“Any traveler who misses the journey misses about all he’s going to get.” — WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON MAY 2015 ROUTE 66 ESCAPE • EXPLORE •EXPERIENCE •EXPLORE ESCAPE KENDRICK TRAIL •PETRIFIED FOREST •HOGNOSE SNAKES •FOREST ROAD 300 plus: An Odeto theMotherRoad!
WHY THE VATICAN HAS ATELESCOPE IN A RIZONA SIGNS AND STRAWBERRY AND SIGNS IT’S NOT ALL NEON MILKSHAKES
• DARWIN • VAN CAMPEN
IT’S A SLOW A IT’S
GROUND SLOTHS
READ GIANT (SEE BELOW) Route 66, near near 66, Route Parks, Arizona Parks,
CONTENTS 05.15 Grand Canyon National Park 2 EDITOR’S LETTER 3 CONTRIBUTORS 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 56 WHERE IS THIS? > > > Historic Route 66 Petrified Forest National Park Flagstaff
5 THE JOURNAL 46 OF PREHISTORIC PROPORTIONS 52 SCENIC DRIVE Prescott Mogollon Rim People, places and things from around the state, including a look back When Willis Evans first spotted a hole in a limestone cliff above Forest Road 300: Aspens, evergreens and panoramas are the
at iconic photographer Darwin Van Campen, Petrified Forest National Lake Mead, he had no idea that it preserved “one of the world’s dominant features along this dirt road on the Mogollon Rim, but PHOENIX Park, Western hognose snakes and the South Rim’s Hull Cabin. richest known sources of fossils and other evidence of life in the there are lakes, too, and some of the state’s best hiking trails. ice age.” Among other paleontological treasures, the cave held Mount Graham 16 ON THE ROAD AGAIN the skulls, claws and shaggy hair of giant ground sloths, extinct 54 HIKE OF THE MONTH We’ve been exploring Historic Route 66 since the early part of the last mammals the size of a large black bear. Kendrick Trail: In addition to solitude and altitude, this hike
century, even before the Joads hit the Mother Road. This month, we’re BY KAYLA FROST offers a great climb through a subalpine forest of Douglas firs, POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE headed back with a new map and some old friends. ILLUSTRATIONS BY JON FOSTER Engelmann spruce and aspens. BY NOAH AUSTIN ILLUSTRATIONS BY ERIC HANSON 50 RACHEL TSO: ON LOCATION Film crews are nothing new on the Navajo Nation, but the demo- 24 FEELIN’ GROOVY graphics are skewing younger thanks to Rachel Tso, a gifted What do you get when you send your most playful photographer out on teacher who runs the award-winning documentary-filmmaking Historic Route 66 with an iPhone app called Hipstamatic? Among other program at STAR School. things, you get a kitschy collection of “vintage” snapshots and a new BY ANNETTE MCGIVNEY look at an old subject — the Mother Road hasn’t looked this cool PHOTOGRAPH BY DAWN KISH in decades. A PORTFOLIO BY DAWN KISH 30 I, HIGHWAY 66 In 1937, Historic Route 66 got its final installment of pavement, near the tiny town of Valentine. That same year, we published a “first person” story from the perspective of the road itself. This month, we’re excerpting that piece exactly as it was written 78 years ago. BY G.T. MIDGLEY 32 THE SCENIC ROUTE Neon motel signs, convertibles, station wagons, roadside attractions, GET MORE ONLINE ice-cream stands, Burma Shave billboards ... that’s what most people www.arizonahighways.com think of when they think of Historic Route 66. The bulk of the route,
however, is surrounded by Mother Nature, and some of the most scenic www.facebook.com/azhighways stretches are in Arizona. @azhighways A PORTFOLIO EDITED BY JEFF KIDA @arizonahighways 42 FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE That there’s an observatory on Mount Graham isn’t unusual. That it’s run by the Vatican is hard to figure. But, there it is. And its mission, according ◗ A honeybee takes flight amid yellow to the newly canonized Pope John XXIII, is twofold: to explain the church wildflowers in the Florence area. | EIRINI PAJAK to the scientists, and to explain science to the church. CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MARK II; BY MATT JAFFE SHUTTER: 1/600 SEC; APERTURE: F/6.3; PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILL HATCHER ISO: 400; FOCAL LENGTH: 100 MM FRONT COVER The San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff loom over a section of Historic Route 66 in the Kaibab National Forest. | TOM BEAN CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MARK II; SHUTTER: 1/90 SEC; APERTURE: F/16; ISO: 200; FOCAL LENGTH: 105 MM BACK COVER Storm clouds form over Holbrook’s Wigwam Motel, a longtime Route 66 landmark where the rooms are shaped like teepees (not wigwams). | KERRICK JAMES CAMERA: PENTAX K-5; SHUTTER: 1/125 SEC; APERTURE: F/11; ISO: 200; FOCAL LENGTH: 16 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
MATT JAFFE Writer Matt Jaffe had heard about the Mount Graham Please Drive Carefully International Observatory, but until he started doing MAY 2015 VOL. 91, NO. 5 research on Arizona’s “sky islands,” he had no idea the 800-543-5432 Vatican operated an astronomical facility on the mountain istoric Route 66. That’s our cover I was grateful for being investigated www.arizonahighways.com story this month. Actually, we the input. And then — but this much I do (see For Heaven’s Sake, page 42). “It seemed so incongru- H have four features on the Mother Annette said, “Maybe know: A mother and PUBLISHER Win Holden ous,” he says. “I became curious about why the observatory Road, along with a piece about the Vati- you could mention her two children were EDITOR Robert Stieve was there and what kind of work they would do.” Jaffe can’s telescope on Mount Graham, a story something in your col- walking in a clearly ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, says understanding the science and technology of modern
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Kelly Mero GODGES JOHN on giant ground sloths and a profile of umn about what hap- marked crosswalk, telescopes was a challenge, so he appreciated the patience MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Vaughn Kramer Rachel Tso. pened — she could use almost to the curb, of the priests he interviewed for the story. And he was surprised to learn that the world’s most ASSOCIATE EDITOR Noah Austin You probably don’t know Rachel Tso. some positive energy expecting to make it advanced Earth-based telescopes get their start under the University of Arizona’s football EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Nikki Kimbel I don’t know her, either, but when I heard from Arizona Highways from Point A to Point B. stadium. “I grew up in Chicago,” he says, “and it reminded me of how the first controlled PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jeff Kida about the remarkable work she’s doing at and its readers.” They were doing nuclear chain reaction took place below Stagg Field at the University of Chicago in 1942.” Jaffe CREATIVE DIRECTOR Barbara Glynn Denney a charter school in Northern Arizona, So, we’re running everything right when also contributes to Sunset, Westways and Los Angeles magazines. ART DIRECTOR Keith Whitney I was impressed. The school is called the story, and hop- something went terri- STAR (Service to All Relations), and ing for some positive bly wrong. DESIGN PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Diana Benzel-Rice Rachel leads the place-based media-arts energy. We’re also “I’ve never felt MAP DESIGNER Kevin Kibsey DAWN KISH PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Michael Bianchi curriculum there. Among other things, hoping that something MARKOW PAUL such pain, and I know Photographer Dawn Kish lives just off the Mother Road in she and her students produce award- else comes out of this tragedy: more it’s not going to stop.” WEBMASTER Victoria J. Snow Flagstaff, so shooting a portfolio focused on the quirks of winning documentaries about South- responsible drivers. Every year in Ari- Rachel posted that on Facebook the CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Nicole Bowman Historic Route 66 (see Feelin’ Groovy, page 24) came natu- western Native American culture. zona, about 800 people die on our public day after the accident. It’s one sentence FINANCE DIRECTOR Bob Allen rally to her. So did the way she made her photos. “I’ve trav- It’s more than just filmmaking, roadways, and that doesn’t include what from a courageous piece of writing that OPERATIONS/IT MANAGER Cindy Bormanis eled this road all my life, and it’s kitschy and fun,” Kish says. “I though. As Annette McGivney writes happens in shopping-center parking left everyone here in tears. We know that wanted the images to have that feeling, so I shot them with in Rachel Tso: On Location, “She’s also lots. The day after Rachel’s accident, the our story isn’t going to ease her pain, but CORPORATE OR TRADE SALES 602-712-2019 my iPhone, using an app called Hipstamatic. I was hooked showing students how to succeed in life Flagstaff Police Department released a maybe it will offer a respite. And maybe SPONSORSHIP SALES on the app because of the ‘vintage’ look it gives photos. REPRESENTATION On Media Publications and connect with their culture and land- statement: “[We] would like to remind all her tragic loss will serve as a reminder Lesley Bennett I thought, Wouldn’t it be great to do photos on Route 66 with scape.” Like so many teachers, Rachel is motorists that they should always remain that we, as drivers, take on a tremendous 602-445-7160 this groovy look?” While the iPhone’s camera has its limita- one of those unsung heroes who make alert and cautious, especially when driv- responsibility when we hit the road, tions, Kish says she enjoyed the “instant gratification” of see- our world a better place. She loves what ing in areas where pedestrians are preva- whether we’re headed to Mount Graham, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] ing her results right away. “I think this photographic style can 2039 W. Lewis Avenue only grow,” she adds. Kish is a frequent contributor to Arizona JASON HASENBANK she does, and she’s extremely proud of lent, such as in private property parking Historic Route 66 or a shopping center in Phoenix, AZ 85009 her students. That’s why we didn’t pull lots.” Flagstaff. Highways, and last December, National Geographic Traveler included one of her images in a gallery of the 30 best photos in that magazine’s first 30 years of existence. our story when we learned that Rachel The word “Highways” is in our title, GOVERNOR Douglas A. Ducey and two of her children were struck by a and almost every story we publish is DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT car in a Flagstaff parking lot. Fortunately, intended to inspire readers to hit the OF TRANSPORTATION John S. Halikowski
Rachel and her 8-year-old daughter, road. Therefore, we have a vested inter- ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION BILL HATCHER Bahozhoni, survived. Tragically, her est in highway safety, and motorists who BOARD CHAIRMAN Kelly O. Anderson When Bill Hatcher got his assignment 3-year-old son, Zaadii, died a few hours are alert and cautious. Regardless of VICE CHAIRMAN Joseph E. La Rue for this issue (see For Heaven’s Sake, later at Flagstaff Medical Center. what you drive — a lightweight Prius or MEMBERS Stephen W. Christy page 42), he initially thought Arizona As I write this, we’re about 36 hours a 7,000-pound F-250 — getting behind William Cuthbertson Highways might be sending him to Italy. from going to press. It’s rare that we ever the wheel is a tremendous responsibility. Deanna Beaver “I was surprised, but not disappointed, “stop the presses” or make last-minute And there are rules that go along with Jack W. Sellers when I learned the Vatican has an observatory a few hours’ drive east of overhauls to the magazine; however, that. Among them: Don’t drink and drive, DERMOTT C in this case, we weren’t sure what to use your turn signal, and obey the speed Arizona Highways® (ISSN 0004-1521) is published monthly by Tucson,” Hatcher says. In addition to the Arizona Department of Transportation. Subscription price: shooting at the University of Arizona’s do. We wanted to do what was best for limit, especially in school zones. Also, if $24 a year in the U.S., $44 outside the U.S. Single copy: $4.99 U.S. SHANE M Rachel and her family, but it wasn’t clear, you need glasses, get glasses. If you need Call 800-543-5432. Subscription correspondence and change Steward Observatory Mirror Lab — a COMING IN JUNE ... of address information: Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big five-minute bike ride from his house so I asked Annette for some input. mascara, put it on at the office, not in the Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Periodical postage paid at Phoenix, AZ, “I definitely think the story should car. And never text and drive. It seems so Next month, we’ll showcase some of and at additional mailing office. CANADA POST INTERNATIONAL — Hatcher dealt with below-freezing run,” she told me. “I know that Rachel obvious, but Arizona is one of only two the state’s best trails in our annual Summer PUBLICATIONS MAIL PRODUCT (CANADIAN DISTRIBUTION) temperatures and icy winds at the SALES AGREEMENT NO. 41220511. SEND RETURNS TO QUAD/ will be as committed as ever to her work states in the Union — Montana is the Hiking Guide. Plus, we’ll take you to Schultz GRAPHICS, P.O. BOX 875, WINDSOR, ON N9A 6P2. POSTMASTER: observatory atop Mount Graham. at STAR, which is so important to her. other — that don’t have a law that bans Pass, five years after the fire of the same Send address changes to Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 8521, Big RUNNING RAECHEL “To get the right perspective of the Sandy, TX 75755-8521. Copyright © 2015 by the Arizona Depart- This story was such a bright spot for her texting while driving. name devastated the area. ment of Transportation. Reproduction in whole or in part without observatory building, my final camera position was made by climbing 15 feet up a nearby before the accident, and maybe now it I don’t know what caused the deadly permission is prohibited. The magazine does not accept and is not communications tower,” Hatcher says. “I braced the camera on the tower ladder’s rungs, held ROBERT STIEVE, EDITOR responsible for unsolicited mater ials. will be even more so.” crash in Flagstaff — the details are still Follow me on Twitter: @azhighways on with one hand and shot photos until the wind blew over my light stand.” Hatcher is a regular contributor to Arizona Highways, and recently he shot a Smithsonian magazine cover story PRODUCED IN THE USA about tourism developments around Grand Canyon National Park. — NOAH AUSTIN
