MILEPOSTS

Pan for Gold, Try Dog-sledding, Browse Indian Art, Mount Up Hollywood-style ICE FISHING HOT SPOTS LURE HARDY ANGLERS

Several lakes in northeastern Arizona freeze well enough during cold winters to provide safe ice fishing, says Mike Lopez of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Accessible by four-wheel drive are Luna Lake (Alpine) and River, Bunch, and Tunnel reservoirs (Greer). With a snowmobile, you also can try Big Lake, Crescent Lake, and Lee Valley Lake (south of Greer on State 273). On the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, try Sunrise Lake, A-1 Lake, and Hawley Lake.

"It's best to fish within two or three feet below the ice," advises Lopez. "That's where all the fish hang out, because that's where the oxygen is."

Worms, power bait, or small jiggling lures work well, he adds. Always check ice conditions before venturing out onto frozen lakes. You'll need an ice auger to cut a hole into the ice, or if you can find one you can use a hole left by a previous fisherman.

For ice conditions and licensing requirements, contact the Pinetop-Lakeside Arizona Game and Fish office, (520) 367-4281.

MOVIE TRAIL RIDES

When you mount up for one of the new "Hollywood-style" trail rides at Old Tucson, you'll think you've beamed into one of the many movies or television series shot at the Western film location and theme park. The 30-minute rides will take you through the same washes and over the same foothills you've seen in dozens of bigand small-screen epics. An optional evening ride heads straight into an Arizona sunset for a Western-style cookout (reservations required). Old Tucson Studios is open from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily. Admission is $14.95, adults; $9.45, ages four to 11. Trail rides cost an additional $10 and $8, respectively. For more information and to make reservations for the evening ride, call (520) 883-0100.

COOL BIRDING TOURS

The Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (SABO)

ARIZONA'S BEST GHOSTS

Ghosts in Arivaca, Yuma, Phoenix, and Tombstone are all represented in Adobe Angels Arizona Ghost Stories by author Antonio R. Garcez.

From the preface to the book: "Even before recorded history, a universal experience of ghosts established itself in cultures, languages, and folklore throughout the world. Accounts that have passed the test of time remind us that the living have genuinely seen and been in direct contact with ghosts or spirits.

"Making contact with a spirit or ghost is not all that difficult. It is an extremely common phenomenon; contact may not be just visual. It may also be associated with hearing, a feeling, smell, or touch. Garcez adds that ghosts offer an insight into another world in which time and space cease to exist.

Here's engaging reading and a bit of history as well.

Adobe Angels Arizona Ghost Stories, 192 pages, $16, is available at your favorite bookstore or directly from the publisher, Red Rabbit Press, P.O. Box 968, Truth or Consequences, NM 87901-0968; fax: (505) 894-4100.Richard G. Stahl

FUN IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH MAN'S BEST FRIEND

At the Sled Dog Inn, "Mush!" is the word for fun-in-thesnow adventures aboard a dogsled pulled by a team of man's furry friends.

The Sled Dog Inn, a bed and breakfast surrounded by ponies-

derosa pine and aspen forests

offers two opportunities for birders to observe the wide variety of sandhill cranes and predatory birds that make their winter homes in the Sulphur Springs Valley.

"Hawk Stalks" take you on an all-day driving tour down highways and back roads searching for eagles, falcons, and buteos. About 20 species of birds of prey can be found in the valley between November and March.

Half-day sandhill crane tours visit one of the largest crane roosts in Arizona, allowing birders to glimpse these magnificent birds, which summer as far away as Alaska and Siberia.

Call SABO for schedules and fees, (520) 432-1388.

about six miles south of Flagstaff, offers two-day to oneweek adventure packages that include lodging, breakfast, picnic lunches, and plenty of scenery. And you can mush your own dog team, or try skijoring ("ski driving"): You'll be strapped into cross-country skis, harnessed to a husky, and pulled about the countryside using sombody else's legs to do most of the work.

The Sled Dog Inn is open year-round, and nightly rates and summer and winter packages are available. Write or call the inn for more information and reservations, 10155 Mountainaire Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001; toll-free (800) 7540664 or (520) 525-6212.

ONE-STOP OUTDOOR RECREATION INFO SHOPPING

Need information on hiking? Camping? Wildflower viewing, bird-watching, rock-hounding, or sight-seeing. all on public lands in Arizona? You can get all of this and more at the Arizona Public Lands Information Center, "your location for one-stop outdoor information shopping," thanks to a joint effort between the Bureau of Land Management and the Public Lands Interpretive Association. The center, in downtown Phoenix, offers recreation guidance, sells recreation permits, hunting and fishing licenses, and federal recreation passports (Golden Age, Golden Eagle, Golden Access).

