Route 66, Up Sitgreaves Pass

Today is the day I try to catch up on the finish of the Kingman Route 66 ride. We started out in Kingman, AZ on this leg, and worked our way west on the old part of Rt 66 up toward the old gold and siver mining town of Oatman, Az. First, however, there is the advent of a little hill called Sitgreaves Pass to take up a bit of our energy. The scenery on this part of old 66 is far different from the route north of Kingman, definitely much more mountainous, both in terrain as well as wildlife.

The area is not only much more rugged, but also much more colorful as well. The first several miles that we traveled on this route were fresh chip-seal, still loose and challenging to ride on. This part of the ride would have been better to do with mountain bikes. This was very recently done however, but what was even worse was that they had gone ahead of the chip seal operation and sealed all the cracks first with tar and produced a very rough surface for us. On backsides that were still a bit tender from the long ride to Seligman the day before, the jarring from the hardened tar fillings definitely were noticed. After a little less than five miles however, this was gone, and the old highway was still in good shape as we started up the grade. The monolith above was prominent from a considerable distance, and the overcast skies just made the desert even more beautiful as we worked our way up.

We soon found ourselves climbing vigorously as we tackled the beginnings of the long grade up to the summit. Time constraints would limit us to a round trip to the summit today because my riding companion had to start back by early afternoon in order to return to work the next day. About halfway up the hill, and about the part where the REAL climbing was about to commence, there stood a relic from the past ..... now turned gift shop, and "sorta-museum".....

Ran by a character by the name of George, who was as interesting ....... and as unusual as the place iteself. They offered free water, and welcome outhouses (very clean by the way), and we ended up spending at least a half hour there talking and looking at all the interesting things he had on display inside and out. Very worthwhile stop for anyone going up that way, by bike, or car. While we were looking around the outside we were paid a visit by one of the "locals"......

He was not only a character with a personality all his own, but a bit of a mooch as well. Certainly very photogenic however. From here, it was going to take a bit longer to get to the top however as the road became much steeper, narrower, and much more wild as we progressed up. Lydia led the way as we left the gift shop/ gas station.

There was still another 5 miles to go before we could reach the summit. The weather turned out to be absolutely a perfect day for riding after the morning clouds burned off. The wind was almost non existant, and the scenery spectacular. As we were climbing we kept hearing these strange noises coming from up ahead, and finally found what was making them.......

The Jack was not only protecting his Jenny, but also the rest of his "family as well, Unfortunately, the little one was pretty quick to follow on his mom's heels and never really presented me with a good shot, this was about the only one I got with him in it.

He was such a cute little tyke, but our presence made both Mom and Dad somewhat nervous. These burros are wild creatures, relatives of the many domesticated burros the prospectors used to carry their tools and equipment up to the mines in the 1800's. When the mines played out after a few years, the miners left, and just left the burros behind. They flourished in the hills and now are a fairly common sight.





After our photo session with some of the local "wildlife" of unusual origins, we made a turn in the road, and came upon a sight not viewed by many.

An entire flock of Desert Bighorns. They are actually fairly common to this area, but are seldom seen because they are normally quite wary. This was a long telephoto shot as we could get no closer and they were across the canyon from us. I was wishing for a bit longer tele capacity on my camera about then however.

We found that soon they were bored with us and moved on around the corner of the canyon they were grazing on, and out of sight. We climbed on up to another vantage point but were unable to get another picture of them. I did, however get a great picture of some of the better scenery of our ride.

The further up we went, the more spectacular the scenery became, and the more twisty and steep the road became.

Certainly a bit of a challenge for a morning's ride. We did, however, prove ourselves up to the challenge .......

And....soon found ourselves at the summit....

Going back down was quick, fun, and uneventful. We were back at Kingman in a short time, and unfortunately, the weekend had to come to a close as we had to head our separate ways to return to our homes and jobs. Much fun, and such an enjoyable time exploring a very historical area of our country. We both vowed to continue this at a later date.