14 October 2015, Wednesday

We are up in the cool of the morning. The tent is packed quickly and we
top off our water supply. Today we are leaving Grand Canyon. We have
a farewell breakfast at El Tovar. I can’t resist
one more serving of brie and raspberry jam stuffed french toast. O
joins me, ordering the same breakfast.

Soon we are on the road and heading south. We hope to camp in the
Superstitions near Apache Lake. On the map it looks like there is a
12 mile stretch of unpaved road on Rt 88. We must drive six miles of
it to get to the campsite. Again, the scenery as we drive is
stunning. I make a joke about this being a good day, especially as
there is no Moki Dugway in our near future. We both laugh.

Around 1 PM we drive through Pine, AZ and find That Brewery, a small brew
pub on the main road. We pull in for lunch. As we continue our drive
after lunch, we pass by dry lake beds. We can see houses in the
distance that used to be lakeside and now have a meadow view. The
drought in the southwest is taking its toll.

We get to Roosevelt Lake and turn onto Route 88. It quickly becomes apparent that this is another upaved road with hairpin turns along canyon walls. The only saving grace is
that the outside aspect of the road is well-banked. The lakes and
the canyon are beautiful, but the altitude when we arrive at Apache Lake is lower than we had
expected, and temperatures are in the high 90’s. There is little shade here. The
tents and trailers in the campground are crowded together, and besides,
we read that one needs a special Tonto National Forest pass in
addition to the usual Senior Pass to camp here. The pass is not
available for purchase at the site. We decide to move on.

I put S and C’s address into the GPS and we review the map. We have driven six harrowing miles on the dirt road. We can either return along the twisting 6 miles we have already driven and complete a roundabout route back to the main road, or we can
take what looks like a shorter route to the main roads by continuing
along Route 88. It looks like there are only 6 more miles of unpaved
road to go. We choose to go on through the canyon. Our GPS keeps
repeating, “Make a U-turn!” It’s getting annoying. I finally turn
it off.

The road becomes a bit rougher and the hairpin turns are frequent as we
wind through the canyon. Thankfully, the banking of the road on the
drop-off side continues. As we approach one of the hairpin turns another SUV comes around the bend heading straight for us and skids a bit as the driver hits the brakes. His
passenger does not look happy. Neither are we.  At one point a coyote
jogs along on the road beside us. 

After another twelve heart-pounding,
sweaty-palmed miles we arrive at, of all things, a large rest area,
complete with explanatory signs and a composting toilet. We learn
from signs posted here that this road was built in the early 1900’s
and was considered one of the finest examples of automobile road
engineering of its time, although it was closed for awhile by the
federal government when a speeding car went over the edge. There is
another sign, for drivers coming from the opposite direction
explaining that “careful drivers who proceed into Fish Creek Canyon
are rewarded with spectacular views.” The sign does not say what
happens to careless drivers. After another two miles we finally reach
pavement again. We realize that the unpaved portion appears to be only twelve miles long, rather that the actual twenty miles it is, because the scale of the map does not allow the switchbacks to be shown. 

I take over driving. We come to a sign for a
campground near Tortilla Flat stating “Closed May 1 – September.”
We have already passed up another campsite charging $28/night just
for a tent site. We decide to try camping here and drive down the
short road. Although it is mid-October the campground is still
closed. Tortilla Flat itself is a very strange place. It looks like a
movie set for a ghost town. There is a saloon with a ‘closed’ sign
and another sign that says “No Motel.” There are bats flying everywhere. We continue down the road, deciding that Tucson is now looking like a great place to spend the
night. Only two more hours of driving to go.

We finally arrive at the “family-owned” B&B where we will stay
for the next week or so by 9 pm. It is very nice to have a
comfortable bed and a real bathroom!  And very good to see S & C
again!