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The Arizona Highlands

Last weekend it was finally time for my wife and I to take our long planned trip through ArizonaÔÇÖs White Mountains. The plan was to go north from Tucson, through Young, and east to Hwy 191 taking as few paved roads as possible while still completing the trip in three days. We left around noon on Friday and headed north on Hwy 77. After passing Winkelman we turned off the highway and headed down Dripping Springs Rd. If you look at a map it shows this road terminating after about 12 miles, but it ends immediately adjacent to another unnamed road that heads north to Globe, so we figured weÔÇÖd give it a shot and see of the two roads actually connect. Half way to the end of Dripping Springs Rd we stopped and talked to a local gentleman and his wife that were riding by on their quad. He let us know that the intersection of the roads was on private property, but that there was another ÔÇ£roadÔÇØ that followed a wash north from Dripping Springs Rd and connected to the road to Globe. Sure enough, when we got to the end of the road it was blocked by a gate with a ÔÇ£No TrespassingÔÇØ sign, and off to the right there was another ÔÇ£roadÔÇØ that headed up a wash. Jess and I talked about it and we figured we were out there to have adventures, so we gave it a shot.

Adventures we had:

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Stopped at the end of Dripping Springs Rd, planning for adventure.

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At the first real obstacle in the road, Jess managed to find the hole.

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The road actually crossed through the wash before it climbed up to meet the road to Globe. We managed to make it through the sand and dips upright.

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The road climbed a hogs back to get from the wash to the road to Globe. We made it up the first couple of ridges without a problem.

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This is the last ridge that had to be climbed to get back to the real road. Jess did really well, she was about 30 feet from the top when she put her bike down on the high side.

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I, on the other hand, only made it about 3/4 of the way up that first hill before I did wheelie right off the side of the road.

These pictures don't do steepness of the grade, nor the looseness of the gravel any justice. It took about three hours of blood and sweat to get my bike back on the road and hers facing down the hill. By that time the sun was almost down, so we decided to go back the way we came. Through all of this our Jesse bags took a beating, but the bikes came out relatively unscathed. We made camp at the intersection of the wash and Dripping Springs Rd, nursed our cuts and bruises, ate some dinner, and planned for Saturday's adventures.

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Our campsite, as seen the next morning. After breaking camp we headed back out to Hwy 77 and took that to Globe and had some breakfast. When we left Globe, we headed from from Hwy 60 to 188 to 288.

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This picture was taken on Hwy 288 right after the sign marking the end of the pavement and several miles before the pavement actually ended. You can see Roosevelt Lake in the background.

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Stopping for pictures on the way to Young.

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Looking down on Young and the Pleasant Valley.

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After passing through Young, we reached the end of Hwy 288 where it intersected with Hwy 260. By that time we were high enough to have reached the snow. It was also getting late, so we started looking for a place to camp.

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We headed to campground outside of Pinedale (where we found this covered bridge), but it required a permit we weren't sure how to get, so we headed further down the road.

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We ended up staying at the Fool Hollow Recreation Area just north of Show Low. The campground was a little crowded, but still very nice. It had fire pits, graded tent sites, showers, and the caretakers actually delivered some firewood to our campsite for us. That was a nice night.

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After breaking camp we continued down Hwy 260. The original plan had been to jump back onto the fire roads just outside of McNary, but there was so much snow on the ground we didn't even try. We did attempt to hit the back roads again at Hwy 273 near the Sunrise Park Ski Resort, but we were stymied there as well. At this point we were near White Mountain Reservoir and at the highest elevation we attained, about 9200 feet. We headed back to the highway and into Eagar, where we stopped for lunch. From Eagar, we headed straight to Hwy 191.

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Both the scenery and the twisties along Hwy 191 were incredible. 191 is a ride we would recommend to anyone.

