Across the Painted Desert, Oct. 11, 2007

Yesterday, we crossed part of the Painted Desert driving from Phoenix, AZ to Grants, NM, en route to the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque. While we did not have any adventures, the trip did bring back memories of the many great times I have had in this part of Arizona and New Mexico.

The trip up over the mountain in Arizona between Black Canyon City and Camp Verde is always striking. Once on top of the rise, there is a large plateau with a good view of the mountains to the west and lot of black volcanic rocks interspersed with grass on the high desert. Then we descended into the Verde River Valley, where we have camped several times with friends and with my sister and brother in law. Nearby were the beautiful red rock of Sedona, an interesting town, thought to be near the center of the universe my New Age people. In the National Forest Land here is some of the best area for short hikes in Arizona, with many cliffs, and several natural bridges. There are also some well preserved PreColombian Indian ruins as well as some striking pictographs.

Then the road goes up the Mogollon Rim from the desert of the Verde River Valley to the forested area of Flagstaff where the San Francisco Mountains dominate the scenery. Here we turn west and soon are crossing the Painted Desert. I always want to start humming part of Grafe's "Grand Canyon Suite", when I cross the desert. Yesterday was a nice clear day, so the reds colors of the Painted Desert were particularly striking. As we proceed, we skirt north of Meteor Crater, well-worth a visit, skirt south of First, Second and Third Mesa, home of the Hopi's, and south of Keams Canyon, where our niece teaches in a Navajo School and drive along north of the Petrified Forest National Park --- a park we want to visit again!

Soon we cross the border and are in New Mexico. After going through Gallup, where I attended my first rodeo over sixty years ago, and then drove along the long red mesa, the ranch where my brother's wife lived over seventy-five years ago, and which I visited as a teenager. Then we drove over a long gradually ascending plateau, crossing the Continental Divide, (although the divide looked pretty flat from the road, and soon were here in Grants).