| Arizona Strip jaunt takes 16 hours | |
|
By Caleb Soptelean Kingman Dailly Miner | |
(Editor’s note: A crow can fly directly to the Arizona Strip – driving there takes more time, even for someone flying along an interstate or two-lane highway at 75 mph. The Miner accompanied Pete Byers as he looked in on the northern part of his Mohave County supervisor’s district.) KINGMAN – My trip to the Arizona Strip on Monday was an enjoyable one. I toured the northernmost portion of Mohave County with District 1 Supervisor Pete Byers on Monday. We left at 5 a.m. and made our way over Hoover Dam and through Las Vegas. Traveling northeast on Interstate 15, we stopped in Mesquite, Nev., for gas and a notebook. I had left mine at the office (but remembered the camera!). We crossed the Nevada line back into Arizona and drove through Scenic, an unincorporated residential community next to Mesquite. This very northwestern corner of Arizona is isolated from the rest of the state by mountains and the Grand Canyon. We traveled on some six miles of paved road and over a recently built bridge that, Byers said, will open up Scenic to growth. Getting back on I-15, we continued northeast through the beautiful Virgin River Canyon and stopped for a photo at Cedar Pocket State Park. The interstate continued into Utah and through beautiful St. George. Shortly thereafter, we exited the freeway and drove east through Hurricane, Utah, and then southeast toward Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona line. I noticed five nationally known motels in Hurricane, and Byers pointed out the wide layout of the city’s streets, which he said were made to accommodate teams of horses. The sister cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah – 32 miles southeast of I-15 – were next. We came into Hildale first, and I quickly noticed the Mark Twain Restaurant and a "Welcome to Arizona" sign. Because Byers was to meet with the precinct’s new justice of the peace, we drove through Colorado City east 16 miles before we reached the turnoff to Pipe Springs National Monument and Moccasin. Located on the Kaibab Indian Reservation, Moccasin is situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful red mountains. We chatted a while with Justice of the Peace Mitchell Kalauli, whose mother grew up in the “town” and whose grandfather Lorenzo Brown served as justice of the peace for many years. Then we headed back west to Colorado City. I didn’t notice them as much when first driving through town, but the beautiful red cliffs that serve as the town’s backdrop are quite remarkable. Our first stop was at the county’s new modular multi-purpose building. No one was there. Maybe they were at lunch. I watched as three girls walked by. I said "hello" and was greeted by a "howdy" and a "howdy-do." After a stop at the fire department office, Byers chatted with Fire Chief Jake Barlow, while a young man by the name of Lawrence Barlow gave me a tour of the town. The younger Barlow said he serves as one of 20 volunteer paramedics and 100 volunteer firefighters. The Colorado City/Hildale Fire Department averages three calls a day, he said. We passed through Fred Jessop’s private FMJ Zoo – which looked deserted, although an elk herd was supposedly lingering nearby. Next we came to a park where the state’s two largest Cottonwood trees live. This designation is based upon their circumference, Lawrence Barlow said. El Capitan, the center of the red cliffs known officially as the Vermillion Towers, was next. The entrance to El Capitan is located in Maxwell Park with a five-mile Bureau of Land Management trail nearby. Barlow said the cliffs are the back side of Zion National Park in Utah. We then drove by the Finney Farm Home Dairy and a private school – one of approximately 12 schools in the community. I observed a small garden with squash and sugar cane. We went by a natural gas-fired power plant and the area’s new K-12 public school. Laughter of children could be heard over a 3-foot fence. The town airport and the Meadowayne Dairy were next. At the latter I was given a sample of "squeaky" cheese curds. I had never before eaten these but was told I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. They actually squeak when one eats them! A potato processing plant, another private school, a park owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Mohave Community College’s North Mohave campus preceded lunch at the community’s only open restaurant. (I was told that the Mark Twain, an upscale restaurant, had closed a week or two before.) Women in colorful pastel conservative dresses waited on the restaurant’s 15 or so customers. Our group consisted of Jake and Lawrence Barlow, School Superintendent Alvin Barlow, Town Marshal Sam Roundy, Byers and myself. In the corner, I noticed a small rack of used books. I recognized "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith" from some 30 feet away. After lunch, Byers and I headed a short distance out of town to Centennial, another polygamous community not affiliated with the FLDS church. Alas, a local who wanted to speak with Byers was not available. We completed our trip by traveling east through Fredonia, southeast onto the forested Kaibab Plateau and to Jacob Lake – located at the turnoff to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon – and then off the plateau to Marble Canyon/Lee’s Ferry on the Colorado River northeast of the Grand Canyon. We viewed the spectacular Vermillion Cliffs at Lee’s Ferry and then headed south to Flagstaff. Following dinner, we drove west on I-40 to Kingman. We arrived at 9:23 p.m. The trip had taken just more than 16 hours. | |
|
KingmanDailyMiner.com Originally published October 28, 2004 | |
| Back | |
| For more information email: | |
