US 191 Clifton to Alpine in AZ is one of the most harrowing paved roads that I have ever traveled. I used every gear in the box plus 4WD in order to have maximum control on descents where the road threw me into the apex of curves with nothing but air for hundreds of feet beyond. Every so often I would relax with a deep breath when I saw trees in my peripheral vision, thinking, “If I make a mistake, they’ll catch me,” then noticed that I was seeing the tops of ponderosa pines. Guard rails? Nope, I can’t remember a single one. Early on I couldn’t understand why there were so many screaming ravens. Then I realized that was my brain. There weren’t many locals on this road—they know better. If you don’t believe me, plug the trip into Google maps. It sends you east into NM then back into AZ, a trip almost thirty miles longer which gets you into Alpine ten minutes sooner. I pulled into the campsite at Hannagan Meadow just before sunset, exhausted. It’s tough riding on a pucker for over two hours. Oh, yeah. The highway has been renumbered. Look on the old maps. It was formerly US 666. The Beast.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 15:41:49 +0000
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