WHERE TO HIKE IN SYCAMORE CANYON [ p . 2 8 ] JUNE 2016 THE DEADLY ESCAPE • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE CRASH OVER THE GRAND CANYON 60 YEARS LATER — RALPH — WALDO EMERSON SYCAMOR E CANYON A Quiet Place Shrouded in Mystery, Romance and Mother Nature plus THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF “The a thousand of creation forests is in one acorn.” OAK FLAT BLUE RIVER RETREAT SEDONA ART BARN ARIZONA’S CARNEGIE LIBRARIES PRAIRIE FALCONS GLEN CANYON Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 2 EDITOR’S LETTER 16 SYCAMORE CANYON 44 CHECK THIS OUT 52 SCENIC DRIVE Grand Canyon National Park Arizona’s second-biggest canyon has Between 1886 and 1919, Andrew Carnegie Ash Fork to Williams: Although Historic Williams 3 CONTRIBUTORS been described as enigmatic, inaccessible funded nearly 1,700 libraries in the United Route 66 gets most of the nostalgic affec- Sycamore Canyon 4 LETTERS and rife with legends of buried treasures, States, including four in Arizona. At the tion, an even older route — the National Sedona man-eating grizzlies, marauding Apaches, time, the buildings stood as proof that Old Trails Road — once made its way across Prescott gunmen and thieves. It’s a place shrouded the dusty frontier towns where they were Arizona. Today, Forest Road 124 is reminis- PHOENIX 5 THE JOURNAL Alpine in mystery, romance and Mother Nature. located had achieved stability, prosperity cent of that old dirt trail. People, places and things from around Although it’s one of the oldest wilderness and class. Today, however, only the library Oak Flat the state, including a look back at iconic By Annette McGivney areas in the state, and there’s so much to in Yuma is still checking out books. photographer J.H. McGibbeny, prairie Photographs by Nick Berezenko Yuma explore, very few venture in. By Kathy Montgomery falcons, Glen Canyon National Recreation Tucson Area and the history of the Sedona Art Barn. Edited by Robert Stieve Photographs by Craig Smith 54 HIKE OF THE MONTH Dogie Trail: Of the 16 established trails in 34 COYOTE, OWL AND MOUNTAIN 48 JUNE 30, 1956 the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, this is POINTS OF INTEREST IN THIS ISSUE In a state where the landmarks have Just days before America’s 180th birthday, one of the most accessible. It’s one of the majestic names such as Grand Canyon two passenger jets, a Douglas DC-7 oper- most beautiful, too. and Monument Valley, a place like Oak Flat ated by United and a Lockheed L-1049 By Robert Stieve might seem insignificant, but the rocky Super Constellation operated by TWA, Photographs by Mark Frank GET MORE ONLINE ribbon of land east of Phoenix is anything collided over Grand Canyon National Park. www.arizonahighways.com June 2016 but. It’s a remarkable place that’s sacred At the time, it was the deadliest commer- 56 WHERE IS THIS? to the San Carlos Apaches, picture-perfect cial aviation accident in history. This month /azhighways to rock climbers and worth billions to the marks the 60th anniversary of that disas- @azhighways federal government. They’re all staking a ter, and recently, the crash site was desig- claim. Time will tell who prevails. nated a National Historic Landmark. @arizonahighways By Kelly Vaughn By Annette McGivney Photographs by Bill Hatcher Illustrations by Mark Smith ◗ As a storm approaches, sunflowers blanket the west side of Robinson Mountain northeast of Flagstaff. Paul Gill CANON EOS 5D MARK III, 1/125 SEC, F/22, ISO 800, 65 MM LENS FRONT COVER: Ancient conifers crowd Big Spring Canyon, a tributary of Sycamore Canyon. To learn more about Sycamore Canyon, turn to page 16. Laurence Parent SONY ILCE-7RM2, 1/8 SEC, F/16, ISO 200, 121 MM LENS BACK COVER: An insect searches for nectar on geraniums at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument northeast of Flagstaff. Eirini Pajak CANON EOS 5D MARK II, 1/250 SEC, F/5, ISO 320, 100 MM LENS, STACK OF 32 2 OCTOBER 2015 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 At the time, the crash of the Douglas DC-7 and MARK SMITH Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation was the Mark Smith lives in the United Kingdom and deadliest commercial aviation accident in his- JUNE 2016 VOL. 92, NO. 6 has never been to Arizona, but after illustrat- tory. “The planes had both taken a detour and ing Annette McGivney’s story on the 1956 were doing what was called ‘flight-seeing’ over 800-543-5432 plane crash in the Grand Canyon (see June 30, www.arizonahighways.com the Canyon,” says Wayne Ranney, president of 1956, page 48), he says the state is at the top the Grand Canyon Historical Society. “The Grand of his “next places to visit” list. “The Grand PUBLISHER Win Holden Canyon loomed large in the American public’s Canyon is one of those places in the world EDITOR Robert