SW Adventure

[Lapchik]

I promise I'll come back and fix spelling and put proper paragraphs on these posts when I add the pictures.

Friday, May 22, 2026 (350 miles)
A short day for me, but I wanted to get to Phoenix (and before rush hour traffic) so I could spend some time visiting my aunt. I started the day by returning to Alpine arizona, and then heading south on 191. This incredible road has to be one of the best ones to take a motorcycle on in the entire country. This time of year there is hardly anyone there, and if you start in the morning the weather isn't too bad. It was 60° up in the mountains, and 85° in the desert. I started up in the mountains at over 7,000 ft. It is a very technical road with lots of twists and turns and elevation changes. I rode aggressively, but certainly nowhere near as hard as I could go. There are plenty of decreasing radius turns on crests and 15 mile an hour hairpins. I used the entire back tire, and in a couple spots a little bit of the sidewall. No chicken strips on this bike. The surroundings change from mountains and pine trees to high desert, and it ends down in the desert valley at just under 3000 ft as it spits you out into an active copper mine in the town of Morenci. If you're in the area, beware of blasting. They announce it with several loud horn blasts before setting off the charges. There is a scenic overlook where you can watch the gigantic trucks hauling copper ore, so far below you they look like Tonka trucks. While 191 is a full width two lane road, there are almost no guardrails and the pavement is not always the best. The momentary lapse of concentration or a misjudged corner could result in a thousand foot drop off of a cliff. After this extreme workout of a road, I rode up to globe Arizona and fueled up before heading west on Apache trail. Roosevelt dam recreation area is a sparkling blue Jewel in the red and tan desert, and it's somewhat difficult to leave behind as you turn down a newly black topped slightly too narrow road. The heat of the day is really beginning to make itself known, but fortunately the two vehicles in front of me turned off in one of the first few recreation area pull-offs. I had a free road in front of me nearly all the way to tortilla flat. There was just one vehicle that I had to pass, and luckily it was on one of the very few straight open stretches. There is a pretty significant section of gravel (8 miles or so, I was too distracted to remember exactly), and if it isn't constant washboards it is a rocky and potholed mess. The pavement begins again near tortilla flat, which is where all the tourists from the Phoenix side go to. They rarely go past that, probably because of the gravel. A lot of that unpaved section is a single lane wide, with very few turnout spots. The pounding gravel followed by new blacker than black scorching pavement and the Friday afternoon tourists moving at half the speed of smell begin to test my patience. The temperature had risen to around 95°, and I needed some air movement. I drove about 6 mi at 10 to 20 miles an hour, and finally found an opportunity to pass. I went around four vehicles in one shot, and finally had a clear road ahead of me for quite a while. The next car saw me come up behind them and moved over, which I thank them for as I passed. The one after that couldn't stay in their lane, and it didn't have the courtesy or common sense to move out of the way. I was stuck behind them for a bit but also found a chance to pass on one of the extremely rare sections where you can see ahead. Much like 191 earlier in the day, Apache trail does not have many guardrails and severe consequences for misjudging corners. What makes it more dangerous is the fact that it is mostly less than two lanes wide, and on occasion barely a single Lane wide. There are also lots of people who do not drive as a hobby on this road, unaware of their lane positioning and frequently crossing into oncoming traffic, even on the marked two lane portions. On 60 across phoenix, a large roll of pink insulation fell off a vehicle about a quarter mile in front of me, and a few vehicles hit it, turning it into a cotton candy colored interstate free for all. People started whipping across lanes and slamming on their brakes. Luckily I just had to slow down enough to let one person by and I shot over into the HOV lane, just in time to miss the worst of it. People had little bits of pink fluff coming out from under their vehicles for the next several miles. I took the wrong road and ended up going through downtown Gilbert, but traffic was moving well enough that I didn't overheat myself too badly. Most of the businesses downtown also have evaporative cooling water spraying from their eaves, which even helps poor motorcyclists sitting at the lights. I got to my aunt's house very sweaty but in one piece, got a shower and a good meal, and visited for the rest of the night.[php]