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| Coronado Trail and More, AZ | |
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| | Coronado Trail and More, AZ | | | |
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Coronado Trail and More, AZ
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| Scenic Drive | |
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| partners | | On to Plan B...
The original intent for this trip was to do some exploring up along Bonita Creek at the west end of the Gila Box RNCA with a base camp at Riverview Campground. I had planned on going there earlier, but scheduling conflicts made this be the time. Unfortunately we knew it was going to be very warm, so less than ideal for sure. My friend Paul bailed at the last minute, so I met Jack as planned in Safford at 9:00 Thursday morning. I mentioned to him we could modify the plan and camp in higher country to avoid the heat and exposure at Riverview. First thing was a stop at the BLM/FS office in Safford to get more information and check the status of Granville Campground north of Morenci, that I thought would be a good alternative. It was listed as closed on the website, but the friendly gal at the Safford office called over to the Clifton office and they said it was open. The other option was Blackjack CG on the road to Mule Creek, also not too far away.
Since all this was new for Jack, we drove over and checked out Riverview and the Gila River, then down to Serna Cabin and the confluence with Bonita Creek. It was really warm by late morning and there were lots of bugs, so Jack definitely liked the idea of another place to camp. We then drove over to spend time in Clifton/Morenci playing tourist (for me twice in a week  ). We stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant and while there I proposed we change up the plans for the next day. It was going to to be too warm to enjoy exploring up along Bonita Creek and back along Solomon Pass Road, and if we were going to camping at Granville, it made little sense to do that backtracking just to end up driving home. So to make this adventure a long ways from home worthwhile, why not drive up the classic Coronado Trail? We would be out of the heat and Jack would be able to see another chunk of Arizona that he might not otherwise. He said sure why not, so we had a plan for Friday. 
We topped off the gas tanks at Morenci for the big drive ahead, then drove through the mining complex and up to Granville. It was very pleasant at around 6000 feet, and being in the trees, we wouldn't have to put up with that dang full moon shining on the tent all night, which would have been the case at Riverview.  It wasn't perfect as the oaks were still bare up there, but we found a good spot under some Pondies that worked fine. We arrived mid afternoon, so had plenty of time to relax and set up.
I slept pretty well and the overnight low temperature was 42, but the wind came up around 3 AM and it was up to 50 at dawn. Jack beat me up and was packing, so I just packed up too and we headed out around 6 (without my morning coffee...unheard of!!!  ) I figured I could stop at the nice picnic area at HL Saddle and brew some, but it was too windy, so we just kept on heading north on that beautiful drive. It was nice to be doing this before the main vacation season and on a weekday, as we saw very few vehicles the entire way to Alpine. With our very slow pace to allow Jack to savor what he was seeing, that was a good thing. 
At our stop at Blue Vista I told Jack to be prepared to be a little sad, because we were about to drive through some areas burned in the extensive Wallow Fire. Stopped briefly at the historic 1926 vintage lodge at Hannagan Meadow, that I thought Jack would like seeing. I was getting pretty hungry when we made it to Alpine, so we stopped at the charming, friendly family run Bear Wallow Cafe for a good breakfast (yay...I got my coffee!!).
After Alpine the transition to the "civilized world" ensues. We headed to Show Low by way of AZ 260 through McNary, which I think is a more scenic drive than on US 60. Well, at least until you go past Hon Dah. Once you leave the Rez, it is a grind working your way through Pinetop/Lakeside/ShowLow. That area has gotten so congested, passing through is no longer much fun, at least for me.
We stopped at the nice roadside rest at the bottom of Salt River Canyon (reopened since fall 2014 after being closed for several years ). I got Jack to walk out on the old bridge for some photos, then it was on to Globe to refuel and head our separate ways.
As tedious as driving through Pinetop/Show Low was, it paled in comparison to driving through Tucson on my way home between 4-5 o'clock during rush hour.  Aside from that, I enjoyed the road trip...hope Jack did too! |
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