5/5/17

Early start to beat the kids to brekky… Umm.. missed that one as the kids were all in having brekky nice and early. Also a chilly start to the day at about 10 deg.. I think I mentioned it yesterday or the day before but Arizona is a land of contrasts.. today we’ve gone from cold (around 10) and by mid afternoon in Phoenix it was well over 42deg! CRAZY. All to do with altitude. Flagstaff is at least 7000ft and Phoenix is down in the desert probably around the 3000 ft mark..

Anyway, the early start meant we had an early get away from Flagstaff and onwards southwards towards Phoenix. Today is a big driving day on two of the main scenic routes within Arizona- down through the Tonto National Forest and back up the Apache mountains to Show Low.

First stop for the day was to see Montezuma’s castle. So named by the early explorers as they found houses cut into the sides of hills (pueblos) and thought Montezuma and the Aztecs must have built them.. Turns out they didn’t (the Aztecs never got this far north) but was in fact built by the same native groups who built Mesa Verde (we visited last time we were here in the US in Colorado), the Hopi are their descendants. Beautiful surrounds, even a large natural spring nearby that feeds a creek running past the mountain side village.

From Montezumas castle we struck east towards Payson and started the 50 odd mile drive south to Phoenix. Super dramatic landscape. Alpine region in the north and huge cactus mountains in the south.. Amazing! Lunch was a hot dog high up in the mountains where the owner proudly shows his loyalties, guns and Trump! Politics aside (I accidentally mentioned global warming when asking about whether the town got any snow in winter) his hot dog was really tasty and hit the spot high up in the Alpine region of Arizona!

Alpine was beautiful, the drive down to Phoenix was spectacular. Huge craggy mountains on either side of the road. Pine tree covered greenery in the north and big cactus covered dryness in the south. Really spectacular scenery.

We made it into Phoenix where we stopped off for an icecream in the 40 plus heat, before we jumped back in the car to head back north (and back into Alpine) but this time up the Apache mountain range and through Salt River Canyon.. Wow-ee.. Another amazing drive. Winding our way slowly upwards and then back downwards when we hit the Salt River Canyon.. another baby version of the Grand Canyon! Slow going but SO worth the drive.

We finally arrived fairly late in the afternoon at Pine Top Lake (right near Show Low) where we stopped for the evening. Meat Loaf, Fish and Chips + Turkey pie consumed it was time to hit the sack in another pine covered alpine region. Tonight should be another chilly one and tomorrow we head back south (again) but this time parallel to the New Mexico border and through the White Mountain range. Should be another day of Alpine vista to Desert trekking!