Mileage:  60,937 Cottonwood Campground Apache National Forest Glenwood, New Mexico

The wind died down sometime during the night.  We were at 4,000 feet in elevation and it was 48 degrees this morning when we got up.  The warmth from the sun made it crisp and pleasant to be outside.

We continued on Route 60 through Arizona. 

We stopped at this rest area.  There is a shrine for the Apache people.  We are entering Apache Tribal land.  On the reservation, you cannot hike, camp, hunt, or fish without a permit from the Apache Tribal Headquarters.

Claudia said “Go see Salt River Canyon.”  I’m going to tell you that if Claudia tells you to go…you should listen.  This was a stunning ride.  The road was gently rolling, there were switchbacks and wide sweeping turns.  We kept pulling over at each scenic overlook so that we could see the river, the rapids, and the canyon from another perspective.  It was just so pretty.  As usual, we took lots of pictures.  This evening when we were sorting pictures for the blog, we were kind of disappointed…the pictures don’t even look like what we saw!  Some people call this the “Mini Grand Canyon.”  There is nothing very mini about it.  It was so nice to be able to drive all the way down to the river and then ascend the mountains again. 

There was this memorial along the way.  I love that it says: “Hike mountains, Ride trails, Camp long, Chase adventure.”

We traveled on through Carrizo.  We passed the Bluebird Mine.  This area is “the copper center of the world.”  We saw the copper mine and a copper refining plant.  There were tractor trailers loads of copper being hauled out of town. 

We took 73E across the White Mountain and into the town of Whiteriver.  We parked across from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  The town is surrounded by all of this incredibly beautiful land.  The town itself is very impoverished.  The houses were small and poor.  There was so much trash.  I watched teenaged kids toss their trash onto the ground.  I don’t understand the whole littering thing.  This is their home, their place, their land…why the trash everywhere???  It made me very sad.

The trees began to change.  These tall pines reminded me of some places in North Carolina.

As we continued our ride, we climbed higher in elevation, over 10,000 feet.  We began to notice patches of snow in the shadows. 

Then there was even more snow and even a ski resort.

All day long we had been seeing warning signs.

I had been scouring the mountainsides looking for animals.  We saw a herd of about 40 elk.

We also passed some horses grazing and a cattle ranch or two.  We saw burros and yaks on a farm.  I also saw 5 zebras in a field (YES, zebras!!!).  I wish that I had thought to take a picture.  I was so surprised, that by the time I realized what I was seeing, we had passed.

We drove on the Coronado Scenic Trail Route 180.  It was late in the afternoon and it was time to find a camping spot.  The first campground looked so nice that we turned around to go back to it.  It was called Luna Lake Recreation Area.  We traveled the dirt road back to the campsites and the gate was locked.  The campground was closed. I had neglected to read the details online…open from May-October…oops!!! This campground sat at 8,000 feet and the forecast is for snow there tomorrow, so it was probably okay that we couldn’t stay there. 

The next campground was closed because of the flooding of the San Francisco River about a month ago.

The next campground was 6 miles off the highway on a dirt road.  The sign at the beginning said no trucks greater than 38 feet permitted…

The next campground, Cottonwood Campground, was only for tents…we decided to go in and look around and see if we could get in.  There was no one else there and there was a site perfect for us to pull through.  We are at 5,800 feet.  Maybe the snow won’t get us here!

We made our dinner and sat by a fire.  It felt strange to sit in the woods after being in the desert for the past 2 months!