Colorado Plateau

After leaving Seligman, Arizona, I have climbed onto the Colorado Plateau, and am no longer on the desert.  After a night in Williams, now in Flagstaff, the air is cooler and there are trees. 

Much of old Route 66 has been replaced with I-40.  I am forced to ride with big rigs and speeding cars, where the speed limit is 75mph.  But I-40 has a wide shoulder and I feel mostly safe.  The biggest problem with bicycling this major highway is that the shoulder is often very rough.

I have happily been able to get on old Route 66 much of the way.  It has very little traffic, and is usually much smoother than I-40.

I ride over the southern part of the Colorado Plateau with its long record of Earth's geologic history.  Underlying the sedimentary rocks are very old igneous and metamorphic rocks that come from a time prior to the formation of North America.  The world looked very different then, with continents  unlike the ones we have today.  The old rocks were later elevated without much cracking or folding, which is why we see layers in the Grand Canyon lying nearly flat.

Humphrey’s Peak,
highest peak in Arizona, 12, 633’

But here in the Flagstaff area, high peaks rise above rolling forest, still showing some of their winter snow.

The revival spirit of old Route 66 shows in every town it passes through.  Once off of I-40, the old cafes and motor courts show off there fifties music, food and decor.  Canyon Lodge in Seligman, Arizona, maintains that post-war luxury décor that enticed so many Americans to that new a n flourishing idea of the “road trip” with big mirrors and Las Vegas posters. And Delgadillo’s Snow Cap serves up angus burgers and milk shakes with rock-n-roll. 

Up the long, steep grade to Williams, another fifties diner.

Walls covered with symbols and memorabilia of that fifties spirit.

On the way to Flagstaff, I-40 is is often terrible shape, especially its shoulder, but once off of it and onto Route 66, the road is smooth and the Parks Parks General Store, in what was once a thriving community, is a welcome stop.   

You can see my progress on an interactive map, prepared by Michael Angerman, at:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?spn=1.372738%2C2.458191&ll=34.19141194851035%2C-117.74940521972655&msa=0&z=9&mid=1Y_TZPvq1-LarAZNM9P1HzAy11K8  

Zoom and scroll to see where I’ve been.