Utah-Arizona, 2004

Trip map

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November 3 - 9, 2004

Miles driven: ~2,100

Trip summary
I took six days off work and headed down to Arizona to hook up with my best friend, Todd Froman, who was living out of Paulden, just north of Prescott, at the time. We have been best friends since elementary school, and I am happy to say he and his wonderful wife now live only six minutes from me as of early 2005. Since I was going to be in the area, I really also wanted to meet a select few other Arizonans on top of my list to meet from some message boards who I had corresponded with a number of times previously. Specifically, Mark Longfield (Chino Valley), Chris Marzonie and his infamous Baja Tacoma (Prescott), and Christian Davies (Phoenix).

I left on a Wednesday evening after work and drove eight hours to Goosenecks State Park in Utah, immediately north of Monument Valley, where I camped for the night.

On Thursday morning, I headed down to Monument Valley for sunrise, and then drove the main road through the park as soon as it opened. After spending the early part of the morning here, I headed back up the road and drove the Valley of the Gods road since I had a bit of time to kill on this day before Todd were to get off work. I then headed back south through Kayenta and over to Tuba City, then down through Flagstaff and into Sedona. In Sedona, I took a few short roads: the Broken Arrow 4WD trail, Schnebly Hill Road for a few miles to as far as where it was gated, then the other short 4WD road that goes up to the Devil's Kitchen sinkhole. It was then time to head a bit further south to Camp Verde where I would meet up with Todd and his wife after they got off work. We went to a pizza joint and caught up on old times.

Todd still had to work on Friday, so I took that time to do some more driving around in the area. I made a stop at the Montezuma well, then took the forest road out of Munds Park and the loop that goes around Mormon Lake. This seemed to take forever, and certainly much longer than anticipated, but it filled up the day nicely.

On Saturday, Todd rode with me and we headed into Chino Valley where we’d meet up with Mark and his wife, Tami, Chris, and Christian and his wife, Jackie, at the Old Red Barn for breakfast. I had a wonderful breakfast complete which really hit the spot and was a great start to the day. I already felt at home with this group of first-rate folks around the table. Mark and Chris had planned our course for the day during an exchange of emails prior to the trip. When finished with breakfast, we headed northeast out of Chino Valley in the direction of Perkinsville via a network of back roads. Throughout the day, Mark led the way and gave wonderful insight and historical notes about the places we passed like a seasoned tour operator. I am grateful of his commentary which really added a lot to the trip (thanks, Mark!). We stopped at a nondescript trailhead and had lunch, then hiked about a mile up to a ruin which would be the first main destination of the day. After we came back down from here, we headed further down the road and hiked to a second ruin, named Attic House. It had a great view overlooking Sycamore Canyon and the vast wilderness of the same name. After we walked back down from it, Mark, Christian and their wives departed for home while Chris, Todd and I opted to camp out. We found a place nearby and gathered some wood. Chris was kind enough to share a couple of cold ones around the campfire. I always just carry water alone on my trips, so the diverse beverages were a treat! After talking about grand adventures and trips we turned in for the night.

We awoke to a light but steady rain on Sunday morning and thought we better move out of the area before the roads get too greased up should the rain continue. So, we packed up and rolled out. We aired up the tires in Jerome and headed back over the hill to the west and into Prescott where Chris' wonderful wife Sharon would join us at a shop for breakfast. Afterwards, Chris showed us the beautiful Watson Lake just outside of town which is lined with huge, rounded boulders of the Granite Dells which makes for a really picturesque setting. We took a number of shots of the trucks together, then Todd and I said goodbye to Chris and headed back to Todd's place.

I left early Monday morning at the same time Todd had to leave to work, and I started heading in the direction of home. I passed through Monument Valley as I did on my way down and made another stop at Goosenecks State Park outside of Mexican Hat. I drove up the Mokee Dugway that ascends Cedar Mesa and turned off on a nondescript dirt road that is only marked by a County Road 249 sign, which is the Johns Canyon Overlook trail/road and goes back to the west 12 miles. I arrived here just at sunset and I just missed getting some sweet warm light on the canyon rim by about 30 seconds, but did get some neat shots of the colorful clouds immediately after the sun dropped behind some clouds near the horizon. I parked at a level spot nearby and went to sleep.

Tuesday morning, I woke up and made a detour over to Natural Bridges National Monument for my first time. I took the loop road and a few short hikes. After finishing there, I headed back out to Highway 191. I took another detour and drove the long 25 miles or so out to the Needles Overlook at the southern end of Canyonlands. Then, it was back up to Moab and east towards home. By the time I made it to the Vail area, I was greeted by heavy snow and somewhat icy roads on a couple of our passes. All in all, it was a great trip where I enjoyed some beautiful scenery and wonderful company with some newfound friends. Thanks to all of you who showed up to give me a great Arizona tour! You were all most gracious hosts!

View Chris Marzonie’s report from this trip here.

Day 1 images

Sunrise at the Mittens