Day 7 - Friday, May 18th - Prescott to Cottonwood, AZ
Distance: 44.2 miles
Elevation Gain: +2811 ft. or 63.6 ft./mile
Net elevation change: -2019 ft.
44 miles feels like a rest day, but there is the 12 mile climb starting at mile 15. On that climb we went from an elevation of about 5000 feet to an elevation at the top of just over 7000 feet. Certainly the highest elevation I have ridden a bike. Well there was the time I did a bike excursion while on an Alaskan cruise. I don't recall the elevation, but it doesn't count, since other then steering and riding the brake all the way down, I didn't actually operate the bike. Not anywhere as gratifying as climbing and then descending.
Heading out of town I actually got a picture of a fairly large body of water. Not sure what it is but a sign down the road indicated that the Heritage Park Zoo out in that direction. In any case, I can't recall seeing a large body of water since we left Manhattan Beach.
At mile 15 we start a 12 mile, 2,100 foot climb as we pass through Prescott Valley, continue south of Coyote Crest at mile 18 and Mingus West at the 20-mile marker.
We have been gradually climbing since we left Prescott, but the real climbing
work starts at about the 22-mile mark when we cross into the Prescott National Forest.
I heard someone today refer to today as "the climb to the pines". I stopped for a breather about half way up in the shade of some of those pines.
With no traffic for a good 2-3 minutes, it was just so quiet. The only sound was the wind moving through the pines. I don't really have the words to explain it. Maybe with more time I'll come up with some. At this point in the trip, this has been my favorite moment.
It took nearly an hour to climb the last 1,000 feet to the SAG stop at Mingus Mountain, a distance of about 3.5 miles. In the Florida flats that would take about about 12 minutes.
I happened to look down at my Garmin and I couldn't resist taking a pic. The black dot at the peak is me.
The best sign of the day!
At this point we only have 17 miles and it is all downhill so we begin the descent into Jerome. Seven miles down the mountain we pass a standard blue roadside sign telling us we are entering the Verde Valley. A mile later we are in the heart of the historic mining town of Jerome, home of The Haunted Hamburger among other shops, bars, attractions and restaurants.
Not surprisingly, the Verde River runs through the Verde
Valley. It is one of Arizona’s last free-flowing rivers and
supplies drinking water to Phoenix. The first mention of the region appeared in
the report of the Spanish explorer, Antonio de Espejo, in the 1580's. Not much
else was recorded until prospecting for gold and silver started in the 1800's.
On a more current note, Verde Valley is the setting for that 1977 sci-fi
thriller, Kingdom of the Spiders, starring
none other than William Shatner.
Jerome is located on Cleopatra Hill and is
historically a copper mining town. The town itself sits on top what was the
largest copper mine in Arizona and over the years buildings and homes have
collapsed as the underlying shafts have caved in. It was founded in 1876 and
was once the fourth largest city in Arizona with a peak population of about
15,000 in the 1920's. The last mine was closed in 1953 but at one point produced
3 million pounds of copper a day. The remaining 50-100 residents promoted the
town as a ghost town. It was designated a National Historic District in 1967
and today it is destination for tourists and artists and has a population of
about 450. Some shots from the descent and the main street through Jerome, and in particular the Haunted Hamburger where we stop for lunch.
Notice the road curving to the left in the bottom right portion of the photo. That's where we are going and beyond.
Barry insisted that I put a pic of me in this blog so here it is. I'm waiting for the Haunted Hamburger to open since it was only 10:45 AM.
I'd like to be able to give all you folks on Sayda Street, back in Venice, FL a shot of Barry, but since we have been in the mountains he has been done for the day, showered and left me a text wanting to know what time we are going to dinner, literally as I'm walking into the hotel. The man is a beast!
However, in going through my pictures I did find that he worked his way into this pic...barely and not knowingly. And yes he was first to get there😉.
I understand that a number of folks from the Islandwalk community in Venice, FL are following along, in particular friends and family on Neviano, Ortono and Sayda Streets. I know I speak for Barry when I say that we hope you are enjoying this blog. We miss you....sort of and hope you continue to follow us.
Sneak Peek at Tomorrow
Tomorrow is the last of three climbing days and it rivals yesterday with over 5,000 feet of climbing, over 47 miles through Sedona and on to Flagstaff. Never having done much climbing I'm not sure what to expect on the third day. Low and slow will continue to be the strategy as well as going out with the early group. The legs will tell me in the morning. I've never been to Sedona but have heard so much about it. I'm really looking forward to it.
Flagstaff is the county seat of Coconino County with a
population of about 70,000 and metropolitan area population of about 140,000.
The city is situated along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa
pine forest in the continental US and it is named after a ponderosa pine
flagpole made by a scouting party from Boston to celebrate the US Centennial in
1876. Humphrey's Peak is the highest
point in Arizona at 12,600 feet and is located about 10 miles north of
Flagstaff. Thankfully we will not be going that way. Flagstaff is also home to the Lowell
Observatory and is close to Grand Canyon National Park, Oak Creek Canyon, the
Arizona Snowbowl (an alpine ski resort), Meteor Crater, and historic Route 66. Some things to think about doing on our first rest day on Sunday...but only after the laundry gets done and the bike gets a good cleaning.
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