2 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 3 letters to the editor [email protected] THE JOURNAL 05.15
NATURAL WONDER national parks centennial > history > photography > iconic photographers As I peruse the awesome photo gallery of magnificent dining > nature > lodging > things to do desert wildflowers [March 2015], the thought occurs to me: How dead wrong is anyone who thinks the Sonoran Desert of Arizona is nothing more than a desolate wasteland of sand and scraggly half-dead bushes. Especially after generous autumn and early winter rains, the explosive growth of plant life creates what is surely one of the most Cool Pool impressive natural floral shows anywhere in the world. A placid pool reflects the night sky and And not to be missed, that tiny red bug on a brittle- a rocky butte at White Pocket, part of bush makes the back-cover image very special! Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on Russ Butcher, Oceanside, California the Arizona Strip. The remote monument, overseen by the Bureau of Land Manage- March 2015 ment, is known for its rock formations, which display hundreds of layers of richly colored rocks, and for its population of RIM SHOT Texas. We fell in love with the landscape snow-blanketed winter-edition Canyon reintroduced California condors. For more I’ve lived in the Southwest for most of my and the people, even though we didn’t before it all melted. I arrived at Yaki Point information, call 435-688-3200 or 73 years, and I’ve traveled to both rims of get to see near enough of it. Next time just before sunset. I traipsed around in visit www.blm.gov/az. the Grand Canyon several times. Adam (hopefully 2016 with our grown chil- the village in full moonlit shimmering CAMERA: NIKON D800E; SHUTTER: 25 SEC; Schallau’s photo in your January issue dren) we will see much more. I will also snow. I overindulged in far too many APERTURE: F/5.6; ISO: 400; FOCAL LENGTH: 28 MM [page 6] is the most striking shot of the be making sure, as a professional artist, delicious offerings at the El Tovar Dining Canyon I’ve ever seen. that I take the opportunity to paint this Room. And lastly, I greeted the sun on a Lou Lagrave, Cave Creek, Arizona beautiful part of the world, a place I feel long snowy walk out Hermit Road, revel- completely at home in. ing in more deer and coyote tracks on REWARDING EXPERIENCE Shane Moad, Avon Valley, Western Australia the rim trail than human ones. Then off The February 2015 issue was a real joy, to Williams for a classic Route 66 diner as usual. I’m particularly pleased you THE EYES HAVE IT burger and the drive home. Not a bad selected the Gadsden Hotel for lodging I confess it’s been 50 years since I gradu- way to launch 2015. We are blessed to [The Journal, page 14], because it provides ated in forestry from ASC/NAU, and the live close enough to dream and do this me many fond memories. In 1951, as a eyes are getting dim, but the great tree type of trip. But please, let’s keep the project director for the U.S. Geological photograph on page 5 of the February secrets of Grand Canyon in winter to our- Survey, I was mapping the groundwater 2015 issue looks more like a pine to me selves, yes? resources of the Douglas Basin. I often than a juniper. Which is correct? By the Dr. Sue White, Phoenix stayed at the Gadsden as a reward for the way, I have 50 years of Arizona Highways vigorous hiking days in the nearby moun- on the shelf next to me at this moment, WHAT’S IN STORE tains. Although the Gadsden was a very and I still love and admire the magazine. I’m a longtime subscriber and Arizona pleasant and delightful haven in 1951, the Paul Schroeder Dodds, Chandlersville, Ohio lover from California. The March 2015 modern-day updates and elegance have issue had a brief notice that April’s issue much enhanced the ambience. Editor’s Note: You’re right, Paul. It’s a piñon pine, will be celebrating Arizona Highways’ Donald R. Coates, Bradenton, Florida not a juniper. Thanks for keeping us on our toes. 90th anniversary. It was accompanied by the beautiful July 1937 cover. My idea for UNTIL NEXT TIME WINTER VISITOR your store is to create posters of vintage Just a short note to let you folks know What a great read, and a vivid, accurate covers such as the one featured. Sunset how much I love your magazine. I started and loving capture of our state’s great- magazine has done this and they have reading it when I was about 16. That is, est draw [Timeless Land, February 2015]. sold quite well. Just a thought. if I could find a copy in the news agency Recently, between the new year and its Randy Winbigler, Cathedral City, California down here. This brought on my love for associated holiday respite from the real Arizona and the beauty that abounds world and the impending life reboot that contact us If you have thoughts or com- there. I now subscribe online, and I love following Monday, I called the South Rim ments about anything in Arizona Highways, we’d getting it each month. My wife and I to see if, perchance, they had any lodg- love to hear from you. We can be reached at editor@ arizonahighways.com, or by mail at 2039 W. Lewis got to visit your wonderful state in 2013 ing cancelations. They did. So off I went Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. For more information,
while on a trip to see family in West to enjoy the solitude and beauty of the visit www.arizonahighways.com. CLAIRE CURRAN
4 MAY 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.
PETRIFIED FOREST THE JOURNAL NATIONAL PARK
etrified Forest National Park is a semi-arid grassland, but it took more than 200 million years of continental drift to make it so. Evidence of an ancient tropical forest litters the scaly sand, from big logs to shattered trunks — trees P transformed and broken since the time of early dinosaurs. During the Trias- sic Period, the trees (mostly tall conifers) were buried in floodplains and eventually turned to stone as silica from groundwater replaced the original wood tissues. Besides petrified wood, the park also preserves a long fossil record from the Trias- sic Period and human artifacts dating as far back as 13,000 years. To explore this strangely beautiful landscape, full of colorful mesas, buttes and banded hills, hike one of the many trails from the 28-mile-long park road. Or find your own path in the park’s expansive wilderness. To stay overnight, grab a free permit from the visitors center and hike into one of two backcountry camping areas. — KAYLA FROST
YEAR DESIGNATED: 1906 (national monument), 1962 (national park) AREA: 138,788 acres WILDERNESS ACREAGE: 50,000 acres ANNUAL VISITATION: 836,799 (2014) AVERAGE ELEVATION: 5,400 feet
OPPOSITE PAGE: Albert Einstein and his second wife, Elsa, visited Petrified Forest National Monument (now a national park) on a Fred Harvey Co. tour in 1931. | NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 928-524-6628; www.nps.gov/pefo ABOVE: Petrified Forest National Park’s logs are more than 200 million years old. |GEORGE H.H. HUEY
6 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 7 history photography � � � �
Route 66 Much has been written about Historic Route 66, in this magazine and many others. And you might think you know all there is to know, but did you know that the Mother Road almost bypassed Northern Arizona?
oday, the path Historic Route 66 City, Missouri. They argued that their the Kit Carson and the Branding Iron. once cut through Northern Ari- proposed route offered more services, Among the earliest, likely built in the zona seems inevitable, but if it provided by the Fred Harvey Co., and 1930s, was the Gypsy Garden Auto Court, T weren’t for business leaders from that proximity to attractions like the later renamed the Coronado Auto Court. Kingman, the famous Mother Road might Grand Canyon would drive tourism. Although decommissioned in 1985 have taken a different direction. The Automobile Club of Southern Cali- with the completion of Interstate 40, Route 66 evolved from the National fornia added signs to the western half of Route 66 remains a powerful engine for Old Trails Highway, a transcontinental the National Old Trails Highway in 1914. tourism in Kingman, which is located route that linked segments of historic In 1926, the section west of New Mexico along the longest remaining continuous trails. The initial route proposed by became U.S. Route 66. stretch of the old highway. The town the National Old Trails Road Ocean-to- In Kingman, commerce grew around features Route 66-themed businesses and Ocean Highway Association would have the popular roadway. It included auto museums, along with an annual Route 66 traveled from Santa Fe, New Mexico, courts and motels such as the Wal-A-Pai, Fun Run. — KATHY MONTGOMERY to Springerville, then south to Phoenix, crossing the Colorado River at Yuma. But a group of business leaders from Kingman and Needles, California, orga- nized to promote an alternate path across Northern Arizona. The route they cham- pioned, along the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, essentially aligned with the historic wagon road constructed by Lieutenant Edward Beale THE JOURNAL in the late 1850s.
Representatives of the group, includ- BRUCE D. TAUBERT A mule-deer fawn strikes a pose amid the foliage of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. | BRUCE D. TAUBERT ing John R. Whiteside from Kingman, successfully lobbied for the route at the association’s 1913 convention in Kansas Spotting Wildlife Photo Editor Jeff Kida discusses the art of photographing wildlife The Gypsy Garden Auto Court, shown in the 1940s or ’50s, was a mainstay of with wildlife expert Bruce D. Taubert.
Kingman’s section of Historic Route 66. MUSEUM MOHAVE JK: How did this beautiful image come Canyon and Chiricahua National Monu- the “boonies” to photograph certain spe- together? ment, are great because the animals are cies that might not be easily found inside BDT: I spotted this mule-deer fawn while used to seeing humans, so they act more the boundaries of state and national parks. ARIZONA HIGHWAYS this ■ The first issue of 1943. Six months championship in any I was on a nature walk at the South Rim of “normal” in their presence. I also like ripar- In those cases, I might have to scout for The Tombstone later, articles of incor- women’s team sport. In May 1965, Arizona the Grand Canyon. I didn’t use a tripod, so ian habitats and natural water sources, weeks, set up blinds and sit for days — or Epitaph is published poration are filed for ■ Phoenix teachers 50 Years Ago Highways took read- image stabilization was important. I used especially in the Southwest. At times, I’ll longer — until I make the photographs I’m month on May 1, 1880, by its the Tucson Medical take a voluntary pay ers into the Kaibab a high shutter speed, and it was an over- photograph from inside a vehicle, but I looking for. founder, John P. Clum. Center, which opens cut on May 27, 1931, so National Forest to cast day, which was perfect for this type prefer to hike, use a blind or gently follow in history The paper goes on to at the same location the city’s schools can explore the life of the cover mining interests, the next year. continue operating of photo. Looking through the thicket gives the animals. Shooting from a vehicle is Kaibab squirrel, a gray political corruption ■ On May 26, 1991, full time. squirrel with a unique the photo a sense of “wildness,” rather often limiting, especially since lighting, and the October 1881 the University of ■ An outbreak of than making a viewer wonder if it was background scenery and animal behavior Gunfight at the O.K. Arizona women’s whooping cough and bright-white tail. The magazine also made at a zoo or a wildlife park. can be unpredictable. Corral. softball team beats measles leads to the ADDITIONAL READING ■ The Desert Sanato- UCLA to win its first quarantine of the explored some of the Look for our book Arizona rium in Tucson closes national title — and Maricopa Reserva- other animals that JK: What are some of your favorite JK: Do all your photos come as easily as Highways Photography Guide, down on May 15, the school’s first tion on May 31, 1910. available at bookstores and inhabit the forest. places to photograph wildlife? this one did? www.shoparizonahighways.com/ BDT: National parks, like the Grand BDT: Not at all. I often have to travel into books.