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As Hwy 191 headed out of the foothills of the White Mountains we came across the Morenci Copper Mine. Both Jess and I are in the Navy and have been around the world, taking in sights from the Coliseum in Rome to the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, and we both agreed this is the most impressive man-made anything we had ever seen. Riding through the mine was like watching the very foothills of the White Mountains being moved.

Just as the sun was going down, we stopped in Safford for gas. We had originally planned to take Hwy 70 back to Globe and head to Tucson from there, but because it was so late and Jess had to work in the morning, we just headed down to I-10 and blasted back to Tucson. We were so tired by the time we got home, we just ordered Domino's for Easter dinner.

Here's a map of the route our adventures took:
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Hope you enjoyed reading about our ride.

Cheers,
Tim and Jessica
 
Great report your adventurous pair! Thanks for having us along.
 
Well done/GOOD STUFF:)

I enjoyed the story/pictures really well, so keep on "Adventuring", as your Dad does and has and will keep doing. My turn is coming for the dirt to meet the new GSA, as it surely will when I get it into the tougher stuff:). I'm glad the bikes made the grade, regarding the falls. Its work, but so much fun and so few get to see the backcountry this way:). Happy Trails, Randy...Keep it up! PS; I am proud to say this is my Daughter(Jessica) and new Son in Law(Tim) and on one of their "very first" dual sport rides and on their own, too! They JUST started riding bikes!!! They jumped right in, with their F650's and had some good fun(I hope)...The story sure sounds good and the pictures outstanding:). THIS IS "OUR" BMWMOA's future young riders and a club with the average age of 53 etc.,I find it really cool to see this and I'm proud of them:). :thumb :usa :usa :usa
 
Great report.

Brings back a lot of memories. Those buildings in the Morenci pit are the truck shop for mining equipment. I used to work for Phelps Dodge in the '90's. My how the pit has changed!
 
excellent report... and great photos, too.

we were out in that area last october and rode some of what you did.

is that road through young also called the "tall pines to desert" road (or something like that? we stopped and looked down that road a bit, but passed it up that one and rode along the mogollon rim instead. i hated to do that, and now your pictures confirm it... although the rim road was pretty fun, too.

ian
 
excellent report... and great photos, too.

we were out in that area last october and rode some of what you did.

is that road through young also called the "tall pines to desert" road (or something like that? we stopped and looked down that road a bit, but passed it up that one and rode along the mogollon rim instead. i hated to do that, and now your pictures confirm it... although the rim road was pretty fun, too.

ian

I believe it was called the "From the Desert to Tall Pines Scenic Road," and it is a beautiful ride. If you make it back to AZ I definitely recomend it.

The campground we were looking at oustide of Pinedale was actually on a road that connects to the Mogollon Rim Road. We had heard good things about it, but we definitely didn't have time to check it out on this trip, hopefully next time. You have any pics from your trip?

Tim
 
Tim and Jess: Outstanding Ride Report on My Home State of Arizona.

Fantastic Article! With your kind permission I'm going to post a link to AZ Beemers.
 
Outstanding trip report. Thanks for sharing the story with the excellent pictures. Not often do we see GS's being used in the way they were intended. :thumb
 
oh... forgot...

this isn't the mogollon rim, but was part of our ride:

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Ian
 
Your a lucky man Tim:thumb My wife just started riding last year and this summer we're planing are first long trip together. She is really excited. There's nothing better then sharing something you love with someone you love...Rod:dance
 
Great trip. It was wise to leave the stormy pacific northwest for sunnier climes.

You aren't lying. I came back on Tuesday to 35-45 degree weather. I actually just got finished with the drive from Seattle to Vancouver (were my parents live) and got quite a bit of snow on the way. Burrr...
 
Ian, the picture and the video look pretty cool. I don't know if we'll have the chance to hit that trail before we ship my bike up here. With any luck I'll be able to start commuting on it and take advantage of the 65-70 mpg. I guess I'll have to explore some new trails up here!

I've got a short video of our adventures on the hill I'll post when I get back to my place.
 
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