The Grand Staircase, Part Four

 The Turn for Home

Day 7 - Flagstaff to Tucson

Dangerously windy, that's today's Flagstaff forecast.  All day,  and supposedly getting worse through the day.  I've plotted a backroad route thru the forest that will hopefully shield me from the worst, but we'll see.  Breakfast at the Little America was fantastic, contactless check out, Ginger's packed and ready to roll.  A pleasant 52 degrees but, yes, windy.

Into the forest

I head past Upper and Lower Lake Mary, or I should say, what's left of them.  From the National Forest Service:  

Sometimes it's a lake. Sometimes it's not. Lower Lake Mary, the smaller of Flagstaff's twin lakes, has a tendency to disappear during the long dry spells that periodically hit this area. 

Well, if you have any doubt we're in a long dry spell...

Lower Lake Mary

Upper Lake Mary

Riding through the trees, the wind wasn't too bad.  But there are several open sections and it was absolutely fierce...tough riding that I was glad to put behind me at Happy Jack.

And, boy, did I hit the weather perfectly...I'm traveling "Today"

I can guarantee Jack would not be Happy traveling a few days later.  Route looks like this.

Drop out of the forest and back into the desert, with a rest stop at Roosevelt Lake; the blue water against the desert landscape as beautiful as ever.

Water break, it is now HOT, in the 90s, with a high of 94 before home.  Typical mountain/desert day, a 40+ degree swing.

The dam and the bridge

And there you have it, seven days of perfect weather and beautiful scenery.  A great post-vaccine kickoff.

Perhaps the best news of all, this headline:

Hoping to visit Ginger's sister Mia sometime this summer; she's patiently waiting in Heidelberg, Germany.

Get your shots and let's all get back to living!  There's no time to waste.

Cheers!