Arizona, New Mexico & the Grand Canyon Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Aaron Anderson [61]
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DETOUR
Take it easy in Winslow, AZ – such a fine sight to see is the small park that faces Route 66 (www.standinonthecorner.com) with a mural that shows one of the key scenes from The Eagles song that put this place on the map. Spend a night in La Posada (www.laposada.org), a luxury hacienda that has hosted many a movie star of yore.
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After a scrumptious breakfast at the inn, head south on Hwy 77 until it hits Hwy 260. As you get into the White Mountains you’ll pass through Show Low, where the main drag is named “E Deuce of Clubs.” The story goes that long ago two frontier types agreed that the tiny settlement wasn’t big enough for the both of them, and whoever could show the low card got to stay. Follow the signs to Sunrise Park Resort, 65 miles southeast of Snowflake on Hwy 273. From December to April, it has the best skiing in the state – 65 trails crisscross the slopes of three mountains. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Sunrise Park is open for mountain biking, hiking, fishing and a scenic sky ride.
Explore Sunrise Park and the nearby Mt Baldy Wilderness Area from Greer. A bounty of fish swim in the area’s waterways and the trout lure anglers from all over. If you’re on the hunt for a whopper, Troutback has half-day fly fishing lessons for beginners and day-long guided trips.
Most people who stay in Greer rent a cabin and do their own cooking; check out www.greerarizona.com for a long menu of choices. Be impressed by the rustic elegance of Amberian Peaks Lodge & Restaurant, with its big stone fireplace in the main room and food that’s dressed up to impress. A river runs through it (the property) and they have cabins on site. Visitors can also hook a cabin at X Diamond Ranch, and anyone can come by to pay for fishing privileges or a horseback ride.
Energized from nature, float over to the Butterfly Lodge Museum on the way out of town. It’s a restored 1913 home where adventure writer and explorer James Willard Schultz lived with his Blackfoot American Indian wife. Then, buzz towards Fort Apache National Historic Park, an Army post during the Apache Wars when the muscle of the US military eventually broke Apache resistance. Just 4 miles south of the town of Whiteriver, the park also includes the Apache cultural center. Get the stamp that allows you to visit the Kinishba Ruins, an ancient pueblo dwelling 5 miles west of the fort.
Try your luck at Hon-Dah, a gaming resort on tribal land that has it all: ski and snowboard rentals, a restaurant, nightly entertainment, modern hotel rooms and, of course, plenty-o-gaming. Rested and hopefully a few nickels wealthier, take Hwy 73 northwest until it intersects Hwy 60, then make a left to head south. In a land full of mountains that spill into fields of wildflowers, after a few days it’s easy to take all of this beauty for granted. But once you start the twisting descent into the Salt River Canyon, the views are so stunning that without stops to gawk open-mouthed at the scenery, drivers will find it difficult to keep their eyes on the not-so-straight and narrow.
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FIRE OR HOT AIR IN THE SKY?
The only Rim Country resident who claims interstellar travel is Travis Walton, a logger who says he was abducted near Snowflake by an alien craft in 1975. What makes his story interesting is that there were eyewitnesses and a police manhunt failed to turn up Walton for two days – time on the mother ship, he says. The 1993 movie Fire in the Sky is based on his experience.
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Snap lots of shots, then continue south on Hwy 60 into Superior, where copper country rises toward Rim Country. The standout Boyce Thompson Arboretum was built by a mining magnate who had a revelation about the importance of nature; 323 acres support a Noah’s Ark of wildlife and plants from deserts around the world.
Finally, to reacclimate to the desert and search for a treasure of biblical proportions,