK ABBOTT and tripod, you have extra money for more equipment I would gallivanting around the scenic West taking pictures,” and to darkrooms in Tucson during the winter while the boys are in say to invest it in another lens of either short or long focal the outsider it probably appears that way. We do enjoy the school; then picture trips en masse are confined to weekends, length depending on which would be most useful to you. work — otherwise we would surely hunt up another business but Momma and I are able to make a number of short jaunts as Most often asked is this photographic question: What “Long” lenses bring distant (or small) objects up close in a in which we could at all times be cool or warm as comfort season and weather demand. kind of equipment should I have? There are probably as many narrow field; “short” lenses cover a wide field but reduce the demanded; arise, retire and dine at reasonable hours; stay In summer we set forth the day school is out with our seven- answers as there are users of different equipment. Speaking size of the image. We use lenses of four, eight, twelve and nine- home in inclement weather and go hiking without being bur- teen-foot Aljoa housetrailer hitched to our Ford station wagon. for myself I would say the first consideration is — your use. If teen inch focal lengths which enable us to widen or narrow dened by the twenty or so pounds of equipment we always For the next three months the trailer is our home and — I must photography is your hobby and pleasure, keep your equipment the field; enlarge or reduce the image size, thus giving, from a carry. But then, of course, we wouldn’t be photographers! add — it has made gypsies of us all. small, light and portable. Your results will be more limited but single location, what I call a number of “viewpoints.” As in most lines of work, there is more to it than meets the You can’t argue with fact, and the fact is: the worse the you can obtain fine pictures or slides by taking the same pains Sometimes you will find, as do we, that nothing you have in eye. In this day of extremely competitive photography, picture- weather, the better the picture possibilities, and the more pic- one must take with big equipment and expensive sheet film. your bag of tricks will translate the scene as you would wish taking is hard and expensive work. We never “gallivant”; each ture possibilities, the less one cares to spend valuable time with For action pictures, the 4x5 press-type cameras are best. If or expect; that’s when you have to go back to get it in a more trip has been planned in advance to secure, according to the tent-pegs, trench-digging, water-hauling and wood-gathering. you expect to sell your work professionally, a 4x5 or 5x7 plate pictorial light or season. season, the best results for the largest possible market. Each Furthermore, it is a great time-advantage to be camped close size is necessary as editors usually do not accept smaller film Finally, there is one more reason to go back again, which the trip must pay for itself and then some, to cover the costs on to the picture location and a morale-advantage to close the door sizes. For our type of work we feel a view camera is essential following little incident will help to illustrate. some other unsuccessful trip. on inclement weather, light stove and lamps, and finally bed because it allows many swing adjustments not possible with My wife, who forsook the snowy winters of the Midwest We do assignment work which may range from having the down to the tinkle of rain on the roof, conscious of a certain other cameras. years ago in favor of the desert, now goes what I call “snow- art director’s sketch of what he wants, to the “use your own smug joy in knowing that tomorrow you need not coax wet Is an exposure meter necessary? I would say — absolutely! crazy” the minute the weather report broadcasts snow in the judgment” order we receive from other clients. Even in the wood to burn, but can arise in warmth and get on with the job. No matter how much it costs it will be the cheapest item you mountains. Then we must bounce out of bed in the depth of a latter instance, we are given certain requirements as to scene, Even so, we have been immobilized for several days at a ever buy in the long run. Many good photographers do not use winter night, don our flannels, and hot-foot it up to the Cata- season, models and activities. stretch in the trailer by wind, dust, rain and snow; then our them but I feel the risk of bad exposure is too costly to take the lina Mountains, thirty miles from Tucson, so as to be on the We also do free-lance work, which is a sort of catch-and-sell- immobility was physically comfortable though mentally trying. chance; why draw water from a well when you can enjoy the mountain top for the first rays of the rising sun. Of course, she where-you-can endeavor, in which we work entirely on specu- Even these advantages, however, do not eliminate the going- convenience of a spigot? knows, and I know, that we aren’t going to start shooting until lation. Here, familiarity with the demands of picture markets back problem. A case in point is the Monument Valley campfire There are many meters which give excellent results — I pre- eight o’clock but she is perishing for fear the snow — all five leads us to concentrate on locations and ideas which we believe scene [see page 51]. fer the Weston, perhaps because I started with it. Any meter is feet of it — will somehow disappear before we get there! will sell. Of constant bafflement to probably all professional We first conceived the idea of having a small family group in like an old friend; when you understand its idiosyncrasies and On our last trip we had arrived on top (7:30 a.m. and six photographers is the editor’s choice in picture material. For the shadow of the rim just as the sun spent its last light on one adapt yourself to them, you can work it perfectly though it may below) just as the sun rose above a sea of billowing mists; a years our favorite pictures may lie idle in the files while some- of the red butte formations in the background. This was four be like your old over-coat — only YOU can wear it! The real great, pink, fluffy featherbed of clouds lying over the valleys, thing else that we took because we couldn’t think of anything years ago. Thereafter, for three summers we spent a week in purpose of a meter is to give you an evaluation of the light to go encased by the blue shadows and sparkling diamonds of fore- better has long since been sold! Monument Valley during which time there never was a single on — something that you cannot trust your eyes to do. ground snow. We got out the tripod, film bag and lens bag only In the beginning, the would-be photographer should start by clear evening which allowed the late sun to shine on the butte. If you live in a green valley, you can’t be familiar with sea or to find the camera bag empty. Yes — you guessed it! The real taking the photographer’s oath. Is there one? Not that I know of Last summer we decided to return to the valley in the fall snow brilliance; if you are used to the hazy days of eastern sun- reason you have to go back to get ’em is because — now these but if there were, it should go something like this: when skies were more certain to be clear. We did, they were, shine you can hardly gauge the brilliance of western landscapes. are my wife’s words, not mine — “Your dang-fool wife forgot “From this day forward I hereby do swear that I shall arise and a picture resulted. Meters may register too high or too low under certain conditions and left the camera at home!”

