The Great State of Arizona- Grand Tour 2011

We are going to visit all of the National Parks, Monuments and Historic Sites in Arizona before the summer is out. Along the way, we are visiting other points of interest and beauty. This week, we visited Tonto National Monument at Lake Roosevelt about 2 hours north east of Mesa.
I read a book recently by Duncan and Burns called "The National Parks- America's Best Idea". I bought it for the pictures, but it's a very scholarly work on the history and development of the idea that some things should be preserved for all citizens. I had never considered that so much of the beauty of Europe is owned by somebody, you might have to ask the lord of the manor to hike across a mountain or something. There is a story of an African-American boy from Detroit that took a summer trip to one of the National Parks and was so moved as he realized that as a citizen, he "owned" it. It was his to enjoy. The experience led him to become a National Park Ranger.

National Parks came first and then as other places were discovered that deserved preservation in some form but perhaps not as national parks, the National Monument designation was started and still later, National Forests and Recreation areas that could at least manage resources so that private interests could not go and exploit trees and other resources without some consideration to future generations.

Here's us at Tonto National Monument. The Ranger said that 500 years ago, about 70 people lived up in that hole in the canyon wall.
Lesa and Shaw were uncomfortable because a sign at the visitor center warned that bees were active and to use caution. Lesa is so sweet that bugs like her especially and she was sure that if we encountered a bee that she would be stung and she got Shaw a bit freaked out too. During the hike up, every thing that buzzed was a bee. It didn't matter if it was a horsefly, today, it was a bee. I climbed up in one of the rooms and could hear the buzz of a hive and told Lesa that she probably didn't want to explore that area.

There is another cliff dwelling on an adjacent mountain but it's only open in the winter months and it's only viewable by appointment with a ranger. They hike up 15 people at a time. I may head back up in November and visit again.

This is Roosevelt Lake at the bottom of the valley from the Tonto National Monument. This bridge is a stunning bit of architecture. Most people have no idea how much water is out here in this desert and it is beautiful!

This is the reason there is lots of water- Roosevelt Dam... and Shaw mugging while I take the picture of Roosevelt Dam.

Another shot of the bridge.

This is the dam that is holding back all of that water.

As we headed back towards Mesa, we took the Apache National Scenic Highway. It includes 22 miles of dirt road which was a lot to ask of our low-rider passenger car, but that car has proved to be a battle axe for our family adventures. There are other dams along that same river over several miles that create Apache Lake, Canyon Lake and Saguaro Lake. Here's Shaw getting wet in Apache Lake.

Above, you can see a sliver of the lake that goes for several miles from a viewpoint along the road we were on. Below, you'll have to look very carefully, but you can see a road snaking up the side of that cliff. From the lower left to the upper right. Just click on the picture for a larger view.

We climbed that road and had to pull right out to the edge of a cliff as we encountered a couple of other travellers coming the other way. Shaw actually switched seats in the back to not be on the outside edge.

This is looking back down from the top of the cliff that we just climbed.

At the top of the cliff, we drove through a forest of these yucca plants. They bloom only once in their life and it may take several decades to get there. Lesa said they had a very "Dr Seuss" quality to them.

We stopped at a little desert outpost called "Tortilla Flats" for some cold Sarsaparilla.

See Gramma, it's really just Sarsaparilla...

Here's us saddled up to the bar-literally- notice the bar stools...

The Salt River runs just outside of Mesa and we stopped for one more dip on a hot day before heading home.

There's a company out there that will rent tubes and life vests and other accoutrements and take you on a bus up river a few miles and drop you off so you can float down the river back to your car. Me and Shaw are tying to talk Lesa in to making a day of it. Here's Shaw just floating along the bank with a drug store pool tube.

That's 5 National Monuments down, 14 to go including Grand Canyon. We may hit Rainbow Bridge in Utah for good measure when we head north for a couple of those other adventures. Stay tuned.