8 MAY 2015 To learn more about photography, visit www.arizonahighways.com/photography. www.arizonahighways.com 9 iconic photographers � � THE JOURNAL
DARWIN VAN CAMPEN
f Darwin Van Campen hadn’t come down with so many colds as a Arizona was “one of the greatest assets available to a scenic pho- child, prompting his family to move from Ohio to the more favor- tographer.” able climate of Arizona, he might never have become a prominent Van Campen originally wanted to become a lawyer, but that goal I photographer for Arizona Highways. was derailed as he spent more and more energy making photo- He arrived in 1943, when he was 8, and discovered the thrills of graphs. Upon graduating from Arizona State University, he studied photography while constructing a pinhole camera for a West Phoe- for two years at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Bar- nix High School physics course. Inspired by Arizona’s endless beauty, bara, California. He then returned to his true love, Arizona, to pursue Van Campen was driven to capture all its moods and seasons. In his passion full time. And there he mostly stayed until his untimely the October 1962 issue of Arizona Highways, he said that living in death in 1981. — KAYLA FROST
ABOVE: Darwin Van Campen gave up dreams of a law career to become a full-time photographer and a regular Arizona Highways contributor.
RIGHT: The October 1962 issue of Arizona Highways featured dozens of Van Campen photos, including this Grand Canyon shot made at a snowy Mather Point. DARWIN VAN CAMPEN VAN DARWIN
10 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 11 dining nature � � � �
The snakes are Soldi Back Alley Bistro adorned with large, In a steak-and-potatoes town like Prescott, a restaurant that specializes dark spots on their light-brown or yellow in global street food might seem out of place, but this trendy On average, West- backs. ern hognose snakes BYOB is making locals think twice about what’s for dinner. are 2 feet long, though they can reach up to 3 feet.
IN 2005, AIMEE NOVAK TOOK A TRIP to Europe Soldi means “loose change,” “beer dining space that Novak decorated with that shook up her life and ultimately money” or “dough” in Italian, Novak says. potted flowers and fountains underneath enriched the Prescott dining scene. Her idea was to provide elevated food, but a colorful canopy of umbrellas. During her travels, she not necessarily gourmet. “We wanted to She experimented with the salon’s prescott frequented bistros and do creative and affordable global street clients, picking a day to cook and waiting osterias — small, casual food,” she says. to see who came back to eat. News spread eateries, with limited menus and small Novak built her BYOB slowly and in by word of mouth until the eatery became plates, where diners could enjoy a bottle stages. She went back to school, com- so popular that Novak closed the salon of wine. The lingering memory of those pleting the culinary program at the Art and renovated the building, a beautiful alfresco dining experiences got the hair Institute of Phoenix. She commuted from Queen Anne Victorian built in the 1890s, colorist and salon owner thinking about Prescott, where she continued to work as for indoor seating. her career. The delicious result is Soldi a stylist. Then she found a food truck for A seasonal chef, Novak changes the Back Alley Bistro, built around a food sale and installed it behind the salon. menu weekly based on produce available cart behind Prescott’s historic Rudolph Novak’s father, a steel fabricator, built at the Prescott Farmers Market or from Baehr House. fencing and ironwork for an outdoor- Whipstone Farm in Paulden, and she Their bellies are dark posts current offerings at the beginning of and solid black under each week on Facebook. the tail.
Lunch always includes a trio of mix- BRUCE (2) D. TAUBERT and-match street tacos and two sand- wiches: one with meat, one without. Taco meals they consumed. slightly toxic venom — hognoses options might include Moroccan turkey, Western Hognose This theatrical defense may aren’t dangerous to humans — spice-rubbed chicken or ginger-beer-bat- be necessary for snakes like that flows from their large rear tered tofu. Sandwiches could be braised Snakes Western hognoses, which are teeth. They also eat mice and THE JOURNAL stocky and have heavy bodies, birds that nest on the ground. beef with corn relish and roasted pobla- estern hognose strike with their mouths closed. making them relatively slow Western hognoses live in nos, or an asparagus sub with raisins, feta snakes are some- Finally, if these snakes still feel and clumsy. The name “hog- areas that are flat and dry, with cheese and chipotle dressing. times called “bluffers” threatened, they’ll pretend to nose” comes from their pointy, little vegetation. Prairie areas are When fresh greens are available, Novak Wor “faux vipers” for die — rolling onto their backs, upturned snouts, which they use most suitable for these snakes, puts a salad on the menu. When they’re their dramatic playacting when thrashing back and forth, and to dig through the dirt for toads, which thrive in loose, sandy soil not, she switches to seasonal soups and they feel threatened. At first, eventually going limp. Their their main source of food. But where they can burrow. They live Asian noodle bowls using root vegetables they’ll spread the skin on their mouths will hang open with their Western hognoses also eat other throughout much of the United with gluten-free options. necks for a cobra-like hooded tongues sticking out, and the reptiles and amphibians, such as States, including Arizona, and in appearance, and puff up their frogs, lizards, snakes and reptile parts of Canada and Mexico. The beautifully renovated salon feels snakes might even bleed from entire bodies. They hiss and their mouths or throw up the last eggs. They subdue prey with — MOLLY BILKER homey and comfortable, with a central seating area and two smaller nooks: one with a couch and chairs overlooking a leafy front yard, the other with a table for nature factoid six and a patio view. With lunch well established, Novak BLUE DEATH-FEIGNING BEETLES expanded to include breakfast and a If Jurassic Park taught us anything, it’s that predators prefer live Friday happy hour, and now she’s contem- prey. Blue death-feigning beetles (Asbolus verrucosus) use that fact plating her next steps. to their advantage: When threatened by spiders, birds, rodents or For Novak and her happy customers, lizards, the beetles roll over and play dead, with their bodies becom- ing extremely rigid. Once the threat has passed, the beetles right Soldi adds up to change for the better. themselves. Native to the Sonoran Desert, these nocturnal beetles — KATHY MONTGOMERY are also notable for their unique color, which comes from a wax they secrete to protect themselves from dehydration and overheating. Blue death-feigning beetles have been known to live for as long as Soldi Back Alley Bistro is located at 111 Grove Avenue in eight years, although predators that get wise to the beetles’ act can Prescott. For more information, call 928-777-0444 or shorten that life span considerably. — NOAH AUSTIN www.arizonahighways.com 13
PAUL MARKOW PAUL visit www.soldicreativecuisine.com.
12 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 13 lodging � � MIND IF WE TAG ALONG? THE STATE OF ARIZONA GAVE US OUR OWN LICENSE PLATE, AND WE’D LIKE YOU TO TAKE US FOR A RIDE. JOHN BURCHAM JOHN
became a ranger station and, after falling service or electricity): playing board games Hull Cabin into disrepair, was recently restored by by the glow of propane lanterns, sipping the Kaibab National Forest as part of the coffee on the front porch, seeing a coyote LOCATED JUST A MILE from the Grand Rooms With a View cabin-rental program. slip across the gravel driveway and hearing Canyon’s South Rim, Hull Cabin offers The three-room structure, which retains the wind whistling through ancient pines. convenient access the original log walls made from pondero- “Time passes gently here, instead of with a grand canyon to the national park sas that were cut in 1887, is listed on the roar,” Nancy wrote. “We are so blessed for but is a world away National Register of Historic Places. The experiences like this that draw us closer to from the bustle of Grand Canyon Village. guest book on the hand-hewn wooden our souls.” — ANNETTE McGIVNEY THE JOURNAL The 128-year-old cabin was originally the dining table in the well-equipped kitchen home of 19th century sheep rancher Wil- includes positive comments about how Hull Cabin is located 16 miles east of Tusayan off Forest liam Hull and a pit stop for tourists on the much visitors from all over the world enjoy Road 307. For more information, call 928-638-2443 or stagecoach route to the Canyon. It then frontier life at this off-the-grid oasis (no cell visit www.recreation.gov.
things to do in arizona � � Car Show garden and a Cinco de Mayo event, which focuses on “over- earlier will be on display on May 2, Prescott celebration on Sunday. Infor- landing” — a form of self-reliant, the University of Arizona Mall. Ford Mustangs are on display mation: 520-455-5553 or www. long-distance travel that Information: 520-869-4925 or at this show — all years, models sonoitafairgrounds.com places the emphasis on the www.tucsonstreetrod and conditions are welcome. journey, rather than the desti- association.net Proceeds benefit the Yavapai Ignite Phoenix nation. Camping and vehicle County Jeep Posse, a volunteer May 9, Scottsdale outfitters and other exhibitors Photo Workshop: search-and-rescue group. At this “information exchange” will be on hand, and more than Grand Canyon Information: www.mustang at the Scottsdale Center for 170 classes and workshops will August 6-9, South Rim projectcruise.com the Performing Arts, everyday be offered.Information: www. Capture the drama of the Can- people are encouraged to share overlandexpo.com/west yon during monsoon season at Horse Races their stories and ideas. Judges this four-day workshop, where May 2-3, Sonoita choose 18 presenters who Rodders Days Arizona Highways contributor This 100th-annual event, speak for five minutes apiece May 21-23, Tucson Suzanne Mathia teaches par- presented by the Santa Cruz at the event. Information: www. Join the Tucson Street Rod As- ticipants how to make stunning County Fair and Rodeo ignitephoenix.com sociation and hot-rod enthu- photos and use Adobe Light- Association, features exciting siasts for an excitement-filled room to simplify and enhance To order an officialArizona Highways license plate, visit live horse-racing along with Overland Expo West weekend that culminates with the digital-photography process. simulcast Kentucky Derby May 15-17, near Flagstaff the oldest car show in Arizona. Information: 888-790-7042 or www.arizonahighways.com and click the license plate icon on our home page. betting, a VIP turf club, a beer Mormon Lake Lodge hosts this Automobiles from 1972 and www.ahpw.org Proceeds help support our mission of promoting tourism in Arizona.