50 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 51 scenic drive

This scenic drive winds in and out of the Sitgreaves National Forest, McNary through stands of pines and spruce interspersed with groves of aspens. to Vernon BY KATHY MONTGOMERY | PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICK BEREZENKO

crisp fall morning is the perfect McNary Lumber Co. bought the land in The 13-mile Los Burros Trail begins time for this back-roads drive the 1920s. Today, McNary is a commu- at the campground and winds through A in the White Mountains. The nity of about 500 on tribal land. a shady ponderosa-pine forest, and it 44.3-mile loop from McNary to Vernon The pavement ends in about a half- includes a side trip to Lake Mountain begins and ends on White Mountain mile, and the road winds gently along Lookout. Mule deer and elk, as well as Apache Tribe land near Pinetop- a well-graded gravel route into the Sit the occasional black bear, are often seen Lakeside. It winds in and out of the greaves National Forest. At 7 miles, we along the trail. Sitgreaves National Forest, through turn right at Forest Road 20 and drive Back on Vernon-McNary Road, we stands of pines and spruce interspersed the quarter-mile to Los Burros Camp- head north. As we approach Vernon, with groves of aspens that make a spec- ground. the pines give way to juniper-dotted tacular fall display. A historic camp- Los Burros is a small, simple camp- grasslands and we begin to see homes ground and a small, quiet lake make ground with a single picnic table and scattered on the hillsides. Vernon was pleasant diversions along the way. fire pit at each campsite, but the setting settled in the 1890s as a sawmill town. From Pinetop-Lakeside, we head east is beautiful. The campground sits at the The area is now a growing bedroom along State Route 260 about 8 miles to edge of a grassy meadow, near the pic- community. McNary. We pass the Apache Baptist turesque remains of a home, a barn and Finding no shops or restaurants in Church, with its three plain white wooden corrals. Vernon, we retrace our steps back down it re-enters the national forest, where crosses, and turn left onto Cady Avenue The buildings, with red board-and- Vernon-McNary Road. Just past the Ver- pines reclaim the landscape. Many of (County Road 3140). This becomes Ver- batten siding and stone foundations, non cemetery, we turn left onto County the roads here are unmarked, so we are non-McNary Road. were built in 1909. A ranger once lived Road 3261. It becomes Forest Road 61 as grateful that our GPS works, guiding us McNary was originally called Cluff here and rode a horse each day to Lake toward County Road 61 and Harris Lake. Cienega, after a Mormon bishop who Mountain Lookout. The windows and BELOW: The rising sun shines through ponderosa After about 9 miles, we take a sharp harvested hay for Fort Apache here in doors of the house are boarded up, but pines along Vernon-McNary Road. left and drive the quarter-mile to a road OPPOSITE PAGE: Lake Mountain, a short distance the late 19th century. Later renamed viewing holes offer glimpses of the from the road, offers a panorama of the Sitgreaves on the right that leads down along the Cooley, it then became McNary after the decaying interior. National Forest. lake. The lake is very small, looking more like a wetland. But it’s enough to attract wildlife, including a couple of reintroduced Mexican wolves that have been reported here. The lake is on private property, enclosed by a fence. But there is a meadow at the side of the road, which makes an agreeable place to picnic. Backtracking our way along CR 61, we pick up Forest Road 96. This stretch is deeply rutted and rocky in places. But the forest is thicker and wilder here, with taller pines and more aspens. Some KEVIN KIBSEY aspens appear quite old, with thick, tour guide CR 61, backtrack north 1.5 miles to Forest Road 96. Turn scarred trunks. Note: Mileages are approximate. left onto FR 96 and continue 8 miles back to Vernon- In 8 miles, we’re back to Vernon- McNary Road. Turn left onto Vernon-McNary Road and LENGTH: 44.3-mile loop McNary Road, where we turn left and continue 9 miles to State Route 260 at McNary. DIRECTIONS: From McNary, go north on Cady Avenue VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: A high-clearance vehicle drive back to McNary. (County Road 3140), which becomes Vernon-McNary is required. Four-wheel-drive is recommended, Road (Forest Road 224), for 7 miles to Forest Road particularly in wet conditions. 20, which leads to Los Burros Campground. Back on SCENIC Vernon-McNary Road, continue another 10 miles to WARNING: Back-road travel can be hazardous, so be DRIVES Vernon (the road will become CR 3140 again). Return aware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of of Arizona’s water. Don’t travel alone, and let someone know where Best Back south on Vernon-McNary Road. About 0.2 miles past ADDITIONAL READING: 40 Roads you are going and when you plan to return. For more adventure, pick up a the Vernon cemetery, turn left onto County Road 3261, INFORMATION: Lakeside Ranger District, 928-368-2100 copy of our book Scenic Drives, which becomes Forest Road 61, and continue 2.4 miles which features 40 of the state’s to a “Y” intersection. Bear right onto Forest Road 404 or www.fs.usda.gov/asnf most beautiful back roads. To (unmarked) and continue 1.2 miles to County Road 61 Travelers in Arizona can visit www.az511.gov or dial order, visit www.shoparizona (also unmarked). Turn right onto CR 61 and continue 511 to get information on road closures, construction, Edited by Robert Stieve highways.com/books. and Kelly Vaughn Kramer 5 miles to a sharp left that leads to Harris Lake. Back on delays, weather and more.

