Dayride and a picnic...

I said that I wanted to go for a ride yesterday...my wife suggested we take a picnic lunch with us.

AZ-77 north, nearing Mammoth, AZ

AZ-77 north, nearing Winkleman, AZ

AZ-77 north of Winkleman, AZ - short stretch that hugs the Gila River alignment.

AZ-77 - desert wildflowers are in abundance this year.

So, a quick loop thru the San Pedro River valley, then into Globe.  The picnic lunch was at Memorial Park in Globe, AZ.

Great spot to have lunch today!

Finishing the loop...two ways to do it.  I took the more sedate route on the way home.

Miami, AZ downtown.

Hard to believe this route didn't exist until the 1920's!

The 1952 version of the tunnel...

A really cool pictorial history of the Queen Creek Canyon section of this road is here:

http://www.azbackcountryadventures.com/hiway.htm

Turn off here; time to head south toward home.

Newman Peak (4508') and the Picacho Mountain range.

Picacho Peak (3374') on the right - close to home now!

This was a good shake-down ride for a ride next Saturday.  I'll have another blog post on the topic between tomorrow and Friday!

😁