Salt River Canyon
Globe to Show Low, AZ
We packed up camp early this afternoon and began the beautiful scenic drive in The Salt River Canyon. Steve found this canyon to be more impressive than the Grand Canyon & we only stumbled upon it by random wandering.
The Salt River Canyon was formed over thousands of years by water cutting down into the different geologic layers. And just last week we were sitting by the shores of Canyon Lake in the Superstition Mountains. Today, as we traveled from our camp area located north of Globe, we dropped into the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. We passed Seneca Lake and continued down from the pines and entered the land of prickly pear. Next, came the twisty curvy roads. As we drove in the canyon, the mesas, buttes, spires, and walls seemed to speak to us. They said, keep your eyes on the road Steve, and look at the beauty! We crossed the bridge stretching across the Salt River and immediately entered the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Back in the late 1800's the U.S. Government established the two separate Reservations. Steve and I talked about how the Native Americans were, have been, and continue to be shafted by the U.S. Government. The land speaks of history, beauty, and culture.
Today, we stopped to let the dogs do their business near a sign pointing to Show Low and Globe.
It was at that pullover point that Steve made a new friend. There on the side of the pull out area was a Honda Goldwing, covered with stickers, and with no one around it. I thought people were hiking but as soon as we parked next to it, Steve saw a man and woman sitting in the shade off in the distance. Of course, Steve, being the social motorcycle loving guy he is, asked if he could take a picture. That is when he officially met Joe Sparrow.
Joe has been traveling on his Goldwing motorycle for the last 9 years and had ridden well over a half a million miles! A M A Z I N G! He adventures, works, and writes for various motorcycle publications. Then Joe showed us his map of the U.S. and Steve gave him our phone number. We hope he looks us up next year when he's out in Portland.
What an inspiration! Joe's advice was to take the time to travel while you have it, or you won't have the time, or health, when you want to ♡ Before we said our goodbyes, Joe asked if he could take a picture of Sierra standing on the seat of his bike. It was awesome.
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Shortly after sharing popsicles and saying goodbye to Joe, we found ourselves exiting the Reservation and entering National Forest Land and the town of Show Low. We made a quick Safeway stop (love it that Steve does all the shopping) and were off to find a place to dump our grey/black tanks and to refill on water.
At Kartchner Caverns, the campground host had told us one of her favorite spots in Arizona is Fool Hollow Lake. And when we pulled out a map in Show Low to find a dump spot, we discovered that Fool Hollow was only ten minutes away. So, we headed west in search of a dump station. Well, long story short, we talked with the Park Ranger and he said we could dump for $15. And in the end, we decided to camp here for 2 nights... kids can ride bikes, fish, hike, SHOWER, and take their boat on the lake.
While we waited for the Ranger to process our site payment, I yelled, "Honey?" as I had a question for Steve. Gotta love it when both Steve and the Ranger respond with a, "Yes".
Our site tonight is flat, spacious, and in the pines. Sierra was thrilled to wear her Heelys on our hike to the lake (until she fell and then Steve carried her on his shoulders.) And I was thrilled to have a long and hot shower. Double shower heads... score! These Arizona Park and Recreation campgrounds are great!
The kiddos watched 'Trolls' for the millionth time
and then almost made it as I read the last few pages of our Ollie book. Tomorrow will we finish, and then Sierra wants me to read it again ♡ Love it when they are left wanting me to read more!
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