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

through what’s known as the Toroweap Although this trail will take you to the Colorado River and back, formation, which is primarily limestone interbedded with siltstones and red- a more sensible day hike is the round-trip route to Santa Maria Hermit Trail dish sandstones. It’s something to think Spring. BY ROBERT STIEVE about as you make your way to the cobblestone switchbacks. Once known as the “White Zig-Zags,” ermits Rest is the most distant mined, know your limitations and touch rule about “never hiking alone” is espe- the cobblestones are a lasting reminder stop on the Hermit Road, and it’s base with the park’s backcountry office cially important on the Hermit. Be mind- of the effort that was made to get tour- H the place where hikers go when before you go. Otherwise, consider one of ful of the disclaimers, and you’ll have an ists down to Hermit Camp. It came they’re looking for some quiet adventure. the trail’s many segments as a day hike, incredible experience. with a price, though. In 1912, when the Ironically, that’s not why the Hermit Trail including the trek to Santa Maria Spring. From the trailhead, which is located trail was completed, tourists paid $18.25 was built. It was built to move people, It’s a relatively short route — 4.4 miles a quarter-mile west of Hermits Rest, the ($450 in 2015) to be transported from pork chops and bottles of Porto to Hermit round-trip — but distance in the Grand trail immediately descends a break in El Tovar to the camp. Today, the expe- Camp, a luxury campsite for tourists that Canyon is exponentially greater than it is the rim. The switchbacks are steep, and rience is included in the price of park predated Phantom Ranch by 10 years. In in other places. What’s more, the Hermit they’ll seem even steeper on the way admission, but the cobblestones quickly its heyday, the camp featured a tramway Trail doesn’t get as much maintenance out. Within the first five minutes, you’ll disappear as you enter Hermit Basin and and a chef, among other amenities. as its world-renowned siblings (Bright get your first good look at Hermit Basin approach a junction with the Waldron set, however, is more gradual than what long haul is worth the effort, but keep in Although the camp shut down in 1930, Angel, North Kaibab and South Kaibab). and the Grand Canyon farther on. Geo- Trail, which drops down from the Kaibab you experienced up above. Within a few mind, the route is remote and rugged, the rim-to-river trail is still open. In all, Overall, it’s in pretty good shape, but logically speaking, you’ll be dropping National Forest to the south. Just beyond minutes, you’ll catch a glimpse of the and you’ll need to adhere to the 10 com- it runs for 9.7 miles (one way) to Hermit there are places — most of them below the junction is a lush area of trees, grasses Santa Maria rest house. A few minutes mandments of hiking. The most import- Rapids, and while that number isn’t Santa Maria Spring — where rockslides BELOW: A century-old rest house marks Santa Maria and flowers. The flora is fed by Sweet- later, you’ll arrive at the shelter, which ant of which are to take plenty of water unheard-of for a day hike, the National have covered parts of the trail. Also, Spring, a rare water source on the Hermit Trail. heart Spring, and the basin is a good place was built in 1913. Water from Santa Maria and sunscreen, and to hike with a friend. | TOM BROWNOLD Park Service strongly advises against going because there isn’t a lot of foot traffic and OPPOSITE PAGE: The cobblestone switchbacks made to see mule deer. Spring is collected in an old trough. It’s Louis Boucher hiked alone, but that was the distance in one shot. If you’re deter- rangers don’t make regular patrols, the the Hermit Trail a premier route in 1912. | ELIAS BUTLER After 45 minutes of hiking, you’ll arrive yours for the taking, but it must be fil- different. He was a hermit. at a second junction. This one leads to tered or treated. Dripping Springs (another good day-hike Although Santa Maria Spring is the ADDITIONAL READING: destination) and the Boucher Trail. The turnaround point for this listing, there’s For more hikes, pick up a copy latter is named for Louis Boucher, who a lot to see between the old rest house of Arizona Highways Hiking Guide, which features 52 of the lived alone on the rim for 20 years and is and the river below, including Lookout state’s best trails — one for each considered the “hermit” of Hermit Basin. Point, Breezy Point, the Cathedral Stairs, weekend of the year, sorted by seasons. To order a copy, visit Stay right at the intersection and gear up Hermit Camp and the refreshing water of www.shoparizonahighways. for another series of switchbacks. This Hermit Creek. If you’re up for more, the com/books.

