BACK ROAD ADVENTURE

Make Your Escape to Lush Pine Country at West Peak in the Pinaleno Mountains

Six cups of coffee and still nothing. The fog in front of your eyes won't lift. The only thoughts you can manage are decidedly nonproductive. They involve such issues as the unreachable itch in the center of your back, the fat content of that buttered croissant you just inhaled, the shocking scarcity of money in your pocket, and, worst of all, that passel of vacationing relatives on their way into town to camp out in the next room. Situation red. The same color as the lipstick that sticks to your Aunt Stella's front teeth. You need a mountain range all to yourself, a sky island amid the pines, high enough for dreams and lonesome enough to believe they're true. So off you go.

From the small eastern Arizona town of Safford, drive west on Thatcher Boulevard (U.S. Route 70) through the settlement of Thatcher and the next-door community of Pima. After crossing the bridge just outside Pima, go left (west) on Tripp Canyon Road. At the first intersection, about a quarter-mile down, turn left. After another short drive, see the sign for a righthand turn toward Tripp Canyon in the Pinaleno Mountains known to most Arizonans as the Grahams on Forest Service Road 286. The dirt way is nicely maintained in this stretch, although the tight ruts can get the dash-board bouncing. In places, the road ahead looks almost white under the sun as it snakes up, over, and around the hills, disappearing and returning and disappearing again on its way up the mountains. But in the rearview, it's obscured by swirling billows of dust that envelop you if you stop. The solution, of course, is to keep going.

The first thing you notice is that you're not quite alone this fine morning. Look closely. The road comes alive with lizards, frightened by the rumble of the vehicle and running like mad toward the six-inch-high dirt berms flanking your doors. The creatures move in jerks and shivers, often pausing in the wheel ruts until they very nearly become road jerky.

Within 15 miles, the scrub and creosote desert gives way to higher, softer hills. But the road toughens, too, becoming rocky and marked by corkscrew turns without guardrails.

Settlers in the Gila Valley used to come into the Pinalenos in the spring to plant vegetables, to hunt, fish in the crystal-clear creeks, and harvest timber for construction. Saw-mills once dotted the range, and some used water flumes, engineering marvels that sent the cut wood sailing down almost to Pima. But these days the sawmills are gone, and if it's a weekday, you're not likely to see a soul.

The rocks in the road become bigger as you climb. They have tumbled from the cliffs that press in on your doors. At

(LEFT) While the fire tower on West Peak is closed to the public, the summit provides views worth the difficulty of the journey.

(RIGHT) Viewed looking southwest toward the Galiuro Mountains, the setting sun silhouettes a ponderosa pine atop West Peak.

one tight turn, a boulder smack in the middle of the road stops you. To its right is a deadly drop-off and to the left, a sheer rock outcropping leaves no room to maneuver. You stop to roll the boulder off the mountainside, and a little while later you do the same with a pine tree that has snapped at its base. It's easy work. The sweat that runs down your back feels like a pleasant rain. With it comes the drenching feeling that you have made the right choice, that you really are accomplishing a getaway. There are other signs, too, both unmistakable and wonderful. The ground is decorated with cow pies, the priceless perfume of the wilderness, and a 15 mph speedlimit sign is perforated with bullet holes the maverick artwork of the back roads.

But 15 mph is too fast in some places, especially approaching the 66-year-old firelookout tower on West Peak, the high point of the west end of the Pinalenos. Beginning at about the 20-mile mark, the ruts and the rocks make the going painfully slow. By then you are crawling through the shadows of the pine trees that stand to each side of you like soldiers in review. Their abundant needles blanket the flat portions of the road, crunching under the tires as the engine works to pull you up the steep hills that mark the final ascent.

You park and walk the final length, keeping your eyes fixed on the trees. In the back of your mind, you remember that the Pinalenos are believed to hold more black bears than any other area in the West. You make a deal with fate: Give me one close-up glimpse of a drooling, pink-tongued, mouth-breathing beast lumbering through the shrubbery, and I'll never park by a fire hydrant again.

But nothing gives. On this day, a loud wind besieges the 8,700-foot peak, some 27 miles from Pima. You make your way to a window in the brush facing west across the green vastness of Aravaipa Canyon, and up again to the horizon framed by the Galiuro Mountains, so far off. The great distance is more than a physical fact. It brings an emotional reckoning, too, a sense of quiet inside, where the noise is always loudest. After a time, even the howl of the wind vanishes, becoming part of the mountain, and, to a certain extent, so do you.

You drive home feeling renewed, rebuilt. She's there at the door to greet you. "Aunt Stella," you say, "as I live and breathe. It's been too darn long." She smiles. The awful sight turns your stomach to piano wire. Then you recall the scent of the pines and the greatness of a day's mountain solitude, and smile back.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Eastern portions of Forest Service Road 286 are easily traversed in an ordinary passenger car. The road gets rough in the higher elevations, requiring at least a high-clearance vehicle and possibly four-wheel drive, depending on the severity of the most recent rain.

The fire-lookout tower is off-limits to the public.

For more information, contact the Coronado National Forest's Safford Ranger District office in Safford, 504 Fifth Ave., Third Floor, 85548-0709; (520) 428-4150.

Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, always be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape. Carry plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in the story may vary by vehicle.