Running from the Fire-Into the Arizona Frying Pan! (#31)

There's gonna' be some trouble around here! - Tombstone, AZ

Miller Fire-SE Arizona

On the first leg of our Vegas Loop trip in 2011 we entered Arizona on I-10 from New Mexico.  We stopped at the first rest area to pick up tourist information and a map, but only found a few kiosks.

What we did see to the south was smoke and it turned out to be the first of several progressively worse fires until the Sierra Vista fire which chased us to the Phoenix area a day ahead of schedule.

Next stop was a visit to Tombstone.  We got off of I-10 at Benson and missed our left turn to head south on Arizona 80.  It was a stroke of good luck because we saw the Old Benson Ice Cream Stop sign and stopped for one of their 44 different soft serve flavors!  I had the black cherry and we were off again. Before we ventured to downtown Tombstone we stopped for a little shopping, a nice antique shop and a jeweler next door who had a super collection of fire agates. As we headed to the tourist info office downtown we watched the rumblings of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday as they tempted the crowd to watch them finish the gunfight at the OK Corral. We then picked up a historic walking tour map and headed down Main Street.  This is a tourist trap town, but we LOVED it! We visited several shops and went into the old Crystal Palace and Big Nose Kate's Saloon to have a beer and sarsaparilla. Phil went downstairs in Big Nose Kate's to buy a souvenir t-shirt and enjoyed learning the history of "The Swamper" before we hit the road to our first Arizona campsite.

Big Nose Kate's - Tombstone

June is one of the hottest months this far south in the USA and without air conditioning camping can get quite uncomfortable. Our strategy was to camp at elevations above 5000 ft, which was a great plan...as long as the places weren't on fire.

Sky Island Scenic Byway

 We headed west on AZ 82 toward Lakeview Campground located at 5400 ft in the Sierra Vista district of the Coronado National Forest. Anticipating one of 65 scenic campsites, we turned off the main road onto one of the National Forest designated scenic drive toward the beautiful Huachuca Mountains. About 7 miles into the drive a barricade in the middle of the road stopped us...Road Closed Due to Fire. I checked my laptop for National Forest updates and another campground in the vicinity. According to the website, Lakeview was indeed closed. then I looked for a backup plan. The Santa Catalina Recreation Area northeast of Tucson wasn't showing any closures and there were six campgrounds above 5000 elevation on the 27 mile Sky Island Scenic Byway. We climbed into the mountains through a hillside of blooming Saguaro cactus as the sun began its journey into the horizon. After six miles we saw the first of the campgrounds-barricaded. I checked the website again...no postings stating it was closed. We continued on and each time, each campground was barricaded. We arrived at Summerhaven and stopped in at the trading post where they informed us the campgrounds were closed due to fires, even though we had seen no signs of smoke north of I-10. Now what were we going to do?

Mt. Lemmon Ski Area - Summerhaven

Back on the laptop (and nearing 8:30pm) I found another campground on the west side of Tucson, this time I called. The recording for Tucson Mountain Park said the gate to the Gilbert Ray Campground closed at 10pm; we had to race to get there, but got there with five minutes to spare. Tucson Mountains Park is not really in the mountains, so we woke up early and decided to retrace our route to one of the tourist stops we missed even though Saguaro National Park West adjoined this park.

Mission San Xavier del Bac-White Dove of the Desert just might be the most beautiful non-secular buildings. Completed in 1797, they boast it's the oldest extant European constructed
building in Arizona. We spent the morning here and joined one of the docent led tours before heading back into Tucson for lunch.

San Xavier Interior

The 11 beer sampler

To get my microbrewery fix in Arizona we picked the Barrio Brewing Company where I had their colossal 11 beer sampler. Both beer and food were very good especially the happy hour appetizer of Pretzel Pillows with Nuclear Mustard dipping sauce. Barrio is located in an industrial area next to the railroad tracks so listen for the train crossing guard bells which of the railroad track gates, which signal Barrio Rail Pints are $3.25! We didn't know what to do, the fires had pushed us a day ahead of schedule and did not want to go back to the heat of the previous nights campground.
I called my friend near Phoenix and she graciously invited to come a day early.

We went back through the Tucson Mountain Park to Saguaro National Park West. Shortly after entering the National Park, we turned off the main park road onto the narrow and disserted Cactus Forest Drive. This one-way road lacked traffic road making it easy to stop and watch the birds who made their home in these majestic cactus pincushions. It was late afternoon as we turned north toward Phoenix and time to jump out of the frying pan. the fires finished with the blessing and the best two days in Arizona, catching up and spending time with old cherished friends.