Conclusion 2022 Recap Day 7

Day 7: September 16, 2022
Flagstaff to Peach Springs, Arizona

April 5, 2024

Rode the last half-mile of Grandview Road and rode to the El Tovar Hotel!

Since the unanimous agreement after Lloyd’s scouting ride the previous day up the old Grandview Road to the Grand Canyon South Rim was that it was not a road for the Red One, we trailered up to the East Entrance to Grand Canyon National Park on Arizona Route 64. On the way, we stopped to take one last look at the condition of the road at the beginning of my originally planned off-road section. There were quite a few rocks in the road bed and Lloyd assured me this was representative of some of the best of the road he encountered.

Entering the Grand Canyon National Park

Shortly after we arrived at the East Entrance to Grand Canyon National Park, we put the Red One back on “Desert View Road” (identified on modern maps as Arizona Route 64) and I was able to ride from there all the way to the El Tovar Hotel to the exact spot where we had met up with C.K.’s son, Charles, back in 2019.

As we rode west on Desert View Road along the Grand Canyon South Rim toward the El Tovar Hotel, we came upon the northernmost access to the old stagecoach road. The old stagecoach road, still all dirt road, had been part of the throughfare connecting Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon South Rim that C.K. rode back in 1919. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly (considering feedback from Lloyd’s scouting mission the previous day), the old stagecoach road was reduced to a flooded muddy gooey mess. About a mile and a half down this muddy road is the Grandview Lookout Tower, which was built for the U.S. Forestry Service as a fire lookout in 1936. Lloyd stopped here briefly during his scouting mission the previous day, so the tower can also be seen at the 35:15 point in his video.

The old stagecoach road was admittedly more flooded and much muddier than I had hoped for, but I went for it anyway. That said, it was slow going for me as I was constantly weaving around huge pools of water while also trying to keep the bike straight in the mud. I was almost at the old Grand Canyon southern entrance “toll house” (I could see its surroundings ahead) when I concluded that discretion was the better part of valor and that I did not need to injure myself or the Red One to experience all this trail had to offer. I reluctantly stopped and turned around to rejoin the much more enjoyable smooth modern-day pavement of Desert View Road, and on to the El Tovar Hotel.

After viewing the video from Lloyd’s scouting trip the previous day, it looked like that first half-mile of the road southbound was the wettest and muddiest and maybe I should have held out for another hundred yards or so, even past the “toll house” and on to the Lookout Tower. But Lloyd, who had ridden this very road the previous day and was now riding with me, assured me that the road had become wetter and muddier overnight, and that I made the right decision to turn around. I now wonder if Lloyd was caught in a quandary: He was riding right behind me with his camera rolling and probably had to quickly weigh the potential entertainment value of capturing the ultimate “money shot” of me doing a face plant into the mud versus responsibly carrying out his “safety rider” role. I guess that I should be glad Lloyd didn’t egg me on for the potential entertainment value!

Back on Desert View Road, I rode about five miles further to a turnout where we stopped for a break. Unbeknownst to me, Glen had done a deep-clean the inside of the trailer and had laid out a proper lunch!  Parked literally just a few feet from the Canyon’s edge, we all took a breather and ate a wonderful lunch while enjoying the breathtaking view on a beautiful day!

After a much-needed meal, we got back on the road headed to the El Tovar Hotel. We had spent a few nights at the El Tovar Hotel back in 2019 where we met up with C.K.’s son, Charles Shaw, and others. From that 2019 visit, I recalled that the hotel’s entrance driveway was rather steep and had some “blind” entry points. I also knew there could be quite a bit of unpredictable pedestrian traffic in the circular driveway out in front of the hotel. These challenges, especially when combined in a very limited-maneuvering area, were making me a bit nervous. Thankfully, my apprehension was for naught, as my arrival was uneventful. I stopped the Red One under the very same tree where Charles Shaw had posed - seated on the Red One - in 2019.

Ash Fork to Peach Springs

As it was still peak season at the Grand Canyon, there was a great deal of vehicular traffic in the Grand Canyon Village area, and even on to Williams, Arizona. This led to the decision to trailer the Red One to the small town of Ash Fork, which is just west of Williams. C.K. Shepherd mentioned getting advice about the road ahead from the driver of a Ford he encountered past Ash Fork, about 60 miles west of Flagstaff, heading the opposite direction. It may have been “pretty tough in places” in 1919, but thankfully it was all paved road in 2022!

I rode further west through the sleepy town of Seligman, whose primary industry seems to be heralding of everything about the old Route 66, the historic roadway in western America, the very same roadway that C.K. rode (before it was called Route 66). I putted through Seligman with the Red One as I took in the sights while continuing west toward our overnight stay in Peach Springs.

Prior to arriving in Peach Springs, we received a tip from “Mike” (somebody tracking us via the Internet) that there was a motorcycle event we might like to stop at, so we did! The 39^th Annual Friendship Run was underway at the Grand Canyon Caverns, which is about 20 miles east of Peach Springs. The meet itself was in a remote campground about a mile behind the Caverns Inn. Once we figured out how to get back to their secluded grounds, I rode in and parked near their registration desk where the Red One was on high visibility duty and definitely turned some heads. I’m glad we took the time for this diversion where we met some very nice folks.

I had originally planned to ride through Nelson, Arizona on the way to Peach Springs. C.K. Shepherd described the “city” of Nelson as “consisting of a few shacks, a ranch-house and a railway station.” Today, it is principally an active lime quarry with a railroad right through it followed by a gravel road paralleling the railroad tracks to Peach Springs. I had scouted this route in 2018 and I knew it presented no real challenge for me or the Red One. However, it was the end of a long day and we had more long days ahead, so we trailered the Red One at the Friendship Run and moved on toward Peach Springs, bypassing the commercial lime plant “scenic view” in Nelson. “Dinner in Peach Springs” is what C.K. Shepherd told himself in 1919... and now I was telling myself the same thing over a hundred years later!

Stay tuned!

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