East of (the) Superstitions

If you’re driving one of the most lonely parts of scenery in Arizona, you might as well take some pictures. The road from Globe to Payson runs east of the Superstition Mountains and past a whole lotta nothing… except for a lake. And wildfires. And a thunderstorm.

I realized that I hadn’t finished my roadtrip story from last weekend, so I might as well finish it off. After being rather disappointed with… almost everything closed in Globe, I decided not to dwell on it and drive up to Payson, where I knew something would be open. Along the way was a whole lotta nothing. Beautiful nothing, but nothing none the less. 🙂

It took about an hour and a half to drive from the mining town to the Rim Country. I knew I would pass by Lake Roosevelt, without which, there would be no Phoenix today. But what I didn’t expect was the Tonto National Monument.

Quick history lesson: About seven to eight hundred years ago, there was a vibrant native civilization that existed in Arizona. The Hohokams occupied what today is Phoenix and about five other nations existed in relative harmony. Then about 1500, they left; climate change, exhausting natural resources (trees), no one really knows for sure. This was about the same time mound builders out east also disappeared. From these tribes came the modern native tribes that exist today.

Well, there are several cliff dwellings around Arizona, including as I learned, west of Lake Roosevelt. (Named after Teddy, who visited its dedication after he left being president.) So I pulled into Tonto National Monument, but didn’t feel like hiking up from the parking lot in 113 degree heat to see them first hand. That’s not why I was there… although the cute forest ranger in the mask did make it tempting.

So I took some pictures and left. Then I drove past lots of burned out scrub land. The wildfires this year really ripped through the part of the national forest (yes, the forest is cactus, but technically…). I even saw the fire–which is hard to make out from the pictures–but there was a whole lotta char.

After passing many signs thanking the firefighters, I got hit in a thunderstorm just south of Payson. Now this might not sound that exciting for anyone outside the Southwest, but it hasn’t rained in Phoenix since April. Let me repeat that… four months! So to suddenly have to slow down in pelting rain (that was hitting a brush fire, mind you) was pretty amazing.

Finally got into Payson, found the open bar I was looking for (this is a pic of their back parking lot), smoked my pipe (tobacco), and had a drink. I’m not going to mention which one because it’s technically illegal to be open due to the governor’s executive order… and it’s technically not, because it’s a restaurant and… other reasons. Being in a legal gray zone, which is where I love to be, I went in and enjoyed myself.

Then I drove back home down a really gorgeous highway which had more of purple’s mountain majesty that I didn’t bother to take a picture of (because it looked kinda the same as what I already showed you), because I’ve been on this particular stretch . The back of Four Peaks (the biggest mountain you can see from the Phoenix East Valley) was completely burned. It was great to get out of the house and enjoy seeing parts of the state I live in.

What kind of things have surprised you on a roadtrip? Tell me in the comments section below!