14 MAY 2015 For more events, visit www.arizonahighways.com/events. ROUTE
Truxton 66 About all that’s left of Truxton’s Route 66 glory days is the Frontier Motel and Café. Ray and Mildred Parker, founding members of the Historic Route 66 Association of Cool Springs Arizona, bought the Frontier in 1957 and Until recently, the owned it until Mildred’s death in 2012. A 1920s-era Cool Springs New Mexico couple bought the motel and is gas station was best in the process of restoring it. The Frontier’s known for being rebuilt gift shop is open, but only sporadically, so on the road again call before stopping by. 928-769-1206 so it could be blown We’ve been exploring Historic Route 66 since the early up in 1992’s univer- sally panned Universal State Route 66 part of the last century, even before the Joads hit the Soldier, a Jean-Claude This relic of the old Route 66 is the Van Damme film. In only section in Arizona that has state the early 2000s, Ned Mother Road. This month, we’re headed back with a route markers. It runs from Kingman Hackberry Leuchtner bought the to Seligman, although its eastern Bob Waldmire, an Illinois native known for station and rebuilt it portion has been turned over to his Route 66 artwork, bought the Hackberry new map and some old friends. again, and today it Yavapai County for maintenance. General Store in the 1990s and was, for a looks much as it did time, the former mining town’s only resi- BY NOAH AUSTIN ILLUSTRATIONS BY ERIC HANSON in Route 66’s heyday. dent. (Waldmire, a vegetarian, once quipped There’s no gas service, that “corn dogs bought this place,” alluding but there are cold to his father being the inventor of the fair- Oatman drinks and a gift shop. food staple.) Waldmire died in 2009, but Hungry, smelly reminders of the past are Sitgreaves Pass 928-768-8366, www. the store — part memorabilia shop and part easy to find in Oatman, a former gold- Modern cars have fuel pumps, coolspringsroute66. museum — lives on. 928-769-2605, www. mining boomtown. Wild burros often roam but old automobiles relied com hackberrygeneralstore.com the town’s streets, seeking handouts from on gravity to move gasoline tourists. The burros are descendants of pack through the engine. That was a animals owned by prospectors, who turned problem on Sitgreaves Pass, a their animals loose after Oatman’s mines steep stretch of Route 66 that Kingman went bust. www.oatmangoldroad.com traverses the Black Mountains Kingman benefited from northeast of Oatman. Tow- Route 66 traffic but also Durlin Hotel truck operators in the area gained importance as a Now called the Oatman Hotel, this inn was a made a fortune hauling hap- water stop on the Atchison, favorite of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, less motorists over the pass, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail- who stopped there on their honeymoon in the summit of which (3,586 way passenger line between Valentine 1939. Originally constructed in 1902, the hotel feet) offers a nice view of the Los Angeles and Kansas City, After Interstate 40 bypassed was rebuilt following a 1921 fire that leveled surrounding landscape. Missouri. That part of the this town, lovebirds kept visit- most of Oatman. It no longer offers overnight city’s history is celebrated ing in early February to have a accommodations but does have a bar and at Locomotive Park, where Valentine postmark stamped restaurant. 928-768-4408 Engine No. 3759 is on display. on their Valentine’s Day cards. The steam engine traveled That ended in 1990, when the nearly 2.6 million miles postal clerk was murdered and before it was retired in 1953. the post office demolished. 928-757-7919, www.cityof You can still get the postmark Oatman-Topock Highway kingman.gov down the road in Kingman, but While most of Route 66 in Arizona there’s not much left to see in closely follows the path of present- Historic Route 66 Valentine, which had a popula- day Interstate 40, Western Arizona’s Association of Arizona tion of 38 in 2010. portion does not. From Topock to Andy Devine This group was organized Schoolhouse at Truxton Oatman, it’s known as the Oatman- Kingman’s most famous native son in 1987 with the mission of Canyon Training School Topock Highway, and this rough wasn’t actually born there. Prolific preserving and promoting This Valentine landmark was and little-used road features dry character actor Andy Devine, known Arizona’s stretch of the route. part of the U.S. government’s washes, sand dunes and abandoned for playing cowboy sidekicks, was It also operates a gift shop in forced assimilation of Native mining claims. born in Flagstaff in 1905 but moved to the Powerhouse building at Americans in the first part of Kingman when he was a year old. The 120 W. Andy Devine Avenue the 20th century. Hualapai and city celebrates Devine’s legacy with in Kingman. 928-753-5001, other tribes’ children came to the annual Andy Devine Days festival www.azrt66.com the boarding school between and Andy Devine Avenue, a main route Old Trails Bridge 1903 and 1937. Boys practiced through town. www.gokingman.com This 800-foot bridge spans the Colorado River between trades, while girls learned Arizona and California, making it the westernmost domestic skills. The Hualapai point on Arizona’s section of Route 66, which was also Tribe now owns the building known as Will Rogers Highway. It’s supported by a single Yucca and is seeking funds for its 600-foot arch, and it carried automobile traffic from 1916 In 1952, Arizona’s far-western portion of Route 66 was rehabilitation and reuse. to 1948. Today, it supports a natural-gas pipeline. The rerouted through Yucca to bypass the arduous trek through Old Trails Bridge is the tiny town of Topock’s main claim Sitgreaves Pass. That doomed places like Oatman and Cool to fame — the Joad family ventured across it in the film Springs, but it boosted Yucca’s economy until the 1970s, adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath. when Interstate 40 was built along the same route. The town’s population has dwindled to about 120 today.
16 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 17 Havasu Canyon State Route 66 has maintained its importance as a Gateway to the jumping-off point for hikes into Havasu Canyon, a Grand Grand Canyon Canyon tributary on Havasupai Tribe land. From just east After Route 66 died, Williams of Peach Springs on SR 66, it’s a 65-mile drive northeast maintained its importance as the on Indian Road 18 to the Hualapai Hilltop, where the start of the most popular route to 8-mile hike to Supai begins. From this section of SR 66, one of the world’s seven natural you can see all the way to the Canyon’s South Rim on a wonders. Picturesque State Route 64 clear day. 928-448-2121, www.havasupai-nsn.gov The Old Road takes travelers north from Williams Peach Springs Several original segments of to Grand Canyon National Park, and Peach Springs is located on Route 66 exist between Ash the Grand Canyon Railway makes a Hualapai Tribe land and is Route 66 on TV Fork and Williams, but they’re daily run to the Canyon from town. home to the Peach Springs Route 66 was the inspiration for Route 66, in poor shape and suitable only 800-843-8726, www.thetrain.com Trading Post. There, the Grand Canyon Caverns a 1960s TV series in which two men drove a for hiking or mountain-biking. If Hualapais swapped baskets The largest dry caverns in the Corvette across the country and got caught you’re a Route 66 “completist,” and other traditional crafts U.S. are at this attraction east of up in the struggles of people they met along you can find a full accounting for canned food, medicine Peach Springs. The caves are 200 the way. Most of the episodes’ locations of these and other segments in and household goods. The to 300 feet underground and can weren’t even along the route: In Arizona, the Jerry McClanahan’s EZ66 Guide post now houses tribal be accessed via an elevator. A pair visited Page, Tucson, Apache Junction for Travelers, now in its third offices and was listed on the variety of tour options are avail- and Phoenix. In 2014, a remake of the series edition. National Register of Historic able, and there’s also a motel and was announced. Places in 2003. restaurant. 928-422-4565, www. gccaverns.com Pica This Santa Fe Railway stop originally was named Picacho after nearby Picacho Butte, but the Southern Pacific already had a stop named Picacho down south. To avoid confusion, Seligman railroad officials matched Seligman is the home of Angel Delga- coins (the old-days equiva- dillo, the longtime town barber and lent of Rock, Paper, Scissors) the “Mayor of Route 66.” Delgadillo Williams Like most towns along the to see which name had to be pushed Arizona to designate Route 66 route, Williams wasn’t ready changed. The Santa Fe lost, a historic highway, which helped bring Parks to let go of Route 66. But Parks’ segment of and Pica was born. tourists back to Seligman and other towns after Interstate 40 bypassed Williams held off the inevi- Route 66 was built them. He’s retired now but still holds table the longest: In 1984, it in 1931, replacing an court at his barbershop, which is Crookton Road became the last town to be older alignment to the adjacent to Delgadillo’s Route 66 Gift If you’re traveling from bypassed by Interstate 40. south. A 1931 issue of Shop and Visitors Center. 928-422- east to west and looking Route 66 through Williams Arizona Highways said 3352, www.route66giftshop.com for the authentic Route 66 is known as Railroad Avenue the new road would experience, you’ll want to and is split into eastbound “eliminate 18 miles of take Interstate 40’s Exit 139 and westbound sections. narrow, crooked, poorly (Crookton Road) between Ash Fork www.williamschamber.org surfaced road, which is Ash Fork and Seligman. The tiny town of Ash Fork, which particularly dangerous From here to the Califor- bills itself as the “Flagstone in dry weather due to nia border is the longest Capital of the World,” was raveling and innumer- remaining unbroken stretch named for nearby Ash Creek, able potholes.” (158 miles) of the original which itself was named for the route. East of here, you’ll ash trees in the area. In the old often find yourself on I-40 days, the town’s “vigilance com- Arizona State when following the route, mittee” hanged “malicious and Railroad Museum ROUTE 66 MILEPOSTS though sections of the contemptible people” from the Williams was an important railroad original road do still exist. limb of an ash tree. That was be- stop, so it makes sense that a mu- In its heyday, Route 66 ran for 401 miles through Arizona. fore Route 66 came to town; the seum celebrating trains in Arizona The entire route, more than 2,400 miles, went from Lake route’s history in Ash Fork is on would be located there. One prob- Shore Drive in Chicago to the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In display at the Ash Fork Route 66 lem: The long-awaited museum Monica, California, passing through Missouri, Kansas, This Seligman institution is known for its ice Museum. 928-637-0204, www. hasn’t been built yet. The planned Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona along the way. cream, milkshakes and root-beer floats. Juan ashforkrt66museum.com location of the 106,500-square- Delgadillo (Angel’s brother, see “Seligman” Route 66 was “born” in 1926, but the Mother Road’s roots foot facility is near where the Grand above) built the place in 1953 from scrap lumber are much deeper than that. In the 1850s, Lieutenant Canyon Railway crosses Rodeo he gathered while working for the railroad. Juan Edward Fitzgerald Beale built a wagon road from Fort Road. Proponents are in the process died in 2004, and his family runs the Snow Cap Smith, Arkansas, to the Colorado River. Portions of the of raising money for the project. today. 928-422-3291 Beale Wagon Road are still visible today, and Route 66 in www.azstaterrmuseum.org Arizona generally follows the road’s course.
18 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 19 Flagstaff A portion of old Route 66 runs through Flagstaff as an Interstate 40 business route. That, along with Interstate 17 from Phoenix, has helped the former lum- ber town weather Route 66’s demise. The San Francisco Peaks and surrounding wilderness have helped, too. 928-213-2951, www.flagstaffarizona.org ROUTE 66 MILEPOSTS Route 66 Mural Early issues of Arizona Highways provided assessments of the In 2013, Prescott-based artists R.E. Wall and Margaret Dewar unveiled a new state’s highways, including Route 66. In August 1929, all sections Bellemont Route 66 mural in Flagstaff. The mural, which Dewar calls “an expression of of the route in Arizona were deemed “good” or “excellent,” with With an elevation of 7,132 what we as Americans have held Route 66 to symbolize,” is on the south-facing the exception of Williams to Flagstaff (“fair”) and Topock to Oat- feet, Bellemont bills wall of Lumberyard Brewing Co., 5 S. San Francisco Street. man (“poor”). The magazine estimated driving the entire Arizona itself as the highest town stretch of Route 66 would take 14 hours. on Route 66. It also was Lowell Observatory a railroad water stop, and Just a few years after Route 66’s designation, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Route 66 passed through five present-day Arizona counties: during World War II, the Pluto from Lowell Observatory, located within walking distance of the road on Mohave, Yavapai, Coconino, Navajo and Apache. Army built an ammuni- Flagstaff’s Mars Hill. The facility’s centerpiece, a 24-inch Alvan Clark telescope, tion-storage depot there. was dismantled for repairs in 2014 and will be back in action later this year. 928- The depot now is known 774-3358, www.lowell.edu as Camp Navajo and is Hotel Monte Vista operated by the Arizona The Monte Vista (then called the Community Hotel) opened on New Year’s Day Army National Guard. in 1927 and was publicly owned until it was sold in the 1960s. Its location just a block north of Route 66 made it a popular stop for motorists, and at various Joseph City times, it also hosted Mary Costigan’s radio show, a Prohibition speak-easy and This town’s claim to fame is a few slot machines. They’re all long gone, but the hotel is going strong. the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, 928-779-6971, www.hotelmontevista.com which features perhaps Route 66’s most famous sign: a jack- rabbit and “HERE IT IS” in big, Such a Fine Sight to See red letters. The convenience Feel like re-enacting a throwaway line from store and souvenir shop is a 40-year-old song? Head to Standin’ on the also famous for its slogan: “If Corner Park, inspired by the 1972 Eagles hit Take you haven’t been to the Jack It Easy. There, you, too, can be “standin’ on a cor- Rabbit, you haven’t been to ner in Winslow, Arizona.” There’s even a flatbed the Southwest.” Ford parked there, although you’ll need to find a girl on your own. www.winslowarizona.org Winona Don’t forget this little town, which is close to where Route 66 crossed Walnut Creek on the Walnut Canyon Bridge. Completed in 1924 as part of a Bureau of Public Roads project, the Two Guns riveted steel bridge has a single span Named after local resident Henry of 101 feet. It’s now closed to car traf- “Two Guns” Miller, Two Guns was fic, but you can still walk on it. mostly a tourist trap. Its propri- etors tried to lure travelers off the highway with a “zoo” that included mountain lions and coyotes. Today, the Two Guns site is private property, but you can see the zoo’s buildings from Interstate 40.
