Thursday, April 9, 2015

Cleansing my mind on Devils Highway April 9th-13th 2015

Some time ago a friend recommended a ride in East Central Arizona that he felt I would really enjoy.  After dealing with what to me seemed like a large quantity of stress at work I decided the time had come to get on Misty and explore what the web said was over a thousand curves in a hundred and ten miles.  


In years past highway 191 was actually highway 666, explaining one of the reasons this stretch of road is known as Devils Highway.  It actually was the sixth spur of highway 66, but It baffles me that someone in the department of transportation 

planning wouldn't have thought it a bad idea to number a highway with these numbers.
I had four days to make this trip and with no real planning headed out..  I plugged in Alpine Arizona for a destination in my GPS but knew I wanted to go by way of Moab.  




 Heading up Spanish Fork Canyon (Hwy 6) to Price



Hwy 6 South of Price




                                                                           A Selfie


Pre-Moab








                                                                                    Wilson Arch






Chinle AZ Hotel


About this time I starting running into dirty late model supercars flying past me on the hwy.  After a little investigation found out they were part of the Dustball Rally 1000.  Rather than plagiarize photos here is a link showing the cars.. 



                                                                  Plenty of this view on the two Indian reservations I crossed..  Navajo, Apache and back across Navajo..




Finally some fun Moto roads!!





It surprised me that the highway drives right through the Morenci Mine



          Waiting for very large trucks..








Next stop was Globe AZ for the night..



Theodore Roosevelt Lake












Along my journey I fell in love with a little town in Arizona named Payson.  I stopped for lunch and shared a table with a local who filled me with information about the town.  It seems that every ride I go on I run into a town I could live or TICL town (I pronounce it tickle)..  Payson was one of those towns.  5000ft + elevation, in the pines, 15000 population, and very lay back and quaint.


A few more reservation pics..  Not saying they aren't pretty, just not very moto exciting..




















Next stop Kanab Utah  Have always loved Kanab but not necessarily a TICL town.  In the morning I stopped for Fuel and must have looked quite funny to the attendant looking for a slot for my credit card.  Finally I see the sign "here's your sign" and just fill up.  When I brought it up how rare it is to see pumps like this to the attendant she said they are great for conversation..





Made a stop to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary on my way out of Kanab.  I love that they make such an effort to benefit animals that are less fortunate than most.





Have to laugh to myself every time I see this sign..



Old dependable Flying M Restaurant.  Even when everything in Panquitch is closed they seem to always have an open door and a friendly staff..  Great Chicken Fried Steak!!




Big Rock Candy Mountain


Turned over 10k this trip, it was a fast trip but still clocked 1500 miles.  Seemed just enough time to clear my head and turn my attention to something other than work..

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