Back to my motorcycle page » Arizona - March 2010

Joy and I took a 7 day, 1655 mile bike trip through Arizona.

Day 1 - 275 miles: Chaparral, NM (1) to Thatcher, AZ (6)	Day 2 - 180 miles: Thatcher, AZ (1) to the Chiricahua National Monument (3) and back.	Getting ready to head out to the Chiricahua National Monument.	View of Mount Graham as we head south on 191. We saw plenty of snow on this trip.	At the park entrance. http://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm
Steve at the park entrance.	Joy's view heading into the park.	The park is billed as a 'Wonderland of Rocks.'	Driving on the 8 mile loop through the park.	There are a lot of interesting formations along the drive.
There was still snow along the road. Looks like this section was also recently cleared of dirt.	The road has a few fun twisties to offer.	Joy and I took about 2.5 hours to hike the Echo Canyon Loop trail.	The Echo Canyon hike is 3.3 miles and gets you up close and personal with the amazing formations.	It was a little cool so despite my request, Joy refused to make a snow angel.
Don't walk under this rock...	Joy amongst the boulders.	The Echo Canyon Loop is billed as a 'moderate' loop as far as effort goes.	Looks like this one fell over.	Amazing views await around every bend.
Dominos anyone?	These look like sentinels standing guard.	Some rocks seem to defy gravity.	Thought this looked pretty.	On the way back from the park, we stopped in Willcox for some refreshments.
View of the train station.	Joy relaxing in front of the coffee shop.	Joy riding the rails.	Day 3 - 333 miles: Thatcher (1) to San Carlos Lake (2) to Globe (3,5) to the Salt River Canyon then back through Globe to Apache Junction (6).	Bike at San Carlos Lake.
Ditto...can't have enough bike pics, right?	View along the lake.	The ride on US 60 north from Globe.	Met some riders at one of the overlooks. Some of these came from Ontario and had rented bikes to ride through this area.	The Salt River Canyon is a sight not to be missed.
Joy getting ready to ride. It was pretty darn chilly up in the mountains.	A friendly biker couple offered to take our picture, then we did the same for them.	More along US 60.	More views of the Salt River Canyon.	Note the winding road that goes down to the bottom of the canyon and then back up the other side.
Joy shot this from the bike looking back on the river and the road.	Salt River.	Rapids on the river.	Pictures don't really give a good sense of the scale of the canyons.	Pretty rugged country.
Another shot from the bike.	Cool bridge we rode over on US 60 between Globe and Apache Junction.	Day 4 - 210 miles: Apache Junction (1) to Tortilla Flat (2) to Roosevelt (4) to Fountain Hills (6).	On the road to Tortilla Flat.	Apache Lake along 88 heading towards Tortilla Flat.
Steve at a scenic overlook.	Single lane bridge #1	Single lane bridge #2	Tortilla Flat.	Joy didn't really want to hug the saquaro.
Pretty scene at Tortilla Flat.	Faux mine at Tortilla Flat.	Don't go in there!	Water rushing over the road just outside Tortilla Flat. We didn't continue through this.	Side view of one of the single lane bridges.
Superstition Mountains - Home of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine.	Mountains along US 60 heading toward Miami.	Wildflowers were in full bloom. These were on highway 88 heading towards Roosevelt.	Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.	Any excuse to take a pic of the bike!
Joy at the bridge.	Guess we'll have to wash her when we get home.	While headed back toward Phoenix, we saw a huge geyser from the freeway. We took the next exit and ended up in Fountain Hills for the night.	Turns out the community has one of the tallest fountains in the world - over 500 ft.	They turn it on for 15 minutes at the top of every hour during daylight.
Nice scene at Fountain Park.	Another view at Fountain Park.	Day 5 - 90 miles: Fountain Hills (1) to West World (2), heading to points northwest, we ended up with a flat rear tire (3). Got a tow to a shop in Surprise for a new one. $300.00 lighter with daylight fading - we opted to spend the night. However, hotel rooms were few and far between because lots of major league baseball teams were in the area for spring training. After a couple of stops and a few phone calls, we finally found a room in Peoria.	We stopped by West World where Joy got a much needed Horse fix.	Watched a cool jumping show.
DANG! Stuck with a flat on the side of the road on state highway 74. Be glad this slideshow doesn't have audio!	I brought tools to plug a hole, but the split valve stem was beyond anything I had to make a repair.	At least the scenery was pleasant while waiting for the tow trailer.	Saguaro was plentiful.	Cactus were in bloom.
Steve got in touch with his artistic side.	Still waiting....	Joy planning the next day's ride.	Day 6 - 227 miles: Peoria (1) to Wildlife World Zoo (2) to Benson (5).	Flamingos at the zoo.
Joy feeding the stingrays.	Palm Trees at the zoo.	White tigers.	Rhinoceros.	Warthog.
Lazy Kangaroo.	Lunch with the sharks.	Day 7 - 340 miles: Heading home. Benson (1) to Chaparral (8). The road between Douglas and Lordsburg was very cold and windy.	The Lavender Pit open pit mine at Bisbee.	Another view of Lavender Pit.
Joy reading a memorial at the mine.	Last Pic - Red rocks along the road at Bisbee.

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