Chuska Mountains to Flagstaff Arizona (Day 9)

I expected my day to be a lot like the day before. I had checked the map and directions on Google, and as far as I knew I would be driving north up I-25 to Albuquerque and then due West on 40 into Flagstaff. This meant that there would be mountains off in the distance for the whole of the journey, and I was excited. Fortunately for me, "Jake" had other ideas; Jake, by the way, is short for "Jakers", the name that little Katie Mac christened my GPS with the day it was given to me by my mom. Anyhow, Jake decided that the most direct route would be diagonally across New Mexico on I-180, straight through the Chuska Mountains (I didn't know the name of the mountain range until later when I looked it up). Thank God for my little GPS - it turned yesterday's drive into probably the greatest day of my trip yet. Sadly, not one of the pictures I took comes close to depicting the true majesty of what I saw; for one thing, in the pictures it is unclear that the roads ahead are steep hills, and the mountains in the distance aren't nearly as clear as they were to my eyes, and there's a little glare from the windshield. I've posted the pictures nonetheless; hoping to provide just a small idea of what I experienced.

I started out at about 7 am, headed west on 10. At one point, I was stopped at a checkpoint on the way which was apparently run by border patrol. They asked me if I was an American Citizen and where I was headed; I thought this was actually pretty interesting! Anyway, after being wished a nice day by the very kind Border Patrol Agent, I continued on 10 and ended up getting off at an exit for Deming. I won't lie, at first when I started on I-180, I was concerned because it seemed like the GPS had taken me for a wrong turn. The first thing that made me nervous was a sign that said "Dust Storms may Exist" followed by other signs warning about the need for extreme caution and the possibility of zero visibility. Luckily the day was sunny and there seemed to be little wind, so I felt pretty safe. I did see a few dust "whirlwhinds" here and there which gave my heart pause; but that's it. I-180 for the first 60 miles or so was somewhat similar to 10 west in terms of scenery; only 180 is a two lane road, there's an occasional traffic light, and it is dotted on either side with ranches.

The trip got really exciting after I passed through a town called Silver City. At this point in the journey, i was no longer driving near those pretty mountains I was looking at yesterday - I was driving ON them. I had no idea that this was coming; so I was sort of in a state of shock as the drive grew increasingly more breathtaking with every turn. This drive through the mountains, though only about 100 or so miles in distance, took nearly three hours. At first, I realized that those pretty low hills with sparse greenery were beneath me. The drive over these hills lasts for quite a while, with the majestic, stony mountains I had seen in the distance seemingly dead ahead. I wondered for quite a while if I would actually have to drive over those mountains, and it soon became apparent that the answer was yes.

Driving over the Chuska mountains was at once terrifying and awe-inspiring. The mountains themselves are covered with beautiful rock formations, but unfortunately I got no pictures of those (all the pics were taken without aiming, just pointing and shooting through the car window, which in part accounts for their inadequacy). At one point I wondered if this wasn't where they film all those car commercials, with the winding mountain roads and the steep drops off to the side. My strong fear of heights was triggered; when driving on flat surfaces I have no fear of suddenly swerving off the road; but when there is a cliff to my right, I am struck with terror at the thought of suddenly losing control of the car. I won't lie, my heart raced the entire drive through the mountains, and I simulatanously found myself hoping the ride would go on forever and that it would end soon.

After driving through these mountains for what seemed hours I found myself entering into Arizona, and the Apache National forest (I had passed through the Gila National Forest earlier - but I didn't really see many trees, and I was confused). Anyway, in the Apache the mountain road becomes very shady, lined on either side with beautiful trees - I believe based on what I read later that these trees are called Ponderosa Pines. At this point I think I was on overload. I am beginning to wonder if a person can only handle seeing so much in a single day before it becomes overwhelming. For me, I've seen so much in the last ten days that I feel like I'm going to explode.

There is one last amazing thing to say about the drive over I-180: and this is the God's honest truth. For the ENTIRE drive, the whole thing, there was not one single car, either behind me or ahead of me. Not one, not the whole way. The entire time I kept thinking - where is everyone? Do they know something I don't know? It soon felt, though, as though I knew something they didn't know, that everyone didn't know - and that the mountains and I were sharing some kind of little secret that the rest of the world was missing out on. There was something strangely sacred about this whole little trip, and when I was done I felt lighter and heavier, all at the same time. I say this with complete sincerity - it would be worth the trip simply to take this drive over I-180, through the Chuska mountains and the Gila and Apache National Forests. I could have built an entire vacation around this one stretch of land.

After leaving the Apache forest, I found myself back on semi-populated roads. At one point I was stopped for road work. The way it works is, you just sit there and wait for a "pilot car" to guide you and the other cars waiting through the road work area. I waited for 15 minutes, during which time I chatted briefly with the construction worker who approached me after he noted my license plates and how far I must be from home. The pilot car finally arrived, and I followed it for about five miles during which we passed a sign I wish I'd gotten a picture of which read "Inmates working- DO NOT slow down." Hilarious - and then we passed the inmates working - not so hilarious (yikes). After that, there's not much more to tell - I eventually made it back up to I-40 west, headed for Flagstaff. I did pull off 40 for a bite in Winslow - and I made it a point while I was there to stand on a corner, just so that I could say I was standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

I hit a little rain on the way into Flagstaff - nothing much, certainly not compared to what I had driven through in Virginia. Funny though, the minute there were even a few raindrops, several cars pulled to the side of the road. I noted the plates - New Mexico - and laughed. I guess they aren't used to driving through rain in the desert. I finally arrived in Flagstaff around 2:30 in the afternoon, and once I was settled in the hotel I took a drive downtown to look around. Flagstaff (pictured right) is a very pretty little town set at the base of the mountains. There are a lot of cute restaurants and shops selling Navajo and Hopi art and jewelry. I walked around town for a bit but in truth I was exhausted and a little bit overloaded by what I had already seen. I took the drive back to the hotel from downtown (along Route 66, by the way), picked up a little dinner and proceeded to get some rest; looking forward to my next adventure - The Grand Canyon.