Back Road Adventure

BELOW Vibrant fuschia hedgehog cactus blossoms command attention amid a profusion of Sonoran Desert flora, including yellow brittlebushes and prickly pear, cholla and saguaro cacti. JERRY SIEVE [OPPOSITE PAGE] Tonto National Monument features remnants of the ancient Salado culture in cliff dwellings dating as far back as the 13th century. RICHARD MAACK A year later. Apache laborers helped build the road, which was dubbed the Apache Trail. Beginning at the unmarked Apache Gap, at mile 4.6, and for the next 5 miles this stretch of the Goldfield Mountains was referred to as the “Little Alps.” President Roosevelt said, “The Apache Trail combines the grandeur of the Alps, the glory of the Rockies and the magnificence of the Grand Canyon, and then adds an indefinable something that none of the others has. To me it is the most awe-inspiring and most sublimely beautiful panorama nature has ever created.” The Four Peaks to the northeast, at an elevation of 7,657 feet, are the source of a vivid purple precious stone called Four Peaks amethyst. Drivers along Apache Trail will first encounter a spirit-lifting view of water at Canyon Lake Vista at mile 6.6. Retained by the completion of the Mormon Flat Dam in 1926, Canyon Lake has a surface area of 950 acres and attracts more than 250,000 visitors annually. The wagon trip from Mesa to the dam site took three days. Tortilla Flat was the first overnight stop, 11.3 miles on the odometer. (Fish Creek was the second.) Tortilla Flat today is a friendly place. Although you won't need to stay the night, take the time to enjoy a snack on the saddle stools in the restaurant and ask about the origin of the name. The paved road ends at 16.7 miles, and the Fish Creek Hill Scenic Vista, uphill 2 more miles, is where you can reflect on the challenges faced by teamsters who moved freight along this road. As a rule of thumb. one horse or mule can pull 1 ton of freight. While eightand 12-mule teams were common, 20-horse teams were also used on the Apache Trail. Mules were preferred to horses because of their stamina and their willingness to step over the long chains used to connect them to the freight wagon and water wagon. This ease with the chains was critical on Fish Creek Hill. With its tight turns and steep grade, the middle teams would have to step over the 80-foot chain and walk sideways until the road straightened. If there's a heaven for turkey vultures, it's in the thermals above Fish Creek. There is no more graceful bird in flight.

At mile 24.5, drivers will first glimpse Apache Lake, which measures 17 miles long and was created by the completion of Horse Mesa Dam in 1927. The road follows the gorge, rising and falling with the contours of the land, sometimes as close as 15 feet from the lake's surface.

The Theodore Roosevelt Dam looms into view at mile 36.5. The masonry face of the original dam was covered with concrete and raised 77 feet in 1996 to accommodate a revised calculation of a "probable maximum flood." A bridge had to be built to divert traffic off the dam. Completed in 1990, the Roosevelt Lake Bridge is a thing of beauty, and ranks as the longest twolane, single-span, steel-arch bridge in North America.

This classic Arizona road trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Tonto National Monument, 4 miles southeast of Roosevelt Dam on State Route 188, which leads to Miami and Globe. The visitors center displays cultural artifacts of the ancient agrarian Salado Indian culture that occupied these pueblos. To reach the lower ruins requires a moderately strenuous half-mile uphill hike. The solitude and natural beauty found there proves worth the effort.

There are two ways back to the Phoenix area: Drive south on 188 to U.S. 60, then west through Superior and back to Apache Junction, about 85 miles. The faster route is longer: Head north across Roosevelt Dam on 188 up to the Beeline Highway (State Route 87), then south on 87 back to Mesa in less than two hours.

Anyone looking for the "real" Arizona can always find it on the Apache Trail. VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS: Passenger car. TRAVEL ADVISORY: The Apache Trail is well traveled, but the road is narrow and much of it unpaved.