Stieve consciousness back then. And these planes had that I think everyone has at least some famil- ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, just disappeared into that vast wilderness.” DIRECTOR OF iarity with, even if that’s just through pictures SALES & MARKETING Kelly Mero I don’t know why I looked out As Annette McGivney writes in June 30, 1956, or TV documentaries,” he says. “I think the MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Vaughn the window — in that exact moment. I’d just the crash “brought to light the need for better closest thing we have in the U.K. to that scale ASSOCIATE EDITOR Noah Austin started reading an interesting story from our organization of the country’s airspace. Just one of landscape are the Scottish mountains EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Nikki Kimbel July 1958 issue. It was a story about Sycamore year after the disaster, President Eisenhower — they always leave me awestruck.” Smith PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jeff Kida Canyon, and the writer was describing tales of signed into law the Airways Modernization Act, wasn’t familiar with the 1956 accident, and he CREATIVE DIRECTOR Barbara Glynn Denney buried treasures, man-eating grizzlies, maraud- which laid the foundation for the creation of the says that while he’s often asked to “solve” a ART DIRECTOR Keith Whitney ing Apaches, gunmen and thieves. The narrative had me hooked. Plus, Federal Aviation Administration and the central- story and make sure readers understand it, this assignment was more a study in subtlety. MAP DESIGNER Kevin Kibsey I was reading from an original copy of the magazine. Everything about that ized air traffic control system in use today.” “The accident and the landscape were two very big players in this story, so picking details PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Michael Bianchi moment — the feel of the old pages, the peace and quiet, the nature of the Two years ago, the crash site was designated a on which to focus was fairly simple,” he says. “The juxtaposition — the man-made set story — was captivating. So, I don’t know why I looked out the window. National Historic Landmark, and a memorial was WEBMASTER Victoria J. Snow against the natural, and the aggression of the incident against the huge stillness of the But I did, and when I did, there it was: Sycamore Canyon, spreading out erected at Desert View Watchtower on the South CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Nicole Bowman Canyon — stood out for me.” Smith’s other recent work includes illustrations for Stanford for miles, 33,000 feet below the Alaska Airlines jet that was taking me from Rim. About 200 miles to the southeast, another FINANCE DIRECTOR Bob Allen University and ESPN, along with the cover images for a serialized Stephen King novel. Seattle to Sky Harbor. historic site was recently designated. It happened OPERATIONS/IT MANAGER Cindy Bormanis What are the odds of that? I thought. I wanted to say something to the nurs- on March 4, 2016, when the National Park Service BILL HATCHER ing student sitting next to me: “Look at this. It’s an old magazine story about added Oak Flat Campground to the National CORPORATE OR TRADE SALES 602-712-2019 Bill Hatcher’s history with Oak Flat began in 1990, when he established several first Sycamore Canyon. Now, look out the window. It’s the same exact place. Isn’t Register of Historic Places. SPONSORSHIP SALES ascents there as a rock climber. Since then, he’s returned numerous times to photograph REPRESENTATION On Media Publications that cool?” I didn’t say anything, though. Instead, I stared out the window You may have heard of Oak Flat. It’s been a Lesley Bennett the rock climbing landscape, and he was excited to visit again to make photographs for until the canyon was out of sight. And then I finished reading the story, controversial subject for more than a decade, and 602-445-7160 Kelly Vaughn’s story on the ongoing controversy over mining in the area (see Coyote, Owl which is a first-person account of a horseback adventure into one of the most it became even more so with the December 2014 and Mountain, page 34). “I’ve followed the mining controversy, but the true implications of beautiful and least explored canyons in Arizona. It’s a well-written piece. transfer of sacred tribal land to a foreign mining LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] what might be lost forever were not clear to me until I worked on this story,” Hatcher says. 2039 W. Lewis Avenue “In the broad boundaries of these canyon walls man has played out his corporation. “At stake in the exchange,” Kelly Phoenix, AZ 85009 “I spent days reacquainting myself with Oak Flat — exploring and photographing creeks wary game of hide-and-seek,” Ed Ellinger wrote in 1958.