BACK ROAD ADVENTURE

backroad THE LONG WAY From WILLCOX to SAFFORD Offers a History Lesson and a Nature Study

I CANNOT MAKE UP MY MIND. I cannot decide whether I prefer a trip rich in history or ecology. This can make planning excursions difficult unless you hit on a route like the one from Willcox to Safford. With a side-trip to the year-round stream flowing through Aravaipa Canyon, this backcountry tour offers about 100 miles of history and natural beauty.

I made the roughly two-hour freeway run from Phoenix to Willcox, getting off Interstate 10 at Fort Grant Road, Exit 340. I followed Fort Grant Road north as it jogged through 21 miles of farm country until the pavement yielded to gravel and dirt. The wide road leads through fields of corn and other vegetables up the middle of Sulphur Springs Valley, flanked by Mount Graham in the Pinaleno range to the east and the Galiuro Mountains to the west.

The road offers stirring views all along its route. I drove west at Ash Creek Road, then north when I met up again with Fort Grant Road, for 8 miles to the junction of State Route 266. To the east, this paved road heads past the state prison at Fort Grant and then toward U.S. Route 191.

While Fort Grant, now a state prison, is not a stop for visitors, it holds a place in history as an important staging ground for troops during the Apache Wars. Once located at the confluence of the San Pedro River and Aravaipa Creek, it was the site in 1871 of the Camp Grant Massacre in which a band of Tucson vigilantes killed more than 100 Aravaipa Apaches mostly women and children living under the protection of the fort. The vigilantes blamed the Aravaipas for several murders and raids near Tucson. Camp Grant was moved during the early 1890s to its present location, serving first as a military base, then as a juvenile detention center, and finally, as an adult prison, according to Walter Cox, historian for the Arizona State Prison at Fort Grant.

I turned left heading northwest on BonitaKlondyke Road, looking for the scene of a battle vividly described by Cox. After 6 miles, I turned north on the rutted jeep trail marked Road 672, which led past Battle Mountain, a low hill a few hundred yards off the road. Spooked by rumors that soldiers would imprison and hang them, Geronimo and a small band of warriors and their families had left the reservation.

They stole past Fort Thomas on the Gila River, slipped through the pass at the north end of the Pinalenos and then encountered two wagons on the road to Willcox. Geronimo and his men opened fire but the teamsters, a grizzled frontier survivor and an eager young adventurer, took shelter in their wagons and kept the warriors at bay with lively fire.

Geronimo wavered, needing the supplies but afraid the pursuing soldiers would overtake him if he lingered. The younger teamster, certain he was doomed, resolved to make a break and sell his life as dearly as possible. The older man reluctantly agreed to the attempt, and the two jumped on their horses and charged the 18 warriors. The warriors quickly killed them, but had barely finished plundering the wagons when the cavalry arrived.

Geronimo retreated to Battle Mountain, making a visible show of resistance, mostly to distract his enemies from the women and children who fled across the valley to the Galiuro Mountains. The warriors held their position until nightfall, when they made a noisy mock attack. Then they slipped away, and the soldiers waited through the night for another assault.

I climbed Battle Hill and sat awhile watching the great billows of clouds, looking out across the landscape where two men faced their brave and pointless deaths.

Returning to the easy Bonita-Klondyke Road, I headed toward Aravaipa Canyon,

savoring the sweeping views on the 17-mile jaunt to the split road where the right fork becomes simply Klondyke Road and heads northeast to the Gila Valley. Anxious to add ecology to history, I took the left fork and drove 20 miles northwest, passing through Klondyke, which consists of a general store and a couple of other buildings. I was headed for the east end of Aravaipa Canyon, the former home of the Aravaipa Apaches and a precious stretch of year-round water in the midst of the desert, including an 11-mile, canyonenclosed portion that flows through the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness.

The road remained excellent for the next 5 miles, but included six stream-crossings for which a high-clearance vehicle, preferably with four-wheel drive, is required.

The creek seemed a green miracle in the midst of the high desert through which I'd been driving. Gnarled white oaks, sensuous whitelimbed sycamores, rough-barked Arizona walnuts, thickets of willows, hulking cottonwoods and a wild profusion of sumacs, hackberries, buttonbushes, silk tassels, canyon grapes, golden currants and Apache plums made the streamside a riot of life. I encountered a nimble bighorn sheep nibbling bushes on a cliff face and a furtive fox darting across the road. A blue grosbeak halted my progress as I paused to admire its iridescent color.

A fence marks the beginning of the wilderness area and the beginning of public lands. Here, Aravaipa Creek turns and heads into the wilderness, its banks so overgrown and the canyon so narrow that hikers must constantly wade through the ankleto hip-deep water.

I located a deep spot where the stream swirled up against a canyon wall and submerged myself, washing off the miles and the dust, and soaking in the wonder of the place. As darkness gathered, so did the thunderheads. I hurried out of the flood-prone canyon. Huge drops pelted the canvas top of my jeep as lightning flashes turned the twisted trees into a Sleepy Hollow fantasy.

Once out of the canyon, I pulled to the side of the road and watched the spectacular light display, smelling the singed ozone, damp dirt and aromatic desert plants.

I sat a long while reviewing the day before continuing through the dark to Safford. But I still can't decide whether I prefer history trips to nature tours. AH 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. 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.

TRAVEL ADVISORY: The Bureau of Land Management issues no more than 50 permits a day for the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness. Call three to four months in advance for the busy spring and fall weekends. Weekday and summer and winter permit requests require less advance notice.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Bureau of Land Management, Safford Field Office, (928) 348-4400.