![]() ![]() ![]() Then up and over as we swooped down to Canyon Lake. We wound our way up the road to Canyon Lake, passing a group of locals who were packing their horses back into a trailer after an 8 miles ride into the bush.That looked a great way to explore the terrain – if you had skills on a horse (which we don’t really have). No one seemed to know if it was actually passable for cyclists but we have decided to give it a try. The Arizona State Traffic organisation confirms that, whilst the road is closed to vehicles, it remains open to pedestrians and cyclists. It was always a road that had a 20 mile unpaved section but now part of that is impassable for cars but is used to access Canyon Lake which is a well known beauty spot. Sections of this road beyond Canyon Lake were washed away in 2019 when there were monsoon rains, and it has not reopened to traffic as a through road. We were on the 88 state road towards Roosevelt Lake, the Apache Trail, as it was the trail used by Apache native americans in days gone by. By now the road was narrow and the gadient was getting steeper, but the traffic was thinning as we headed up to Canyon Lake. We passed up the chance to visit a ghost town and gold mine it looked antiseptically clean and far too organised to have any real ghouls. The road then swung left uphill past some “Disney themed” attractions celebrating the time when this was frontier country. The stones above us were as red as any mountain I have ever seen. This area must have been desert a few years ago but the city has expanded to meet demand, although whether there is the water to support such a vast urban area as our climate changes remains to be seen.Įventually we approached the foot of the Superstition mountains which marked the end of the plain. It was low rise, low density often fairly attractive housing that went on for mile after mile. ![]() Very little grass here as front yards were mostly stones and cacti but there was green in the occasional park or sports field. Some neighbourhoods were smarter than others, but overall it was our exposure to middle America. The first 38 miles today were flat, suburban cycling partly along canal paths but mainly along fairly busy roads with houses on either side. The greater Phoenix metropolitan area is “extensive”. Today was a slightly odd and in parts frustrating day, but which ended with us camping at an amazing location in a desert gorge. ![]() We said our goodbyes after a delicious breakfast prepared by Julie. ![]()
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