trail guide LENGTH: 4.4 miles round-trip (to Santa Maria Spring) DIFFICULTY: Strenuous ELEVATION: 6,640 to 4,880 feet (at Santa Maria Spring) TRAILHEAD GPS: N 36˚03.039', W 112˚12.044' DIRECTIONS: The trail begins a quarter-mile west of the Hermits Rest visitors center. From March 1 through November 30, the road to Hermits Rest is closed to private vehicles, and hikers must use the free shuttle bus that departs from near Bright Angel Lodge. Weather permitting, the road is open to private vehicles from December 1 through February 28. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: None DOGS ALLOWED: No HORSES ALLOWED: No USGS MAP: Grand Canyon

LEAVE-NO-TRACE PRINCIPLES: • Plan ahead and be out all of your trash. prepared. • Leave what you find. • Travel and camp on • Respect wildlife. durable surfaces. • Minimize campfire • Dispose of waste impact.

KEVIN KIBSEY properly and pack • Be considerate of others.

54 SEPTEMBER 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 55 where is this?

EDUCATE. MOTIVATE. INSPIRE. a 30-year legacy of teaching photographers the craft of image-making.

July 2015 Answer & Winner Cloud 9 Mobile Home Park, Sierra Vista. Congratula- tions to our winner, Katie Swain of Sedona, Arizona.

WORKSHOP EXPERIENCES COAST TO COAST Acadia s Antelope Canyon s Big Bend s Bosque del Apache Canyon de Chelly s Colorado Rockies s Grand Canyon Grand Tetons s Horses & Cowboys s Joshua Tree

MARK LIPCZYNSKI Lake Havasu Balloon Festival s Lake Tahoe Monument Valley s Olympic Peninsula Win a collection of our most popular books! Palouse s Sedona s White Pocket To enter, correctly identify the location pictured White Sands and more . . . at left and email your answer to editor@ @ www.ahpw.org 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 © Suzanne Mathia winner will be chosen in a random drawing of qualified entries. Entries must be postmarked Get your two-day pass for $249 to Arizona’s biggest photo event of the year! PAUL GILL PAUL by September 15, 2015. Only the winner will be notified. The correct CAPTURE YOUR MOMENT PHOTO SYMPOSIUM Abridged answer will be posted in our November issue November 7-8, 2015 | Phoenix, AZ and online at www. This two-lane, single-span, steel-arch bridge is the longest such bridge in North America, and it offers arizonahighways.com 2 days | 4 keynote speakers | 14 photography experts | 26 educational sessions unparalleled views of the man-made lake below. In 1995, an engineering group named it one of the beginning October 15. top 12 bridges in the country — right up there with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. Sign up today at www.ahpw.org or call 602-712-2004

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