TAKING THE OFF-RAMP

Where Has All the Frogfruit Gone?

The Phaon crescent butterfly (Phyciodes phaon) wants to know. According to the Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association, the Phaon crescent now rarely makes an appearance in southern Arizona because its larval food plant, frogfruit (Lippia nodiflora or Phyla nodiflora), a cold-hardy ground cover native to Pima County, has all but disappeared.

A Carefree Tour of the World's Tiniest Museum

Take the length and width of a king-size bed, add 9 feet to the bottom and you've got the approximate dimensions of the World's Smallest Museum, which stands proudly at 1111 West Highway 60 in Superior, 65 miles east of Phoenix. Housed in 10 glass-enclosed

The Voice of Hopiland

Travelers out on the long stretches of highway in northern Arizona can now tune their radio dial to the voice of Hopiland. Station KUYI, 88.1 FM, sends a 69,000-watt signal across the Hopi Mesas to Flagstaff, Winslow, Holbrook, Ganado and, "on a really good day," as far as Albuquerque, says General Manager Loris Taylor. The call letters-KUYI-spell the Hopi word meaning "water." And when the station debuted in December of 2000, a village crier delivered the news in the Hopi language. Broadcasting 24 hours a day, KUYI offers public affairs programs, storytelling and a community calendar, along with "National Native News" and "Native America Calling." Its musical programming comprises an display cases and including such items as a Barry Goldwater doll with dashboard suction cups and the last photograph ever taken of Geronimo, the artifacts in this bite-size museum more than make up for what it lacks in square footage. There are Colt pistols, gasand coal-powered irons, autographed photos of Buckwheat from The Little Rascals, a memorial to Wyatt Earp's second wife and a photo of Oprah Winfrey that co-curator Jake Reaney snapped in 1974 when he worked with the as-yetundiscovered star in Nashville. Reaney and co-conspirator Dan Wight, a local surveyorturned-restaurateur, were drinking what Reaney describes as "adult beverages" one evening when the minuscule idea came to them. They gathered 1,800 beer cans (to make the roof), pooled their collections (between the two of them, they had the world's largest piece of chalk and the world's largest Apache tear, a softball-size piece of an obsidian that can be found only near Superior) and hatched plans for the unusual fountains that Wight later built out of old wheelbarrows, washtubs and miner's buckets, all displayed on Memory Lane outside the museum. "We average about 6,000 people per month, and even though admission is free, we get enough donations to pay the $30 monthly electric bill," Reaney says. Information: (520) 689-5857 or www.worldssmallestmuseum.com.

Eclectic mix of everything from Santana to B.B. King, reggae and oldies, drumming and songs by Hopi third-graders. The Hopi people, explains Taylor, thought it was time to have a station to connect the various communities of the three mesas and share Hopi language and culture. Supported by the Hopi Foundation and several other organizations, KUYI went on the air after five years of planning to meet federal regulations as a public station and locating suitable sites for the transmitter tower and the station itself. The tower stands on Antelope Mesa in the heart of the Hopi Nation, and the headquarters building is at Keams Canyon on First Mesa. Volunteer DJs-students and community members-staff the station while receiving on-the-job training as broadcasters and producers. Information: (928) 738-5505 or www.KUYI.net.

Scalawags Unite

Back in the 1890s, members of the Coconino Cycling Club harassed the citizens of Flagstaff by riding on the town's new wood-plank sidewalks. These days the group has been reincarnated as a milder-mannered, loose-knit assemblage of cyclists calling themselves the Scalawags. Nearly every weekend, weather permitting, they're out on mountain bike tours or road rides in northern Arizona. The public is welcome to join in. Rides vary in distance and degree of difficulty, usually following scenic and historic routes like old Route 66, the road to Walnut Canyon or forest trails around Sedona and Oak Creek. Many include litter pickup and stops at local eateries. For a current schedule of Scalawag rides, call (928) 714-0504.

Beat the Crowds at Lyman Lake State Park

Lyman Lake State Park, a multipurpose playground near St. Johns, provides a summertime beach that's rarely crowded. A likable camping spot nestled among rolling hills at 6,000 feet elevation, the park overlooks a 1,200-acre lake. Visitors hit volleyballs, pitch horseshoes, swim and hike. Park officials guide tours along the “ultimate petroglyph trail” and offer pontoon rides to tour Rattlesnake Point Pueblo Ruin. Fishermen catch walleye, channel catfish and largemouth bass in a reserved, no-wake area. There's even a tournament-grade slalom course for water-skiers and no restriction on boat or motor size. Campers opt for comfort with ramadas and electrical and water hookups (a few even have direct sewer lines), or pitch their tents on the primitive beach. Either way, there are rest rooms and showers. Forget a few things? Don't worry. Pick it up at the camp store. The park even hosts its own July 4 fireworks display. One of the leastcrowded state parks, Lyman is approximately 300 miles northeast of Phoenix and remains open 365 days a year. Fees and information: (928) 337-4441.

LIFE IN ARIZONA 1 8 9 0 ON 'THE OTHER WORLD'

In May 1890, nine soldiers left Fort Mojave near Kingman to establish a mountaintop mirror communication system between there and Prescott's Fort Whipple. Cpl. Joseph Green wrote an extensive description of the effort, which included scaling several peaks in the Hualapai Mountains. About one, he wrote: “We saw many very old stone formations, among which was a gigantic natural archway of solid volcanic stone, which seemed to mock the feeble efforts of man. As we stood beneath the frowning portal of this mighty archway, we could easily discern the stupendous handiwork of the Almighty, and as we passed through we half expected to meet some immortal beings— Saint Peter, perhaps. “But after passing through the gates we looked upon the same sun, the same brook, and the same mountains. But we were awed into silence. We walked some distance without speaking a word. It seemed as though we had been treated to a glimpse of the other world.”

Meet Rufus the Famous Mule

“He's just a big old black mule,” declares Janet Walsh. What she says rings indisputably true, but Rufus is also one amazing, unforgettable mule. And he's a rather famous mule, at least in certain circles. Janet and her husband, Dick Walsh, of Flagstaff bought Rufus at auction when he was retired with a disability from Grand Canyon National Park. For many years he was head mule for the trail boss, plodding up and down those steep trails at least a thousand times. One day in a corral at the Canyon, Rufus was run over in a stampede, losing the sight in his right eye. “We're pretty sure he's a Missouri mule,” say the Walshes of their 1,200-pound friend, now 24 years old. Not only is Rufus blind in one eye, he also bears up under a benign tumor that causes extreme hair growth. His long dark pelage nearly brushes the ground when he's unclipped. When Rufus hurt his leg in a somersault off a trail, X-rays revealed that his backside was full of buckshot. “He's a survivor,” Janet affirms. Despite his age and all the mishaps, Rufus remains a “threebell” mule. Old-timers would trim a mule's tail into the shape of bells. A mule that could do it all—ride, pack and pull—had three “bells” cut into its tail. Rufus has plowed trails, packed out 200-pound loads of rock, worked an active fire line and ferried his fair share of children on his back, not to mention participating in three Fourth of July parades in Flagstaff. Dick and Janet, volunteers for the Forest Service, took Rufus on their honeymoon on the Arizona Trail, and re-created that trip for their second anniversary. “He's versatile and dependable,” Janet says. “I trust him with my mother,” Dick adds.

Question of the Month

What are Arizona's lowest and highest geographic points?

The Colorado River near Yuma flows at an elevation of 70 feet above sea level and Humphreys Peak towers above Flagstaff at 12,643 feet.

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