BACK ROAD ADVENTURE

back road adventure Sierra Prieta Panorama A copper-country road shows Skull Valley's unexpected charm

THE MORNING PROMISED rain and never delivered, but we didn't complain. We still had the rich scent of it and bulging clouds to shelter us as we rolled through the mountains and shadowy forests west of Prescott on Copper Basin Road. back to Prescott and on to a scenic overlook in the Sierra Prieta range.

IT makes for an easy journey out of town, not too remote, not too rugged. We followed it to a picturesque railroad-and-ranching town, The old cemetery we visited stands out just as much as the scenery. I've probably passed it 15 times, never stopping to appreciate its cowboy flavor or its famous inhabitants. I'm glad I did stop on this trip.

My son, Patrick, and I hopped into Fred Veil's Jeep outside the Hotel St. Michael in downtown Prescott. Fred drove us south on Montezuma Street, and after 1 mile turned right onto Copper Basin, also known as Yavapai County Road 64, going west. Initially paved, the road becomes dirt after 3.1 miles.

Fred, a 60-something-year-old lawyer with an adventurous streak, proves the perfect guide on a route he's explored before. The road meanders over verdant hills covered with piñon pines, juniper and oak trees as it drops off the Sierra Prieta, never quite deciding whether to go due west or straight south or somewhere in between.

The Sierra Prieta comes with an interesting back story. As retired Forest Service employee and historian Jay Eby explains, the name originated with explorer Amiel Weeks Whipple, who

Passed through what is now Arizona in 1853 and spied the range from a distance. The name he gave them matched exactly what he saw, Sierra Prieta—“murky mountains.” We wound through what used to be rich copper-mining country, although visual evidence of that enterpriseis now slim. But on a distant hill, we spot two roughhewn shacks that could have belonged to early 20thcentury placer miners.

Except for a wash or two, which might deepen after a rain, the road can be traveled by most passenger vehicles. Those seeking a bigger challenge can turn left, at 9.2 miles, onto Forest Service Road 9402E, which leads to the tiny town of Wilhoit on a road beset by multiple washouts. We declined that route and continued on Copper Basin Road.

After 17.3 miles, the dirt road ended and we came to pavement in Skull Valley. According to the best story we have, the town earned its name when the first white men arrived in 1864 and found piles of bleached skulls littering the ground, the residue of a battle between Indian tribes.

I love that name—Skull Valley. It gets to the point. But 10-year-old Patrick expected a dark and foreboding place. “It doesn't look like Skull Valley,” he complained. He's right; the name misleads. Few places are more picturesque than this tiny community, cradled by wonderfully green hills, split by railroad tracks and anchored by an old-fashioned mercantile that still sells locally raised beef, lamb, pork and eggs. The Skull Valley General more picturesque than this tiny community, cradled by wonderfully green hills, split by railroad tracks and anchored by an old-fashioned mercantile that still sells locally raised beef, lamb, pork and eggs. The Skull Valley General Store has become a tourist attraction. Wanderers from around the world stop to inspect the potbellied stove and sign the guest book that clerk Lilly Bergen keeps by the register.

“People come in and say they were here 30 years ago, or 50 years ago,” said Bergen. “You know what I think they like best? The creaking wood floor.” TRAIN STOPPED A-ROLLIN' Inside the red and white walls of the former Skull Valley Train Depot (below), the Skull Valley Museum now exhibits pictures and appliances used before the town obtained electricity in the 1940s. The sparse population relied on other ways to supply power, such as an old wooden windmill (above) standing along the road just west of Prescott.

back road adventure RESTORE AND REMEMBER

Representing Prescott's pioneer ranchers, the re-created Ranch House at Sharlot Hall Museum stands alongside a replica of an 1867 schoolhouse, the first public school in the Territory. Fort Misery, Arizona's oldest wooden structure, also sits nearby on the museum grounds.

The store, built in 1916, is a babe compared with the railroad, which came through Skull Valley in 1894, and especially the post office. The original one opened in 1869, making it one of the Arizona Territory's early post offices.

The town cemetery offers the same pioneer-days flavor. Its oldest grave holds Alfred Shupp, an adventurer and gold-hunter who accompanied the famous Walker party on its pioneering expedition through the area in 1863. Men like Shupp, who died in 1899, played a key role in opening central Arizona to Anglo settlement.

travel tips

Vehicle Requirements: Passenger car. Warning: Back-road travel can be hazardous. Be aware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone know where you're going and when you plan to return. Additional Information: Prescott National Forest, (928) 443-8000; www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott. Prescott Chamber of Commerce, (928) 445-2000 or toll-free (800) 266-7534; www.prescott.org.

Not far from his grave lie the remains of George Phippen, another pioneer of sorts. The paintings and sculptures created by this first president of the Cowboy Artists of America, who died in 1966, inspired numerous followers, and led to the creation of The Phippen Museum outside Prescott.

His headstone-a bronze saddle-fits this beautifully tended cemetery's cowboy theme. Another headstone is carved with the saying, "A cowboy forever," and someone has decorated a third grave with a clay cowboy boot overflowing with flowers.

The cemetery lies off Iron Springs Road, a two-lane highway that loops back to Prescott from Skull Valley. We followed it for 17 miles back into Prescott. With daylight left to burn and a hankering for a long view, we headed back out Gurley Street toward Thumb Butte with our hearts set on last light at the locally famed Copper Basin Overlook.

We turned up a lot of rocks and dust driving up to the overlook, but what a payoff. At 6,910 feet, the peak offers a spectacular view to the west, including the Copper Basin Road, unfolding in tan hues below us, Peeples Valley to the left, and on the right, Skull Valley, which appears as a distant streak of rich greenery beneath dark mountains.

Throughout the day, small storms brought rain to others within our eyesight, but not to us. As we retraced our steps to Prescott, the sun broke through, a nice welcome back for three back-country adventurers. All