Use extra care, particularly at Fish Creek Hill, where it narrows to oneway and descends 1,000 feet along a 15 to 17 percent grade. Turnouts accommodate oncoming traffic.

WARNING: Back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape. Carry plenty of water, and let someone know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in the story may vary by vehicle.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Tonto National Forest, Mesa Ranger District, (480) 610-3300; Tonto Basin District (928) 467-3200, www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto.

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by Tom Kuhn | photographs by David H. Smith

Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch Offers Birds a Five-Star Rest

[BELOW] Fulfilling the vision of being a premiere education and recreation resource, the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert welcomes visitors of all ages, such as this budding angler. [BOTTOM] Bulrushes along the lake shore provide habitat for bass, sunfish, bluegills, tilapias and crappie that spawn in the shallows.

PART OF THE great Pacific Flyway for migratory waterfowl passes right over Arizona's deserts, but not all the wild ducks, geese and shorebirds fly past. Many now linger in metropolitan areas like Phoenix and Tucson, attracted by park ponds and golf courses and the prospect of regular handouts. Those birds that discover the five-star habitat settle in, soon become citified and approachable. Their gaudy plumage makes them favorites with urban bird-watchers. The water birds find a particularly comfy habitat in the town of Gilbert, a metropolitan Phoenix bedroom suburb, where treated wastewater creates artificial wetlands and ponds designed especially for waterfowl and bird-watchers. At the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, located near Guadalupe and Greenfield roads, an $8.5-million, 66,000-square-foot library is well stocked with bird books. The entire back of the library-built by the town and operated by the Maricopa County Library District is a glass observatory looking onto the main "lake." "It's a busy library," said county library spokesman James McGovern. Completed along with the preserve in 1999, the library circulates about a million items a year. "We work together [with the town] on adult programs, and also do some collection in support of the preserve." Bird-watching couldn't be easier, or more comfortable. On those days when the weather is fit only for waterfowl, you can scan the preserve from a rocker in the library. Plenty of parking is available in the library lot. Wildlife and people coexist placidly at the Water Ranch. Occasionally, parts of the preserve are closed for nesting. Otherwise, you're free to walk around and watch birds. Or go fishing. The Arizona Game and Fish Department stocks some of the preserve's ponds with largemouth bass, channel catfish, crappie and sunfish. Carplike white amur forage the lake bottom to keep the lake free of aquatic weeds. Rainbow trout are stocked during the winter months. "My biggest fish was a 6-pound cat, caught right here, on shrimp," said registered nurse Anthony T. Belcher of Gilbert, while bottom fishing near the library. Belcher often heads for the preserve after a night shift in a hospital emergency room. The main pond of the 110-acre Water Ranch is lined, but seven other holding ponds aren't, to allow effluent to seep into the ground table. The town pumps most of its water from wells. Water Ranch is the largest and most developed of two riparian preserves created with Gilbert effluent. The 72-acre Riparian Preserve at Neely Ranch, located at Guadalupe and Cooper roads, opened in 1990. Recharging the groundwater is the principle function of the preserves, Water Ranch preserve director Scott Anderson said. Instead of using injection wells, they're doing it in a way that's a bit more natural, he said. "The wastewater is put in those basins and allowed to percolate into the ground, and also creates a bird habitat. "The water is treated to tertiary quality," Anderson explained, "which means it's almost potable water. We add chlorine when it's put into the ponds; it's pretty clean." Anderson, formerly the town's planning director, said the preserve immediately began attracting waterfowl. "The population grows every year," he reported. Not surprising. Although park officials discourage feeding wildlife, visitors toss chicken feed to the waterfowl. And within the town's limits, the birds are safe from hunters-almost. "One day we saw a coyote," said former Gilbert maintenance worker Edward Chappel. A children's park just across the main pond from the library includes picnic ramadas, covered play areas and grassy knolls. "There's a lot for them to do," said Kathleen Rivera, whose family moved to Gilbert from Long Island,