The center's staff will be happy to do online searches of public lands recreational sites, such as national and state parks. Guidebooks, books on mammals, plants, culture, history, and a variety of maps are available, as are educational and interpretive games and toys. The N. Central Ave., Suite 101, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Mail and phone orders are accepted. Call (602) 417-9300 for more information.

TAKE A MUSEUM WALK

Five museum-filled blocks along Tucson's Park Avenue showcase exhibits on everything from early-day Spanish explorers to contemporary photography, a veritable feast of culture. Set aside a day for this museum walk or — better yet — allow a couple of days to browse leisurely. Here's the itinerary: The Arizona Historical Society Museum, (520) 628-5774, at Second Street and Park, features life in Arizona from the time of the conquistadores to the early 1900s.

The other stops, all on the sprawling University of Arizona campus, include The Arizona State Museum, (520) 621-6302, located just inside the main gates at Park and University. It offers archaeological and anthropological displays in two buildings. Don't miss the "Paths of Life" exhibit, which explores the life of American Indians of the Southwest.

Spanish masters and modern American artists, such as Georgia O'Keeffe, are the attractions at the University of Arizona Museum of Art, (520) 621-4227, one block east of Park and Speedway at the Fine Arts Plaza. And, finally, the Center for Creative Photography, (520) 621-7968, across the plaza from the Museum of Art, contains more than 60,000 prints, including the world's premier collection of Ansel Adams photos. - Vera Marie Badertscher

EVENTS A Chocolate Affaire

February 5-7; Glendale Enjoy this upscale festival of chocolate and romance right in the heart of downtown Glendale. You'll have ample opportunities to sample gourmet cuisine and beverages while delighting in nationally recognized musical entertainment. Don't miss a horse-drawn carriage ride around the square or a tour of Cerreta's Candy Company. Parking and admission to the festival, entertainment, candy factory tours, and shuttle service are free. Charges for food/beverages and carriage rides vary. City of Glendale marketing office: (602) 930-2960.

Photo Workshops EXPERIENCE WINTER'S MAGIC AT WARM-WEATHER DESTINATIONS

Discover the winter mystique of some of Arizona's most popular attractions on Photo Workshops sponsored by the Friends of Arizona Highways. Join contributing photographer Gary Ladd, February 13-17, exploring the vibrant blue waters, remote canyons, and haunting reflections of Lake Powell. Or follow Jerry Sieve, another frequent contributor to the magazine, February 19-23, to Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly, where you'll learn how to capture the professional photographer's favored early morning "sweet light" as it silhouettes the ancient windswept mesas, narrow buttes, and distinctive rock formations.

For more information about these trips and a complete schedule of Photo Workshops, write the Friends of Arizona Highways, P.O. Box 6106, Phoenix, AZ 85005-6106; call toll free (888) 790-7042, or (602) 271-5904.

Here are Photo Workshop dates for February through April, 1999:

Gold Rush Days

February 12-14; Wickenburg This event celebrates the days when gold fever gripped the Wild West. Activities will include a mucking and drilling contest, gold panning, a senior rodeo, a carnival, Western dances, a huge arts and crafts show, a gem show, food booths, and evening melodrama performances. Don't miss the "fourth-largest parade in Arizona," which begins Saturday at 10 A.M., and a big barbecue. Call for admission prices and an events schedule. Information: (520) 684-5479.

Saturday, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sunday, 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. Informa-tion: (602) 837-3077.

Scottish Gathering and Highland Games

February 26-28; Mesa

"Our Celtic Roots" is the theme of the

The Great Fair

February 26-28;

Fountain Hills

Explore an incredible out-door array of more than 460 artists and craftspeople along the Avenue of the Fountains, which also boasts the world's tallest man-made fountain (560 feet). There also will be carni-val rides, three stages of musi-cal entertainment, a hot-air balloon race (Sunday at dawn), and food. Admission is free; limited free parking is avail-able. Fair hours are Friday and Caledonian Society's 33rd an-nual celebration featur-ing men's and women's ancient heavyweight competi-tions, including the weight toss for height and distance and hammer throw, as well as Scot-tish country dancing and Irish stepping competitions. Plus there'll be Scottish musical en-tertainment, including piping, drumming, and pipe bands. Special children's activities, games, and dozens of booths featuring Scottish goods and food will round out the attrac-tions. Admission prices vary, as do event starting times and lo-cations. Information: (602) 431-0095.

Southwest Indian Art Fair

February 27-28; Tucson The Arizona State Museum hosts this fifth-annual event, this year showcasing 75 invit-ed artists and featuring both traditional and contemporary styles of Indian art, including jewelry, pottery, sculpture, and kachina dolls. Meet prominent American Indian artists, attend talks and demonstrations, and enjoy traditional and contem-porary Indian music. Admis-sion to the show and sale is $2. Information: (520) 621-6302.