White Mtns, AZ - May 2006

While staying in Show Low, we took a couple of excursions in the White Mountains. One day, we took a drive west heading towards a town called Payson. The town is best known for one of it's famous residents -- Zane Grey (author of Rider's of the Purple Sage.) Along the way we stopped at several overlooks on what is known as the Mogollon Rim (pronounced MUG-ee-on and named after Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollon, an 18th century Spanish colonial governor.) The rim is a very large area that stretches across almost two thirds of Arizona and is made up of high limestone and standstone cliffs. The wind was blowing so fiercely that we could hardly stand up as we peered over the edge of the vista points and the blowing sand was stinging my eyes too much to even think about taking a photo, so I had to resort to using an image of the Mogollon Ridge that I found on the internet.

On another day, we took a drive up to Sunrise Ski Resort and rode the chair lift up to the top of Sunrise Mtn. At 10,700' elevation, it was a brisk 55° and we appreciated the warmth of our sweatshirts. The view from the top was pretty neat. I'm a great lover of beautiful views and love riding chair lifts in the summertime -- both the quiet, glide to the top and the view from there are among my favorite things to do.

At the top, we paused to enjoy the great view and treat ourselves to some hot coffee and Navajo Bread (the Native American version of what we Texans know as sopapillas.) Ski resorts are now becoming a popular place in the summertime -- for mountain bike riders. They ride the chair lift to the top (including a hookup to haul their bikes) and then they get to enjoy a thrilling, downhill ride. The chair lift had just opened for the summer season and we watched several bikers zooming down the trails from our ride in the sky.


In addition to a chair lift, lodge and campground, Sunrise Resort also had a small fishing lake called Oh No Lake. We never did find anyone who knew how the lake got it's name.