A great homecoming

I’m a pretty committed motorcycle tourist, and own a BMW R1200 GS. I lived in Tempe, Arizona for 3 years, about 5 miles from Monica and Gabor’s business. Last summer, I moved to New Orleans, and while I still ride most days, you really can’t compare motorcycling in Louisiana with motorcycling in Arizona. I have ridden all over the US, but there really is nothing like Arizona and Utah for motorcycling. When I got the chance to return to Phoenix recently for a 3-day business trip, I couldn’t resist finding a bike and spending a day on the road. I found Monica and Gabor on-line, and tried to rent an R1200 GS. Failing that (theirs were all booked) they rented me a Suzuki DR650.

When I was in high school (late 1960s), a 650 was a BIG bike. However, that was a long time ago, and after lots of miles on bikes of 1,000 cc and up, I wasn’t very optimistic about riding 300 miles on a 650. Still, I needed to go on dirt roads – you’ll miss the best part of Arizona if you can’t travel on dirt roads – so I went ahead and booked the smaller bike.

I picked up the bike late on Wednesday evening (April 30), planning to leave out early the next morning. I called one of my traveling buddies when I returned to the hotel, and told him “my boots weigh more than this bike, and when I pull up to a red light, it sounds like I’m riding a lawnmower!” It takes some adjustment to let go of the R1200 mentality. Still, the bike wound up and hummed right along, so I wasn’t worried.

Next morning, I headed north to Payson, and then east toward Show Low. While it was quite warm in Phoenix, I had to stop and zip up the vents in my riding jacket – it was about 60 degrees in Payson, and the elevation is about 5,000 feet. The road up to Payson is a state highway, excellent for riding. Here’s a typical scene:

About 36 miles from Payson I turned south on what a sign called the “Young road” (my GPS called it the “Heber-Payson Highway”). It is a dirt road that winds through miles of pine forests and follows the Mogollon rim back down to the Lower Sonoran desert. Dirt roads don’t get any better than this – smooth and wide. Good thing too, because there are quite a few switchbacks and steep sections. Here’s a shot of what the area and road looks like, a mile or two after I turned off of highway 260.

My plan was to see the town of Young (N34 06.094 W110 56.726). It is accessible only after about 30 miles of dirt road (from the North – from the South, it is more like 50 miles of dirt road). Young turned out to be a very nice (and flat) farming community of some 800 souls.

I arrived in Young about noon, looking for a place for a place to eat. The first place I came upon was Alice’s Restaurant. Being old enough to remembering the old Arlo Guthrie song and album of the same name, I thought I better keep moving. Next came the Antler Grill, pictured below. This looked like my kind of place.

I had the antler burger with fries – very tasty. The picture above is a little misleading. The place actually looks older from the inside. The people were very nice, but overworked. It seemed like the whole town wanted to eat there, and there was only one waiter. Also, the sign over the kitchen window further bolstered my earlier conclusion that this was my kind of place.
Good food at a reasonable price. And, a lot of fun to get to also!

I left Young headed south for Highway 188 down by Roosevelt lake. Here’s a couple of shots I took on the way – still on the Young road. In total, it is about 80 miles long.

Saguaro all around. I headed north on 188, planning to take the Apache Trail back to Apache Junction and then Phoenix. However, if you are in the area, don’t miss the Tonto National Forest Cliff Dwellings. They are right off Highway 188, and well worth the stop. They’ll charge you a few bucks to get in, but the let you walk right up to (and into) the dwellings. Here’s a couple of pictures:

One shows the dwellings, and the other the view from standing in the dwellings. Don’t miss this if you are ever nearby (N33 39.003 W111 06.537)! If you are up for a longer walk, there is an even bigger cliff dwelling, but you have to walk a few hours, and they close the trail from May to October because of the heat.
A few minutes north of the cliff dwellings is the head of the Apache Trail. I’ve ridden all over Arizona, and this single trail justifies the purchase of a BMW R1200 GS. If that isn’t available, a Suzuki DR650 will do just fine. Here’s a couple of pictures up near the trail head.

This is a 22 mile dirt road through some of the most beautiful Sonoran desert you’ll ever see. In truth, the length of the dirt is closer to 40 miles, because the pavement which starts near the town of Tortilla Flat is pretty broken up – I wouldn’t call it pavement at all. The pictures below came from near that area.

By the time I got to Tortilla Flat (N33 31.580 W111 23.619) I was both getting worn out and running late. I liked the little lightweight DR650 by this time, but my rather plus-sized butt was wearing out on it. I needed to have the bike back to Monica and Gabor by 4:30, and I was falling behind. The ride from Tortilla Flat to Apache Junction is legendary for its steep runs and switchbacks. Here are my parting shots of that great section of the ride.

I had a great ride, and will be back to see Monica and Gabor as soon as I can to do it all over again. There’s nothing like motorcycling in Arizona! My trip was about 300 miles, but you can take a shorter trip that includes the cliff dwellings and the Apache Trail by skipping the Payson-Young part of the trip. I don’t recommend that, but if you don’t have the time or energy for the full trip, the shortened version (to Superior, Globe, and Roosevelt) is less than 200 and includes some really great scenery.