Today will be the last ride for the Two Brothers Big Fall Adventure. Tomorrow snow is predicted, perhaps even rain later on today.. It has been one tremendous week. I have enjoyed every minute of my awesome brother's company. We ARE the Adventure Brothers!
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| Montezuma's Well near Camp Verde, Arizona |
Today will be a two-parter: We'll ride from Interstate 17 near McGuireville up to Montezuma's Well and back. Then we'll take the bikes via car to Cornville, where we'll bike Page Springs Road, some of Central Arizona's new Wine Country, which runs along lower Oak Creek. It's windy, but not unmanageable.
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| Cliff dwelling in Montezuma Well |
It's an uphill ride to Montezuma's Well, and a pleasant one. The amazing thing is that you would never know the "well" or lake is there unless you get right up onto it; it blends in with the desert landscape. An underground cavern collapsed millions of years ago, But the underground stream still flows into the sinkhole that is left. Around 900 A.D., the Sinagua Indians decided that here was a perpetual flow of water in the high desert, with some perfect caves in which to build their homes. And so they did. They also built on on top of the edge of the well. It must have been a pretty lively place during its day!
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| Ruins on top of the rim |
These people were pretty ingenious when it came to home construction. They fashioned their houses to face the winter sun so their dwellings would stay as warm as possible during the colder months, and also found places to build down near to water line of the well during the summer (see photo below). They also channeled the water coming out of the well, and used it to irrigate the land next to Beaver Creek, where the well empties. The riparian area where the water exits the well is lush, green and cool. One almost forgets they are in Arizona!
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| House near the water line |
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| Riparian area at Beaver Creek, Montezuma Well |
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| Hohokam pit house near Montezuma Well |
Prior to the Sinagua, the Hohokom Indians (whose center is in the Phoenix area) had migrated this far north. Their structures were not built in the stone masonry style of the Sinagua, but were "pit houses." These may have been "seasonal" dwellings, not intended for your round use--"summer homes" to escape the heat of the Salt River Valley maybe! This one has been preserved. You can see where the poles were located around the edges and in the center.
The other interesting thing we discovered in our little tour of The Well was that there is a "turtle problem." In addition to the indigenous specie of turtles found in the area, this well has an abundance Red Slider turtles--yep, the kind you buy at Petsmart and keep as pets, until you get tired of them or they become obnoxious. So what do you do with these cute little things? You release them into the wild, right? The only problem is that the pet store variety eats three times and much food and have three times as many babies as the "normal" Arizona turtles. So the Park Service and researchers from Northern Arizona University are trying to thin the population. But they aren't having much luck. The food in the Well is evidently higher class than the food they put in their traps. Perhaps they need to get some fixin's from Red Lobster?
The ride back is almost all downhill. (We love downhill!) As we coasted down the grade, we passed the Verde Valley Honey Store. This is too good to pass up, considering wife, Carolyn, is a budding beekeeper herself, and intends to market her products next Spring. So we stopped in and took a look. It's mostly a gift shop (in a good location for tourist--on the only road OUT from Montezuma Well), and we all know you catch more tourists with honey than vinegar! We bought a bottle of Mesquite Honey to take home.
By the time we get back to the car (only a 9+ mile round trip to the Well), it's pretty windy. And we're starving. We load up the bikes and head down to the next Interstate exit where there's a Sonic Drive Thru. We enjoy our tater tots, sandwich and large drink (Dr, Pepper, of course!) then head north and west to the thriving metropolis of Cornville, Arizona.
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| Page Springs Road is an Arizona Scenic/Historic byway. |
We start our last ride together for this season at the intersection of Cornville and Page Springs Roads. We'll bike another 10 miles. Not far from our starting point, there's a pretty steep hill that drops down into the narrow valley formed by Oak Creek. The desert and rugged rocky hills stand in sharp contrast to the creekside trees and foliage.
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| Page Springs Road near the Oak Creek Bridge |
Today the road is practically ours for the taking. We encounter very few cars. The sky all around has that dark gray aura, but the weather paralleling the waterway is windy but sunny. We continue our slow decent until we cross the bridge crossing Oak Creek. We ride a bit further, climbing out of the ravine, and the scenery turns back to the scrubby desert we are used to. We turn around and start our trip back.
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| Country north of Page Springs and Oak Creek, with the clouds threatening. |
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It's been a pretty incredible week. When I add the time I got to spend with brother Kent (discussing everything from psychotherapy to our kids to future biking adventures), exploring places I had and had not been, having some "adventurous" (read "lost," "confused," "foolish" and/or "silly") moments, and enjoying Central Arizona, I realize what a very blessed man I am.
While the Two Brothers Big Fall Adventure comes to a close, we look forward to the Two Brothers Spectacular Spring Adventure. Who knows what that may bring? :)
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