Driving Into Stormy Weather!
It is always about the views!
Imagine this, the year is 2016. It is Christmas Eve and there is excitement in the air with merry thoughts of visiting family and friends. You are one of those that are eager to visit your loved ones, with hope in your heart and a handful of gifts to hand out. Maybe a little skip in your step brings excitement as the festivities will soon start.
Yet, there is something brewing, something stewing outside. Your thoughts may be far from the outdoors as family and friends faces pop into your mind. The day is still young and there is a slight breeze with some clouds above, but nothing to worry about.
I look up at the heavens and wonder out loud, “Should we attempt it?” Of course, my husband said, yes attempt it! The trail we were preparing to drive on is called the Apache Trail and is around 40 miles long. It starts out on pavement road, and later the dirt shows up as a dirt road. This is an easy trail, with beautiful desert landscape surrounding you on all sides.
A massive storm is heading our way!
As I am contemplating what my husband said, I lightly tap the inside of the car door with my fingers, cascading a slight drum sound around me. I am resting my arm on it, as we move forward into something unknown to us. I take a deep breath as I slightly touch the window with my fingers and note the coolness. The weather temperature was slowly dropping, and a chill filled the air.
As a passenger I have many opportunities to look outside and think how I can get the scenery in a photo that is unique and beautiful, that will tell a story to others and invite them in the story. I again gazed upwards and noticed how quickly the clouds were moving closer together. They were fascinating, with whites, blues and grays on each of them.
The Apache Trail starts on pavement, then turns to dirt. That is where the fun begins!
The clouds made a dramatic backdrop as we drove further into desert territory. “Can you pull over so I can take photos?” I asked my darling husband, who has such tremendous patience when it comes to me taking photos. He finds a safe spot to pull over and I take photos all around. After some time we see a small town coming into view.
This small town is Tortilla Flat, a town that boasts of 6 residents with a small town air to it. We take a walk around this tourist area and get back onto the road. Now we are at the meaty point of the trail: the dirt is in view and now we can have fun!
We reached the top of a hill and spilled out of the truck, eager to stretch out again and check out the clouds. We had a bird’s eye view of the sky, but dust was accumulating, and coming toward us. The sun stopped shining as clouds descended over the sun. It was fascinating to watch the clouds moving fast above, and yet we knew we had to move forward, much quicker.
This is called Fish Canyon, maybe it has fish?
A massive storm was coming from California and was preparing to show itself over the entire state of Arizona. We got had front row seats as we watched mother nature in action! We went downhill toward a canyon into Fish Creek. The kids were joyful to see this and poured out of the truck to throw rocks into the water. Kids!
At this point it started to sprinkle rain. Just lightly, but we knew it was time to get back in the safety of the truck and keep going. There was no turning back now. The clouds were low to the point where we could not see the amazing lakes in this area as we passed by.
My husband was confident everything was fine, and it showed in his face and how he posed his body. My kids were not worried as they thought it was a lot of fun to see rain in the desert. A dirt biker passed by us and I felt sorry for him. He had a jacket on, but by this point the rain was coming down harder.
We had a series of hills to pass by on, and we finally arrived on pavement at Roosevelt Dam. It was pouring buckets outside by this time, so the dam was a no-go for visiting. We quickly drove on as the paved road was easier to maneuver.
Fog diminished our sight for a short while as we drove. I did not feel comfortable driving in the fog but we were on a mission to get through this. Eventually the fog cleared, and we saw something even more spectacular-snow! That clean, white stuff we hardly see in the valley of the hot sun?
Snow in the desert?
Yep, that white stuff some of us desert dwellers hardly ever see. It was beautiful. A lot of us were pulling over just to take photos. I was one of those photo takers and I loved every minute of it, even though I was freezing and my fingers were numb trying to take the photos. You would think we never saw snow before. Despite some of the dangers that could have happened, but did not, I am glad we chose to drive this amazing road, saw many kinds of weather (sun, clouds, dust, rain, fog, snow), and best of all spending Christmas with my family.
This was one of my favorite days with my family! Even though there was potential danger present, I could not take away the smiles from on my kids’ faces. We all survived my husband’s harrowing driving skills, and my camera got plenty of exercise. What an adventure!
The Apache Trail is a destination place for anyone to visit for the scenic aspect, various things to see, and a great way to spend the day out touring Arizona. Even though parts of it is shut down today, I am hopeful it will reopen again for many a trespasser by.
I think, most importantly, is to take the time to enjoy the Apache Trail. Click here for directions from start to the closed sign. The link will also tell you places you can still go on this amazing trail!
I think too many times that we as people are in such a hurry to go from place to place, that we forget to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.
Share with us a special place in your state that you would recommend a visitor to go to!