Meteor Crater This big hole was formed by a 150-foot-wide meteorite that slammed into the Earth about Winslow 50,000 years ago. Most of the Interstate 40 bypassed Winslow in the 1970s, but the town 300,000-ton rock was vaporized has maintained its importance as the home of Homolovi on impact, but pieces have been State Park and the gateway to the Navajo Nation’s Painted Penzance found several miles away. The Desert. Winslow’s history, including its connection to A place named Penzance, a sandstone quarry largest fragment is on display at Route 66, is on display at the Old Trails Museum. 928-289- about 4 miles west of Holbrook, appears on most the visitors center. 800-289-5898, 5861, www.oldtrailsmuseum.org Arizona maps. It was named in 1888 by Santa Fe www.meteorcrater.com Railway officers. According to the bookArizona La Posada Place Names, the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Formerly a Harvey House, this Mary Colter-designed hotel The Pirates of Penzance, very popular at the time, opened in 1930 and operated until 1957. It then was gutted inspired the name. and turned into Santa Fe Railway offices. Finally, in the 1990s, local preservationists banded together to save it from demolition. Restoration efforts are ongoing, but the hotel — which Colter considered her masterpiece — is open for business again. 928-289-4366, www.laposada.org
20 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 21 Querino Canyon Bridge Designed by the Arizona Highway Department and built in 1929, this bridge was part of a Route 66 relocation. You can still drive on it today, although part of the road leading to it is dirt. From Interstate 40, take Exit 341 (Ortega Holbrook Road) and go east on the frontage road Founded as a railroad stop, Holbrook on the north side of I-40. After you cross is the home of the old Navajo County the bridge, you can either backtrack or Courthouse, which now houses a muse- continue east to return to I-40 at Pine um, a visitors center and an original Old Springs Road (Exit 346). West jail. Rumor has it that the ghost of George Smiley, a murderer hanged there in 1900, still haunts the building. www. ci.holbrook.az.us Lupton Petrified Forest National Park The town of Lupton is the easternmost Wigwam Motel More than 13,000 years of human history populated place on Arizona’s stretch of Why did the Indian wear feathers? To is on display here, along with petrified Route 66. There are plenty of route-themed keep his wigwam. That’s a joke. The Wig- wood that dates to the days of early dino- businesses to the north of Interstate 40, wam Motel in Holbrook is not, although saurs. Petrified Forest is the only national including one that’s shaped like a giant the accommodations there are actually park in the West that protects a section teepee. From here, it’s less than a mile to the shaped like teepees, not wigwams. of old Route 66; a line of weathered tele- New Mexico border. And that’s a story for The 15 concrete-and-steel structures, phone poles marks the roadbed within the another day. arranged in a semicircle, include the park. 928-524-6228, www.nps.gov/pefo original hickory furniture, along with full bathrooms. The motel closed in the Painted Desert Inn 1970s but reopened in 1988, and it now Located within Petrified Forest National features a museum of Route 66 collect- Park, this Pueblo Revival-style inn catered ibles and other artifacts. 928-524-3048, to Route 66 travelers from 1940 to 1963. www.sleepinawigwam.com It was scheduled for demolition in 1975, but a public campaign helped save it, ROUTE 66 MILEPOSTS and now it’s been designated a national historic landmark. It reopened in 2006 as Arizona had the third-longest section of a museum and bookstore, but it no longer Route 66, behind New Mexico and Okla- offers overnight accommodations.928- homa. In Kansas, meanwhile, only 524-6228, www.nps.gov/pefo 13 miles of the route passed through the state. Speaking to the Associated Press in 1997, Angel Delgadillo described September 22, 1978 — the day Interstate 40 opened: “I stood out there [on Route 66 in Seligman] and saw nothing. We, the people of these Chambers/Sanders towns, had been forgotten,” Delgadillo said. These two old railway stops (exits 333 and 339 “It’s sad when the world forgets you.” from Interstate 40) are jumping-off points for the extraordinarily scenic U.S. Route 191. From Route 66 officially ceased to exist in 1985, Chambers, the route heads north through the when it was decertified by the American Navajo Nation and continues into Utah and Association of State Highway and Transpor- Wyoming. From Sanders, drivers can head tation Officials. south all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border — a route that includes the Coronado Trail Scenic Get Your Kicks Byway between Springerville and Morenci. Bobby Troup immortalized Route 66 when he wrote (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66, a song first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946. The song mentions three Arizona towns — Flagstaff, Winona and Kingman — and has been covered by artists ranging from Chuck Berry to Depeche Mode.
22 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 23 ROUTE 66
FEELIN’ GROOVY
What do you get when you send your most playful photographer out on Historic Route 66 with an iPhone app called Hipstamatic? Among other things, you get a kitschy collection of “vintage” snapshots and a new look at an old subject — the Mother Road hasn’t looked this cool in decades. A PORTFOLIO BY DAWN KISH
Above: Photographer Dawn Kish’s sister, Laura Franke, poses outside an old railroad car at La Posada, a Mary Colter-designed inn in Winslow. Opposite page: Reminders of the heyday of Historic Route 66 are everywhere in Seligman, including on the floor of Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In.
24 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 25 1. Kish says she’s been eating at Flagstaff’s Grand Canyon Café for more than 17 years. She recommends the patty melt with extra-crispy fries (pictured), along with the pot stickers. 2. Decaying buildings mark the location of Two Guns east of Flagstaff. An entrepreneur once tried to lure traffic from Route 66 by operating a zoo here. 3. Meteor City, named for nearby Meteor Crater, is the home of this giant dreamcatcher. “You can see the San Francisco Peaks through it,” Kish says. 4. “Twin Arrows in Flagstaff is now a casino,” Kish says, “but the iconic 1. 2. arrows, which were recently renovated, still make a great photo op.” 5. “Grand Canyon Café used to have table jukeboxes, but they don’t work anymore,” Kish says. “Bummer.” 6. A mural marks the location of Two Guns. “It’s a must-stop along Route 66,” Kish says. “It’s famous for some bizarre ghost stories.”
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26 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 27 1. “Many of the old Route 66 motels in Flagstaff have gone out of business or become Best Westerns,” Kish says, “but the 66 Motel is still there.” 2. Vintage automobiles are common sights in Seligman, the town that helped inspire the 2006 animated film Cars. 3. Winslow’s Standin’ on the Corner Park re-creates a line from Take It Easy, a 1970s Eagles hit. 4. La Posada’s old train depot recalls the hotel’s history as a Harvey House along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. 2. 3. 5. Downtown Winslow celebrates its Route 66 heritage with a large road marker painted on the road. 6. “Grand Canyon Caverns is close to Peach Springs,” Kish says. “There, you will find underground caves and dinosaurs.”
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28 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 29 ROUTE 66
Excerpted from our September 1937 issue
I, Highway 66
In 1937, Historic Route 66 got its final installment of pavement, near the tiny town of Valentine. That same year, we published a “first person” story from the perspective of the road itself. This month, we’re excerpting that piece exactly as it was written 78 years ago.
BY G.T. MIDGLEY
am the oldest transcontinental highway in Arizona. I From the west, you come into Arizona across the Colorado was first known as Ocean-to-Ocean highway and the River through Topoc and then into Oatman. This was one of Santa Fe trail; and didn’t receive my Number 66 until the richest gold mining camps in the west of an earlier day, I the Government designated me as such. and is still an important producing center. From here you pass Historically, I date back to the middle of the 19th Century, through picturesque gold roads, and over the mountains to for it was this way that many hundreds of the early western Kingman, the county seat of Mohave County. This thriving pioneers came, with their ox teams, wagons, and horses. Water community is a center of mining activities for a large area, and
was scarce and dangers many. Compare tortuous weeks of it is here that the new road branches off to the world famous OLD TRAILS MUSEUM these old time journeys across Arizona with the present day Boulder Dam. Wayne L. Troutner’s clothing store along Historic Route 66 in Winslow was known for its curvy-cowgirl sign — so much so that the sign is depicted on Troutner’s tombstone. pleasant smooth hours. You continue east, through famous old Peach Springs, past In the earlier days, I was a very rough, steep, dusty road, and the Hualapai Indian Reservation, Seligman, and into Ashfork. it was quite an adventure traveling on me across Arizona. It is Here Highway 89 branches off south to Phoenix, and I continue to mention. Flagstaff also has two thriving lumber mills, the section of our State, where life is always full of interest, and still an adventure, but in a much more pleasurable way, which I east up over the rim, and into the town of Williams. You are State Teachers College and is the county seat. Seven miles east where you may tarry as long as time will permit and see some- will tell you about later. now up in the pines and in the summer time, it is indeed a wel- Highway 89 turns north through vast Indian country, the Kai- thing different every day. At first I was built by the various counties by bond issues come sight. Just east of Williams is the turn off to the Grand bab Forest and on to Salt Lake City. I continue east to Winslow, It is of interest to remember as you speed along over my with some help from the State. I was then taken over by the Canyon, which is a sight unparalleled in the world and one which is a Santa Fe railroad division point and within easy smooth coat, that my first paving in Arizona was in the town State, and in late years I have received a great deal of Federal which literally millions of people have traveled from all parts of access to the famed Meteor Crater; thence to Holbrook where of Flagstaff. It was one block long, was laid in 1914, and is still help. the world to see. But to keep on my route. you will find much of historical interest of the early days of our being used in its original state. It is a far cry from this tiny When I was first created I was very much of a step-child, The next town you reach is Flagstaff and it is here you truly State. Holbrook is a trading center for a big area, and you may stretch to the hundreds of miles of smooth highway which you and I was ragged and dirty for many years, but now I have a come to the tourist Mecca. Here you may take many beautiful take side trips to the White Mountains and Petrified Forest to travel now. nice coat of paving all the way through our State. and interesting side trips, such as Oak Creek Canyon, Lake the south and the Painted Desert to the north. From Holbrook In conclusion I shall always remember the year 1937, for it Now let me tell you about some of the things you can see by Mary, Mormon Lake, San Francisco Peaks, Lowell Observatory, it is a short drive to Lupton, which is on the State line. marks the completion of my paving, the last having been put in traveling my way. Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and many others too numerous From the above it can be seen that I go through a wondrous near Valentine. I can now truly call myself a highway.
30 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 31 ROUTE 66
Neon motel signs, convertibles, station wagons, roadside attractions, ice-cream stands, Burma Shave billboards ... that’s what most people THE SCENIC ROUTE think of when they think of Historic Route 66. The bulk of the route, however, is surrounded by Mother Nature, and some of the most scenic stretches are in Arizona.
