We Were Just Going to Globe...

Forry was chatting with the ladies at Camping World yesterday while they gave him directions to get to their other store. Saying something about "taking the Globe exit" got them talking about how we had never gone there even though we were always taking the Globe exit on Highway 60 to get to Valle del Oro. The ladies started talking about what a pretty drive it was...

I wanted to go looking for desert flowers this afternoon, so Forry's suggested we do it on the way to Globe. Sure enough, the hills outside of town heading in that direction were covered with blooming Brittle Bush --

 As we headed up through the mountain passes, the scenery did begin to get quite spectacular --

 

 

As we got nearer to Miami and then Globe, we began to see evidence of the mining that this region is famous for --

Fortunes in copper and gold have been removed from these mountains over the years --

Much of the copper is milled into copper rod at this plant --

About this point, Forry got an idea that we should continue north on Highway 60 to Show Low, then loop back to Mesa via Heber and Payson. We were driving through the Tonto National Forest which at this level is mainly junipers.

Highway 60 takes you through the Salt River Canyon --

Cut by the Black River, the canyon is described by many as being as "spectacular as the Grand Canyon, but without the crowds..."

The highway to the bottom is a series of switch-backs leading to this bridge at the bottom --

The cliffs -- and the hoo-doos -- are as beautiful as the ones in Zion or Bryce --

Even Toad II had to stop and admire...

The surprise of the day for us came as we climbed the Mazatzal Mountains near Payson. We found lots of SNOW at about the 7500 foot level!

Our short excursion to Globe turned into an all day trip. We didn't get back to Auntie Violet until almost 8:30!