TAKING THE OFF-RAMP

taking the off-ramp Rock and Ride

RIDING AND WHEELING through the vast red sandstone landscape of Navajoland attracts adventure-seekers to this ancient land filled with unique rock formations. The rugged terrain provides thrills for hot-doggin' hikers and bikers. Here, a lone cyclist pedals across a natural sandstone arch near Many Farms on the Navajo Indian Reservation. In the past, the region's sandstone provided traditional Navajos with materials for a different type of activity. Navajos once used the colored sand as an element in their religious and healing ceremonies. At one time created strictly by medicine men, the art drawn on Navajo hogans' dirt floors was known as sandpainting. While the medicine men painted with the earth, they chanted for holy people to enter the image to heal the patient-just the sort of ritual that could come in handy for today's daredevils.

Jay-Six Welcomed JFK

THE JAY-SIX RANCH near Benson in southeast Arizona hosted some very interesting guests. Onetime owner Jack Spieden and his wife, Caroline, welcomed celebrities like author Thornton Wilder and Sen. Barry Goldwater, as well as another famous politician, John F. Kennedy (right). During a break from college in 1936, JFK and his older brother, Joe, spent the summer at the couple's ranch, building an adobe house that served as a ranch office. Spieden often referred to that building as "the house that Jack built."

TRIMBLE'S TALL TALES

ARIZONA'S FIRST COWBOY movie star was actually a cowgirl. Dorothy Fay Southworth, a native of Prescott, went off to Hollywood in the 1930s and soon became a leading lady in Westerns. After becoming a movie star, she married her leading man, Tex Ritter, in Prescott on June 14, 1941. Their son, John Ritter, was a popular television actor who died in 2003.

Caught in the Act

YOU CAN'T GET AWAY with anything anymore. Consider the rock squirrel in the Tonto National Forest just doing his job-digging. Consider the families of ringtails (left) and coatimundis, the happy chatterers related to raccoons. They were just doing some traveling in the Saguaro National Park, and, without so much as a "Quiet on the set," hidden cameras clicked. Don Swann, biological technician with Saguaro National Park, east and west of Tucson, explains the camera work as a "nonobtrusive way of getting really solid data." Cameras located in remote areas of this and other parks are tripped by animals breaking an infrared beam of light. The photographs provide an inventory of the resident and traveling mammals. Interesting finds include the prevalence of mountain lions in the park and the photographic sighting of the elusive Mexican opossum. Recently, another traveler also found his puss on camera. A jaguar tripped a motion-sensitive camera set up south of Tucson. The four-legged star wearing spots moved on, never hearing the applause of those who saw the film.

Please Your Palate in Prescott

PRESCOTT COLLEGE'S Crossroads Cafe serves from-scratch, locally grown organic food with a twist: A designated staff forager gathers unusual greens to complement the cuisine. Students grow some of the produce at the college's experimental sustainable-agriculture facility, Wolfberry Farm, located in Chino Valley, 20 miles north of Prescott. This year's crop includes cucurbits-squashes and melons adapted to the dry, windy climate of the region. The cafe, which spreads the word to "think globally and eat

Locally," is decorated with recycled brick from Tubman's, the tiny cafe formerly located on its site, and small colored-glass medicine bottles recovered in excavation of the historic Sisters of Mercy Hospital. True to its mission of providing experiential education in eco-cuisine, the cafe employs 25 Prescott College students as it serves healthy and affordable food to the college and surrounding community. Information: (928) 3501400; www.prescott.edu/ cafe/index.html.

off-ramp Santa Cruz County Is for the Birds

THE INFERENCE THAT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY has gone to the birds is not a criticism; it's a compliment. Birds are a major factor in a tourism campaign to draw visitors to the state's smallest county. The area was already a hot spot for birders who like live action, and now bird sculptures have been added to the mix. Ten avian artworks have been spread across the county at resorts, offices and parks as beacons that direct visitors to places of interest. The sculptures vary in species from roadrunner to owl, and in dimension from a life-sized dove to a hawk attached to a 15-foot steel beam. Materials used in the sculptures include scrap-metal, clay, bronze, tin and ceramics. David Voisard's The Birdwatcher (above) is a whimsical work crafted from rusted car parts purchased at junkyards. It stands at the Amado Territorial Inn. On the other end of the spectrum looms Marlene Knutson's The Magnificent Turkey Vulture, a delicate bronze head mounted onto a body covered with copper feathers. It's in the lobby of Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico. A sign giving directions to the next bird accompanies each sculpture, and maps of the "trail of the birds" are available at visitors centers and resorts throughout the county. Bird sculpture fans intent on seeing all 10 works can make the trek in about three hours if they don't dawdle-but only for the time being because the tourism council plans to add another five birds within the next two years. Information: Tubac-Santa Cruz Visitor Center, (520) 398-0007; www.toursantacruz.com.

Gentleman Gambler

DON'T DRIVE STATE ROUTE 75 east of Safford without stopping at the historical marker at Milepost 392. It honors Felix B. Knox, who died near there in 1882. Accompanied by his wife, a hired driver and the driver's wife, mother and child, Knox was headed from New Mexico to Clifton, with a stop in between at York Ranch. He was warned of Apaches ahead, but insisted on continuing. A short distance west of the ranch the Indians opened fire. Knox grabbed his rifle and told his driver to turn the wagon around and flee. Knox's intention was to hold off the renegades and save his family, but he was shot in the head. Out of respect for his valor, the Apaches did not mutilate his body. According to one account, his body was found neatly laid out, hands folded on his chest, with a silk handkerchief draped over his face and held down by four carefully placed pebbles. Knox's profession: cattleman and gambler.