A PORTFOLIO EDITED BY JEFF KIDA
havasu national wildlife refuge | The calm water of Topock Marsh reflects the colors of sunset. The spot where this photo was made is just north of the Old Trails Bridge, where Historic Route 66 crosses the Colorado River between Arizona and California. | DEREK VON BRIESEN
32 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 33 oatman | Teddy bear chollas mingle with remnants of the Tom Reed gold mine. The mine, which closed in 1932, produced more than $13 million in ore. | CHRISTINE KEITH
bill williams mountain | A popular hiking trail on this mountain near Williams offers panoramic views of the surrounding forest. The 9,170-foot peak is just south of Historic Route 66. | SHANE McDERMOTT
34 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 35 upper lake mary | A boat disturbs the man-made lake’s calm water. The lake and its sibling, Lower Lake Mary, provide water for nearby Flagstaff. | TOM BEAN
upper lake mary | A boat disturbs the man-made lake’s calm water. The lake and its sibling, Lower Lake Mary, provide water for nearby Flagstaff. | TOM BEAN
36 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 37 meteor crater | Rocks jut from the rim of the crater, which was formed by a meteorite 50,000 years ago. It’s located south of Historic Route 66, about 20 miles west of Winslow. | NICK BEREZENKO
walnut canyon | Morning light streams through a misty sky at this national monument southeast of Flagstaff. The canyon is home to prehistoric Sinaguan cliff dwellings. | TOM BEAN
38 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 39 little painted desert | Twilight illuminates the multicolored buttes of this county park north of Winslow. It’s best viewed from nearby Homolovi State Park, which also features the ruins of a prehistoric Indian village. | TOM BEAN
south of winslow | Summer storm clouds gather over petrified forest | Sunrise casts a glow on this national park’s golden grasslands at sunset. The peak in the distance is 6,945-foot Chevelon Butte. | TOM BEAN petrified logs. A section of Historic Route 66 once ran through the park. | GEORGE H.H. HUEY
40 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 41 FOR H E AV E N ’S SAKE hortly after dawn, the sky swirled That there’s an observatory on with the pink remnants of Hurricane Mount Graham isn’t unusual. Odile as Father Paul Gabor, S.J., and I headed east from Tucson along That it’s run by the Vatican is Interstate 10. Our journey, first to Safford and then up to the Mount Graham hard to figure. But, there it is. And SInternational Observatory, was a modest its mission, according to the newly drive but also a road trip into the universe. An astrophysicist and Jesuit priest, Gabor canonized Pope John XXIII, is serves as vice director for the Vatican Obser- vatory Research Group, which operates the twofold: to explain the church to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mount Graham. This immediately scientists, and to explain brings up two questions: Why does the Vati- science to the church. can have an observatory? And what is that observatory doing in Arizona? Gabor, I quickly discovered, is a fine BY MATT JAFFE traveling companion, his reserve balanced PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILL HATCHER by a dry, mischievous wit. That said, I admit to being overmatched: Raised in the former Czechoslovakia, Gabor holds mul- tiple advanced degrees, from astrophysics to divinity. He speaks eight languages, six fluently. As for me, I’m neither especially religious nor adept at the physical sciences, having pulled a C in college astronomy — a fact I confessed to Gabor early on. If the idea of a Vatican observatory sug- gests The Da Vinci Code-style intrigue, with researchers probing the origins of the Star Father Paul Gabor, S.J., the vice director of the Vatican of Bethlehem, Gabor quickly dispelled such Observatory Research Group, looks to the heavens notions. “We are really a very standard sci- outside the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) building. Gabor calls the observatory atop Mount entific institution,” he said. Graham “a very standard scientific institution.” The observatory traces its roots to Pope
42 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 43 Gregory XIII’s 16th century effort to study the annual cycle and device’s allegedly demonic acronym: LUCIFER. Now shortened the mirror, thus bringing glass and outside temperatures reform the Julian calendar. Simply put, the Julian calendar was to LUCI, the new name, by contrast, hasn’t engendered conjec- quickly into equilibrium to reduce distortion. slightly inaccurate and didn’t accurately reflect the precise ture about a secret papal search for Lucille Ball. Pieces of high-grade glass (the 8.4-meter mirrors require time the Earth takes to orbit the sun. Over the centuries, those More oil well than H.G. Wells in aesthetics, with bundles of 20 tons) are placed atop an array of hexagonal columns half errors add up. There’s now a 13-day discrepancy between the cables, ladders and iron girders, the Vatican telescope’s indus- an inch apart, then spun within a rotating oven and melted at Julian and Gregorian calendars. trial look belies its awe-inspiring capacity to observe stars and 2,156 degrees Fahrenheit. The molten glass fills spaces between Gabor said it’s a misconception that today’s observatory has galaxies 12 million light-years or farther from Earth. the columns and flows over the top to form a continuous, curv- “some sort of particular project set out for us by the pope or Gabor told our group that the telescope had marked its 21st ing glass surface, with the honeycomb structure below. The someone at the Vatican.” birthday two days earlier. “It’s of age; it could have a drink,” he mirror cools for three months before grinding and polishing He added: “I really love the quote from the newly canonized said. “Or, rather, just a change of oil.” can begin, a process that originally took seven years and even John XXIII, who supposedly said: ‘The observatory has a two- He explained the VATT’s history and how it came to Mount now requires two and a half years. It’s accurate to a millionth fold mission. One, to explain the church to the scientists. Two, Graham: For centuries following the calendar reform, the of an inch. to explain science to the church. So it appears we are doing church operated several observatories before Pope Leo XIII Hard to imagine it all started with some Pyrex custard cups. much better at the former.’ There’s some truth to that. Within formally refounded the Specola Vaticana (Latin for “Vatican But Angel first tested the concept by fusing a pair of cups in the church itself, many Catholics have no idea that there is a Observatory”) near St. Peter’s Basilica in 1891. a kiln. And before the mirror lab’s 1985 move to the stadium, Vatican observatory. And that includes the bishops.” He declared, “The church and her pastors are not opposed Angel worked in a onetime synagogue building on campus. to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but they Or, as Corbally put it, “an Angel created a mirror for the embrace it, encourage it and promote it with the fullest pos- Vatican in a temple.” ts 10,695-foot summit cloaked in clouds, Mount Gra- sible dedication.” ham, a sacred Apache peak, loomed to the north as we Light pollution forced the observatory to relocate, and in turned toward Safford. For permitting reasons only the 1930s, it moved to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer resi- fter the drive down the mountain, during which slightly more fathomable to me than the operations of dence, which sits above a lake within a volcanic crater 25 miles red-squirrel stew and football seemed to be Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider (on which Gabor outside Rome. That site, too, was eventually compromised, so equally popular topics, I met Gabor in Safford. once worked), we were unable to drive up to the observatory the Vatican sought a new telescope location, with Sardinia as He was scheduled to speak at the Discovery Park Itogether. So Gabor dropped me off at Eastern Arizona College’s one possibility. Campus, so we stopped for dinner at El Charro Discovery Park Campus, which conducts public observatory The esteemed astronomer and priest George Coyne, S.J., pro- Restaurant. As the steam from the fajitas cleared, Gabor gamely tours, and I joined a group of the school’s engineering students. vided the Arizona connection. At the time, Coyne was the Vati- Atried to explain notions of refraction to me, tracing diagrams Waiting for the van, they resembled a casting call for a prequel can Observatory’s director and also served as acting director on the table amid the chips and salsa. to The Big Bang Theory. at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. “They put The theme of Gabor’s speech was “Martyrs of Sci- The roughly 30-mile, nearly 8,000-foot climb from Safford two and two together, and the observatory came to Arizona,” ence,” and he addressed allegations of the church’s to Mount Graham’s three observatories is an endless series of Gabor said. historic persecution of scientists: “The story of stomach-churning switchbacks. I heeded Gabor’s advice to That was the simplest equation I would hear all day. supposed conflict between science and religion University of Arizona take Dramamine, then wrangled a spot in the van’s first row. is not what it has appeared to be.” It was a far- astronomy graduate student Ben Rackham stands There was plenty of chatter at first, before the hairpin turns reaching presentation, perhaps too far-reach- beneath the Vatican Advanced exacted their most cruel toll and the passengers fell silent. he Vatican telescope’s eye is its primary 1.83-meter ing for kids in the audience, who, safe to say, Technology Telescope. The We reached the observatories in about 90 minutes, then mirror. There are far bigger mirrors, including the two heard about cosmic pluralism and 15th century instrument’s 1.83-meter mirror is supported by a 20-ton received strict instructions not to cross yellow ropes marking 8.4-meter giants in the Large Binocular Telescope. But German theologian and astronomer Nicholas of platform. “How shall I put this? I think that most the boundaries of the Mount Graham Red Squirrel Refugium, the VATT mirror holds a unique place in the history of Cusa, if not Galileo, for the first time. astronomers actually have a very similar need a protected area for this federally endangered species. Up the astronomy. Eager to hit the road (I had agreed to drive to share the amazement and, generally speak- road among the spruce and firs, the Large Binocular Telescope As the Vatican looked for a telescope site, Dr. Roger Angel, back), I could tell Gabor was running long — by ing, the joy of understanding the universe,” he loomed. Operated by an international consortium that includesT director of the Steward Observatory’s Mirror Laboratory, revo- the Julian and Gregorian calendars alike. Then, with said. “We’re fortunate to have the privilege of being the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, it is lutionized the fabrication of mirrors. He pioneered a technique 50 slides remaining, Gabor quickly wrapped up and gamely witnesses. In spite of the fact that many astronomers wouldn’t very large indeed — one of the world’s most powerful tele- known as spin-casting, and the VATT mirror was the first of donned a knitted cap given to him as a gift. Soon we were out- label it in religious terms, I’m perfectly convinced that this is a scopes. this kind to be deployed. side, gazing up at stars through broken clouds. “They’ll be able profoundly religious attitude.” Gabor waited at the VATT, the smallest of Mount Graham’s “It was a tremendously thrilling time,” said Father Christo- to observe tonight,” he said. In Tucson, we passed the football stadium where, some- three facilities. Boxy, not baroque, and with gray steel walls, pher Corbally, S.J., Gabor’s predecessor as vice director, who We spoke about many things as I drove. He described the where above the mirror lab, the Arizona Wildcats were mount- the VATT building hardly looks the role of a Vatican obser- has worked at the observatory since 1983. “There was such an intellectual climate while growing up in communist Czecho- ing their miracle fourth-quarter comeback against California. vatory, except for the telescope’s silver retractable dome. It element of excitement at developing a new technology that is slovakia, where he wanted to join the priesthood only to real- I handed Gabor the keys, and we said our goodbyes, both too certainly doesn’t resemble the lair of mad monks scanning now the current generation of telescopes.” ize that the only two legal seminaries were controlled by the tired to linger. He drove off, and I briefly searched for stars, the darkness for the coming of an alien Antichrist from outer Guided by Corbally, I toured the lab, located in an unlikely secret police. He longed to “pursue a life of intellectual inquiry bright even through city lights. space, among the many existing conspiracy theories. (“I can spot beneath the east stands and end zone at Arizona Stadium without ideological biases,” and he found a refuge of sorts by I imagined how different Corbally’s and Gabor’s perspec- assure you that’s not true,” Gabor said.) in Tucson. It’s an enormous, hangar-like space. We watched as studying particle physics. But years later, Gabor said he knew tives might be upon looking at the same view. But, as Corbally Even so, the VATT creates endless speculation. Although a worker polished an 8.4-meter mirror, which, along with six he needed to enter the priesthood. had said, “So often in our work, there are such incredibly large the observatory had no role in the project, when Germany’s others of equal size, will comprise what amounts to a single “As soon as I entered the building of the novitiate, all of the numbers, powers of 10, and amazing figures of time and dis- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics installed piece of 80-foot-diameter glass for the Giant Magellan Tele- nagging ceased,” he said. “It allowed me to feel this is really tance. But every now and then, there’s also a chance to think, an infrared camera and spectroscope at the Large Binocular scope in the Chilean Andes. the place where I should have been all along.” ‘Gosh, this is all really wonderful, isn’t it?’ ” Telescope, the move inspired all sorts of breathless headlines Larger, yet lighter, than earlier designs, Angel’s mirrors fea- Reconciling his religious and his scientific sides proved less about the Vatican’s nefarious intentions. Mainly because of the ture a honeycomb structure. Air can also be circulated within challenging than one might expect, Gabor said. To learn more about the Vatican Observatory, visit www.vaticanobservatory.org.
44 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 45 OF PREHISTORIC PROPORTIONS When Willis Evans first spotted a hole in a limestone cliff above Lake Mead, he had no idea that it preserved “one of the world’s rich- est known sources of fossils and other evidence of life in the ice age.” Among other paleontological treasures, the cave held the skulls, claws and shaggy hair of giant ground sloths, extinct mammals the size of a large black bear.
BY KAYLA FROST ILLUSTRATIONS BY JON FOSTER
46 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 47 Sometimes a cave is just a cave, but sometimes it’s a time capsule containing prehistoric wonders. Willis Evans, a Pit River Indian work- ing at Lake Mead for the National Park Service in 1936, knew this. Evans had years of experience working on archaeological digs in the Southwest, uncovering ancient artifacts in dark and strange places.
