views from road outside Williams
interesting corral fence flower with bug
Road to Jerome
Same road through cut
Back view of road from cut

Clarkson (left) and Cottonwood
Road to Jerome
View from old downtown Sedona
View from outside Sedona Oak Creek Canyon

Road to the top of Oak Creek Canyon
Sycamore Creek
MULE DEER
ELK


Today was devoted to a driving tour of the national forests south of Williams. We started out looking for Bill Williams mountain. We miss it but continued on south toward Jerome. When Duane was a kid he visited Jerome, Cottonwood, and Sedona on a drive through the Oak Creek Canyon with his traveling grannie. He wanted to revisit them as an adult. The road to Jerome started out paved, then turned into a 4 wheel drive road for the last 20 miles. It twisted itself through Prescott National Forest through upland meadows, canyon pastures, hills of scrub and scree, and red rock mountains. As we neared Jerome we began the really interesting part of the trip, snaking our way around and up the mountains along a narrow dirt road perched precariously along the sides with sheer drop off and no guard rails. Awsome! Per the photo you can see the road passed through a narrow notch blown out of the top. There were several of these. We saw no one until we were on the descent to Jerome. Then we caught up to our fellow photographer/rubberneckers--one old hippie in a VW van/camper, and a couple in a Jeep Wrangler. We all stopped for an aerial view of the defunct King (gold) Mine and ghost town. We drove in for a visit, but opted not to pay to view the ghost town. The road is at the bottom of the hill. The terracing appeared to be a new road in the making.

Jerome is a tourist town perched on the side of the mountain in three terraced roads. We apparently didn't think it worth a photo. Actually, there was no good opportunity for a shot. It was mainly an 'arty' town, with little cafes and lots of little stores full of work by local craftspeople. We breezed through Clarkson and stopped at a little quilt shop in Cottonwood. Lunch was a quick Wendy burger, then on to Sedona. I got fabric in Cottonwood and at a little shop in Sedona. To Duane's shock and dismay the tiny, interesting little towns that lived in his memory were replaced by spawling modern small cities. He did enjoy the snaky drive up Oak Creek Canyon, which was the way he remembered. Our tour continued on I 40 past Flagstaff to exit 163 four miles east of Williams. There we found another dirt road that led 11 miles south through the Kaibab National Forest. We took the road til it ran out then walked 100 yds or so to the edge of Sycamore Creek. This creek meanders through 21 mile deep gorge canyon with a rim trail along the top. We saw no deep gorge, but the drive was productive, as you can see by the last two pix. So ended our loop and tour of three of the many national forests in this area.

Basta pro hoy! Louise and Duane