So, when he spied a hole in a limestone cliff high ing his Arizona Highways story, Kinter inspected Ram- years,” Martin wrote in contained the biggest, above Lake Mead at the western end of the Grand part Cave after the pits were dug. He said the team had Twilight of the Mammoths. most complete and best- Canyon, he seized his first opportunity to explore it, drilled 8 feet through stratified pack-rat middens and In the late 1950s, preserved remains. although it wasn’t easy to get there. The hole was almost Shasta-sloth dung but still hadn’t reached the cavern Martin was studying With the improved 700 feet above the lake, up a sheer cliff with rockslides. floor. Grater wrote that the layers of dung, alternating Rampart Cave droppings radiocarbon dates, Martin Plus, the scorching summer sun was nearly intolerable. with layers of dust from when the cave was unoccupied, with two University of determined that Shasta Evans, though, was too curious to back down. were 20 feet deep in some places. Arizona graduate stu- sloths were alive at the same What seemed from below to be a little pocket in “From the actual dig,” Kinter said, “had been taken dents, Dick Shutler and time that one of America’s the Muav limestone was indeed a large cavern with three skulls of the sloth, long curved claws, bits of thick Bruno Sabels. The samples first cultures, the Clovis people, an entrance about 20 feet wide and 12 feet high. To say hide with shaggy hair still clinging to them, and along they were analyzing had been col- swept across the country starting 13,000 years ago. it was well worth investigating is an understatement. with this find were the practically complete skeletons lected by Shutler himself. Using radiocarbon dating, a Perhaps the slow sloths — “ambulatory pincushions,” Author James E. Kinter, in a November 1938 Arizona High- of two animals.” Plus, they unearthed the remains of revolutionary technique developed by Willard F. Libby as Martin described them — were the targets of those ways story, called the cave “one of the greatest natural several other creatures, including an extinct mountain in the 1940s, Shutler found that the last sloths lived in people’s sharp spears. Shasta ground sloths lived in the history books Nature ever conceived,” adding that find- goat, a gopher tortoise, California condors, a jackrabbit, the cave 10,000 radiocarbon years ago (which would be Pleistocene Epoch, known as the Great Ice Age, which ing it “took an Indian with the courage born of centuries an extinct burro-size horse, a yellow-bellied marmot and about 12,000 calendar years ago). However, radiocarbon existed more or less between 1.8 million and 10,000 of facing danger, with the surefootedness of a mountain a ringtail. No relics signifying human habitation were dating in its earliest days wasn’t as accurate as it became years ago. By the end of this epoch, all of the ground sheep, and the keen eye of an eagle.” found. later. sloths and many other large mammals of the Americas, In the cave, Evans found himself in deep dung. Liter- From this collection of Shasta-sloth bones, tissue and Thus, in 1969, Martin decided to study the dung again such as woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats, had ally. According to a story by Russell K. Grater in the dung, scientists were able to form a much better picture to get more precise results. Guided by the Park Service, died out. The Shasta sloth is survived by a few relatives July 1958 issue of Arizona Highways, the cave floor looked of what the creatures were like. Though these sloths, which had installed a heavy iron gate with a padlock at bizarre in their own right, including tree sloths, anteat- to Evans like an “old deserted horse stable with drop- known scientifically as Nothrotheriops shastensis, were the entrance of Rampart Cave to deter vandals, he finally ers and armadillos, none of which live in Arizona, out- pings strewn around in large quantities.” Even in the among the smallest ground sloths, they were still up to entered the cave himself after 11 years of studying sam- side of a zoo. dim light, Evans recognized the dung as belonging to 9 feet long, from head to tail, and weighing up to 550 ples gathered by other people. “One did not need to be a Unfortunately, Rampart Cave is now extinct, too — in extinct Shasta ground sloths, animals the size of hefty pounds, the same weight as a large black bear. And they Sufi or a mystic to sense that this dimly lit, low-ceilinged a figurative sense. The iron gate the Park Service installed black bears but much slower. He was familiar with scratched themselves like great big bears — parts of the chamber was a sacred sanctuary,” Martin said of his to protect it wasn’t enough to keep people out, and in July ground-sloth droppings from excavating Gypsum Cave cave walls were polished from sloths rubbing up against visit. “More than a sepulcher for the dead, Rampart Cave 1976, vandals bent the gate and set fire to the deposit. All in Nevada with archaeologist Mark R. Harrington in the them with their long, reddish fur. venerated the extinct.” smoke and no flames, the fire smoldered for months. Most early 1930s. In addition to the sloth dung, the cave was Martin collected untrampled dung balls the size of of the deposit was turned to ash. In a 1977 New York Times filled with fossilized pack-rat middens — piles of the baseballs, the youngest to be deposited, as well as com- article, Boyce Rensberger lamented that the fire burned up rats’ dung and other refuse. Sloths most likely waddled as they walked pacted dung from the lowest layer. After analyzing these “one of the world’s richest known sources of fossils and Evans had stumbled upon paleontological gold. The because of the shape of their feet, at rates averaging 1 or new samples and those previously collected, he found other evidence of life in the ice age.” dung, well preserved by the cave and the arid climate, 2 miles a day. They possessed long, sharp claws, curved that the first Shasta sloths entered Rampart Cave more Even after his intensive sloth studies, Martin regret- could be used to learn a lot about the sloths, including like cow horns, which the herbivores used to rip apart than 40,000 radiocarbon years (or 45,000 calendar years) ted not excavating even more samples from Rampart their diet, which in turn could be used to learn about desert scrub and woodland shrubs for their food. The ago. They all died out between 10,000 and 11,000 radio- Cave before it was too late. “In its own way,” he said, the local environment thousands of years ago. Pack-rat sharpness of their claws contrasted with the dullness carbon years (or between 12,000 and 13,000 calendar “the Rampart Cave fire was as destructive of information middens could also be analyzed in this way. As paleo- of their teeth, and Shasta sloths lacked front choppers. years) ago — throughout their known range, not just in as the long-lamented conflagration of the ancient library ecologist Paul S. Martin explained in his 2007 book They likely sat on their huge haunches as they ate. Rampart Cave. in Alexandria, Egypt.” Twilight of the Mammoths, “the diets of extinct animals are Analyses of sloth dung from Rampart Cave show that Perhaps, though, there is another cave with another impossible to determine in any detail from fossil bones. the animals consumed an abundance of globemallows. incredible fossil record yet to be discovered somewhere Unmineralized dung deposits are ideal but so unusual A huge amount of juniper pollen was also found in their Giant ground sloths evolved in South Amer- in the vast wilderness of Arizona. Scientists are tire- that most paleontologists never see them.” droppings, but because the trees are wind pollinated, ica, then migrated to North America 8 million years ago. lessly uncovering evidence of what Earth was like before Evans and the Park Service immediately put together it could be that the pollen was simply blown onto other The Shasta species lived in the western United States we humans even existed. Quite possibly, even stranger a team to excavate the newly named Rampart Cave. They plants that the sloths ate. However, “the presence of so and Mexico. Besides Rampart Cave, their remains have animals than giant ground sloths — which Kinter aptly dug two test pits in the back of the cavern, where they much juniper pollen indicated the presence of junipers been found in other places in Arizona: Muav Caves, called “Arizona’s desert bear” — once plodded through thought they’d uncover the best samples. In research- themselves and a change in climate over the last 30,000 Ventana Cave and Kartchner Caverns. But Rampart Cave this great state and we just don’t know it yet.
48 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 49 n a classroom at STAR School on the southwest corner remote-controlled, four-propeller contraption off the ground. schools in Northern Arizona, STAR (Service to All Relations) floor hogan. Rather than feeling like an alien in the rustic envi- of the Navajo Nation, frustration is mounting. Three stu- A seventh-grader named Josh is searching for information is unique for its commitment to serving Native American ronment, Tso developed an intense connection to the place. She dents are working with teacher Rachel Tso, director of on Tso’s laptop while an eighth-grader named Maddie sifts students, its complete reliance on solar power and its award- also became smitten with Manybeads’ great-grandson, Francis Ithe school’s media-arts program, to figure out how to operate a through just-opened packaging in search of a missing manual. winning documentary-filmmaking program headed by Tso. Tso, who spoke English and helped her navigate the cultural new drone, called a “quadcopter,” which requires complicated Seventh-grader Jacalyn experiments with the quadcopter’s Since Tso, 43, joined the STAR faculty in 2009 to start the and language barriers. computer calibrations to fly. remote control. school’s place-based media-arts curriculum, she has guided “Every time Francis came riding up on his horse to check on In just three days it will be STAR’s September 2014 Harvest “See if you can find any calibration videos on YouTube,” Tso students in producing professional-quality documentaries me, my heart would go pitter-patter,” she recalls. Festival, when the students will be tasked with operating the advises Josh. about Southwestern Native American culture that have been When Tso returned to Antioch to complete her studies in quadcopter and attached GoPro camera to get aerial shots of But the laptop, which is hooked up to Tso’s solar-powered shown at national and international film festivals. Nitsidigo’i’, a environmental communication and documentary filmmaking, the event for a documentary film they’re making about food computer bag, is running out of battery life, and the students documentary made by STAR seventh- and eighth-graders about she realized she was a different person. “I had intense culture sovereignty on the Navajo Nation. But so far, they can’t get the are running out of class time. Compared with other charter kindergarten students learning to make the Navajo heritage shock going back to my own culture,” she says. “I just wanted food called kneel-down bread, won the grand prize in the 2010 to return to the ‘rez.’ ” Arizona Student Film Festival. And another documentary, Over the next three years, Tso completed her bachelor’s about STAR’s use of solar and wind energy, earned the same degree at Antioch. For her senior project, she made a documen- Film crews are nothing new on the Navajo Nation, prize in the 2011 festival. tary film about Jenny Manybeads and the 28 generations in her but the demographics are skewing younger thanks to While STAR students relied on one laptop for editing and family who had lived in the area impacted by the Navajo-Hopi three cameras for filming to create their award-winning docu- land dispute. In 1995, she married Francis Tso and returned to Rachel Tso, a gifted teacher who runs the award-winning mentaries, competing schools from wealthy areas in Phoenix Black Mesa, where she again lived in a dirt-floor hogan. The documentary-filmmaking program at STAR School. and Tucson had far better equipment. But Tso says they didn’t couple eventually moved to Flagstaff to allow Rachel to pursue have the compelling connection to culture and the land that graduate degrees in education at Northern Arizona University. her students did. Her master’s thesis explored the importance of place-based “I tell my students they can make a film just with their media-arts education by chronicling the positive documentary phone,” Tso says. “I want them to know that they have the experience of her eldest daughter, Camille Manybeads Tso. power and the technology to tell their own story. When they The award-winning In the Footsteps of Yellow Woman, made by get to screen their films at these big festivals and have complete Camille in 2009 when she was in eighth grade, traced her fam- RACHEL TSO: strangers look to them as authority figures, the kids stand tall. ily history and the life of her great-great-great-grandmother Yel- It is very empowering for them.” low Woman, who survived the Navajo Long Walk of 1864-68. A $2,000 grant from First Nations Development Institute for “Having kids involved in filmmaking is one of the main the making of the current documentary on food sovereignty things we do here,” says STAR director and school co-founder allowed STAR to buy the quadcopter and expand into aerial Mark Sorensen. “Everyone has a story to tell, but kids on the ON LOCATIONBY ANNETTE McGIVNEY | PHOTOGRAPH BY DAWN KISH photography. It was the first new-equipment purchase for the ‘rez’ often don’t get that chance. Rachel has a wonderful gift of media-arts program in six years. not only empowering kids to tell their story through film, but Unable to get the quadcopter to fly, Josh gingerly sets the of also giving them the freedom to learn how to do things on device back in the box as if he is handling a bird’s nest full of their own while under her guidance.” eggs. Maddie blows air from a rubber bulb to clean the GoPro After more research and practice, Tso’s students master the before packing it away. quadcopter and use it to film the Harvest Festival. On October 27, “I know you are disappointed, Josh,” reassures Tso, “but we the student body gathers in the circular outdoor assembly area will figure it out before the festival. I promise.” for the final footage needed to complete the food-sovereignty Tso is not just teaching Native American students about documentary. Josh holds the remote control while Maddie uses filmmaking. She is also showing them how to succeed in life an iPad to monitor the camera feed. and connect with their culture and landscape. But even though Tso stands behind them, only to observe. “You guys are on Tso has devoted her career to helping Native youths value their your own now,” she says. traditions, she is a member of the Navajo community only There is a palpable tension in the crowd, which may have through marriage — she grew up in the suburbs of Florida. something to do with thoughts of the quadcopter crashing Tso first came to the Navajo Nation in 1992 as a college stu- down on the audience. Josh moves a toggle, and the quadcop- dent (with the maiden name of Cox) from Antioch University ter lifts off from the middle of the circle. As it rockets 100 feet in Ohio. She had signed on to do field-based cross-cultural into the air, all 130 students look up at the camera and wave. research on Navajo-Hopi relations. After driving across the The aerial view takes in the small, off-the-grid STAR campus, country alone, she arrived at a remote area on Black Mesa, only as well as surrounding cinder hills and Strawberry Crater. to find out that her lodging arrangements had fallen through. Then, with a surgeon’s precision, Josh steers the quadcopter She was taken in by a Navajo woman named Jenny Manybeads, to the ground as the students cheer. He is beaming and looks who was 107 and spoke no English. back at Tso. Tso spent three months living with Manybeads in her dirt- “Yes! You did it!” she says, fist-pumping the sky.
50 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 51 scenic drive
Aspens, evergreens and panoramas are the dominant features along this Forest dirt road on the Mogollon Rim, but there are lakes, too, and some of the Road 300 state’s best hiking trails. BY ROBERT STIEVE | PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICK BEREZENKO
he Mogollon Rim. That’s the big- the top of the Rim are stunning, and on that was used in the 1870s and 1880s to gest reason you’ll want to make a clear day, you can see all the way to provide logistical support for General T this drive. Although there are Mount Lemmon near Tucson. George Crook in the U.S. Army’s war different opinions on how to pronounce The vistas steal the show, but there’s against the Apaches. the name — Spanish scholars go with a lot to see along Forest Road 300, From there, the gravel road winds “mo-go-yawn,” locals use “muggy-on” which can be approached from the east, downhill to an area of grassy meadows — everyone agrees that “the Rim” is near Woods Canyon Lake, or from the crowded with tall evergreens. It’s a impressive. west, just north of Strawberry. This beautiful place to pitch a tent. Hard- Measured in thousands of feet and listing is written from the west, and it woods and spruce start mixing in after hundreds of miles, it’s a massive wall of begins with an uphill climb through a that. You’ll also start seeing the first of rock that begins near Arizona’s border thick pine forest — the Mogollon Rim many worthwhile side trips: Potato Lake, with New Mexico and stretches diago- is home to the world’s largest stand Lee Johnson Spring, Kehl Springs Camp- nally across most of the state. Through of ponderosas. After 1.2 miles, FR 300 ground. Then, after 7.5 miles, you’ll get the lens of a camera, a set of binoculars intersects what used to be the General to the dead zone of the Dude Fire. or your own baby blues, the views from Crook Trail, a historic wagon route The fire was sparked by a bolt of lightning on June 25, 1990, and within a few hours, it had become one of the deadliest and most destructive fires in Arizona history. In addition to the obliteration of more than 24,000 acres, six firefighters lost their lives. Today, the effects of the fire are still obvious. There’s very little new growth, other Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The than grass, but the long views to the transition isn’t important except that it south help mitigate the damage. coincides with a large meadow dotted Also, the fire zone makes up only a with young ponderosas. It’s nice to see small stretch of FR 300, and at the 10.2- the new growth. The upper trailhead for mile mark you’ll leave it behind and re- Horton Springs is ahead on your right, enter the beautiful. The rest of the route and a few miles later, you’ll arrive at the epitomizes the purity of nature and turnoff for Bear Canyon Lake, one of the still measures up to Captain George M. Rim’s premier recreation areas. Wheeler’s description of the Rim in the Aspens, evergreens and panoramas late 1800s: “Mountain, forest, valley and mark the home stretch to Woods Can- streams are blended in one harmonious yon Lake, where the scenic drive comes whole,” he wrote. “Few worldwide trav- to an end. You won’t want it to end, elers in a lifetime could be treated to a though. In fact, if you could pick one more perfect landscape, a true virgin place to break down, get lost or drop out, solitude, undefiled by the presence of Forest Road 300 would be it. Wildlife man.” sightings (elk and mule deer in particu- Heading east, that perfect landscape lar) are common, the cool pine forest is includes Crackerbox Canyon and the refreshing, the vistas are remarkable … Arizona Trail, one of several great hikes no matter how you pronounce it, the
on the Rim. Another keeper is the Hou- Mogollon Rim is one of the most scenic KEVIN KIBSEY ston Brothers Trail, which shows up drives anywhere. after 16.2 miles. tour guide Moving on, about 25 miles in, the Note: Mileages are approximate. water. Don’t travel alone, and let someone know where SCENIC you are going and when you plan to return. Rim Road, as it’s known, crosses from DRIVES LENGTH: 43.3 miles one way of Arizona’s Best Back INFORMATION: Mogollon Rim Ranger District, 928-477- ADDITIONAL READING: 40 Roads the Coconino National Forest into the DIRECTIONS: From Payson, go north on State Route 2255 or www.fs.usda.gov/coconino; Black Mesa Ranger For more adventure, pick up a 87 for 28.5 miles to Forest Road 300. Turn right onto District, 928-535-7300 or www.fs.usda.gov/asnf copy of our book Scenic Drives, LEFT: Forest Road 300 dips into an aspen FR 300 and continue 43.3 miles to State Route 260. which features 40 of the state’s hollow as it winds toward Woods Canyon Lake. most beautiful back roads. To VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: None Travelers in Arizona can visit www.az511.gov or dial OPPOSITE PAGE: A viewpoint just off the road order, visit www.shoparizona WARNING: Back-road travel can be hazardous, so be 511 to get information on road closures, construction, Edited by Robert Stieve offers expansive views to the south. highways.com/books. and Kelly Vaughn Kramer aware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of delays, weather and more.
52 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 53 hike of the month
the recovery zone. That’s the pattern of In addition to solitude and altitude, this hike offers a great climb a mosaic fire. At the half-hour mark, the San Fran- through a subalpine forest of Douglas firs, Engelmann spruce and Kendrick Trail cisco Peaks make an appearance to the aspens. BY ROBERT STIEVE | PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHANE MCDERMOTT east. It’s a photo op that’s followed by the trail’s first Engelmann spruce. From there, the hike begins a series of long n May 24, 2000, Mother Nature is immediate, and within a few minutes that appears on and off during the hike. but gradual switchbacks. Between the tossed a bolt of lightning at a you’ll arrive at a small grove of young Although man-made structures have a first zig and the subsequent zag, you’ll O ponderosa pine on the southwest ponderosas. They’ve taken root in the way of sullying a panorama, this one, at come to the most impressive tree of the side of Kendrick Peak. That was the first wake of the fire, and they’re the first of least, offers a look at where you’re going day. It’s a stumpy old ponderosa that tree to go in the Pumpkin Fire, which many signs of recovery. Although it’s — and where you’ve been, once you make survived the Pumpkin Fire, along with ultimately wiped out 14,760 acres on and gut-wrenching to think about what’s it back down. many other hardships over the last two around the mountain. The north side was been lost, what’s happening along the Moving on, you’ll pass a large wall of centuries. hit the hardest, but the east and west got Kendrick Trail offers hope. Still, it’ll be volcanic rock and arrive at the Kendrick Continuing uphill, the trail arrives at it pretty good, too. On the south side, decades before the trees re-establish a Mountain Wilderness, a 6,510-acre sanc- a level spot. It only lasts for about where the Kendrick Trail climbs to the canopy. Meanwhile, the holes in the ceil- tuary that’s managed by Mother Nature. 30 yards, but the respite is welcome. As mountain’s summit, the fire burned in ing are allowing for new growth — ferns, Just inside the boundary, the trail climbs soon as you start climbing again, you’ll a more gentle mosaic pattern, leaving flowers and grasses — that attracts elk to a place that escaped the fire. Five min- see the growing collection of wind tur- patches of burned and unburned wood- and mule deer, as well as big cats and utes later, however, it moves back into bines on the plateau to the west, and then place that’s home to the Kendrick Look- of the Pumpkin Fire, along with its origin land. Although you’ll see signs of the black bears. a big aspen, which serves as gatekeeper out Cabin. The structure, which was to the southwest. What you won’t see is blaze on this trail, it’s not overwhelming. On the horizon, above and beyond BELOW: Volcanic peaks dominate the view for a grove of old trees that dodged the built in 1917, is listed on the National the ponderosa pine that was struck by from the Kendrick Trail. The trail begins as a wide dirt path the young ponderosas, you’ll see the OPPOSITE PAGE: Along the trail, young pines offer fire. Beyond the survivors, the switch- Register of Historic Places. lightning on May 24. However, you can surrounded by ponderosas. The ascent Kendrick Lookout Tower. It’s a landmark hope of recovery from the 2000 Pumpkin Fire. backs enter a brief thicket — rare on this The rest of the route is a short series of rest assured that Mother Nature is work- trail — and cross a rocky slope. Ferns switchbacks that lead to the tower. In the ing on a worthy replacement. are the dominant plant species along this summer, you can climb the 10-step lad- stretch. der and say hello. Otherwise, there’s an A few switchbacks later, the trail adjacent helipad that makes a good place ADDITIONAL READING: moves into a subalpine forest of Douglas to eat Goldfish, take a nap or just look For more hikes, pick up a copy firs, white firs, Engelmann spruce and around. From the top, you’ll get clear of our newest book, Arizona Highways Hiking Guide (#AGHS5), aspens. The south side of the trail is views of the San Francisco Peaks to the which features 52 of the state’s still steep, and impressive, but it’s the east, Oak Creek Canyon to the south and best trails — one for each week- end of the year, sorted by seasons. trees that steal the show during the final the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to To order, visit www. shoparizona ascent to the upper saddle, an idyllic the north. You’ll also see the worst effects highways.com/books.
trail guide LENGTH: 8 miles round-trip DIFFICULTY: Moderate ELEVATION: 8,000 to 10,418 feet TRAILHEAD GPS: N 35˚23.214’, W 111˚52.056’ DIRECTIONS: From Flagstaff, go northwest on U.S. Route 180 for 17.2 miles to Forest Road 193. Turn left onto FR 193 and continue 3.2 miles to Forest Road 171. Turn right onto FR 171 and continue 2 miles to Forest Road 190. Turn right onto FR 190 and continue 0.4 miles to the trailhead. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: None DOGS ALLOWED: Yes (on a leash) HORSES ALLOWED: Yes USGS MAPS: Kendrick Peak, Moritz Ridge INFORMATION: Williams Ranger District, 928-635-5600 or www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab
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 MAY 2015 www.arizonahighways.com 55 212236A01 where is this? February 2015 Answer & Winner Ed Schieffelin Monument near Tombstone. Con- gratulations to our winner, Earle Franks of Fresno, California. JEFF KIDA
March 2015 Answer & Winner Columbine II at Marana Regional Airport. Congratula- tions to our winner, William R. Krill of Allentown, Pennsyl- vania. JEFF KIDA
Win a collection of our most popular books! To enter, correctly iden- tify the location pictured at left and email your answer to editor@ arizonahighways.com — type “Where Is This?” in the subject line. Entries can also be sent to 2039 W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009 (write “Where Is This?” on the envelope). Please include your name, address and phone number. One winner will be chosen in a random drawing of qualified GEORGE STOCKING GEORGE entries. Entries must be postmarked by May 15, 2015. Only the winner Dentist the Menace will be notified. The correct answer will be If you think a trip to the dentist is overwhelming today, be glad you weren’t around in the 1800s. This posted in our July issue and online at re-created dentist’s office is part of a museum in a Western Arizona ghost town. In its heyday, the town www.arizonahighways. was home to 3,000 people, and it supported mines that operated until the 1970s. By then, of course, com beginning June 15. dentistry had become a little less painful.
56 MAY 2015 NOTE TO PUB: DO NOT PRINT INFO BELOW, FOR ID ONLY. NO ALTERING OF AD COUNCIL PSAs. Wildfire Prevention - Magazine - 4/C - WFPA03-M-01264-C “Your Name Here” 7 x 10 120 line screen digital files at Schawk: (212) 689-8585 Ref#: 212236