Day Six Day Six Kingman to Peach Springs (50 miles) This day was a good one for me to determine what’s doable and realistic for cycling across the Southwest under the best of conditions. There were no special challenges, if the temperature reached 100, it did so only briefly. No strong headwinds, no grueling grades (though I certainly knew that over the 50 miles I had 1,100 feet more uphill than downhill), no flat tires, no severe weather warnings, and no long distances without water. Each year when I ride Peak to Peak from Big Bear to Mammoth as a fundraiser for the USARC, I’m frankly spoiled. I can ride a lighter, faster bike that doesn’t need to stand up to the weight of 80 pounds of trailer and contents. I don’t need to worry about carrying up to eight water bottles loaded with water. There are regular lunch and break spots – thus no need to carry food. And at the camp sites, great dinners and breakfasts, and usually a massage from a professional massage therapist! So Day Six’s 50 miles fell short of the daily 70 to 80 miles of Peak to Peak. But I made Peach Springs, nonetheless. Peach Springs, at the southern tip of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, was established in 1881 with the arrival of the railroad. The town soon flourished with a Fred Harvey hotel and eatery. Stagecoaches took travelers to Diamond Creek, just a mile from the Colorado River where they overnighted in a hotel. With the advent of Route 66 in the 1920s, came gas stations and a new genre of travelers. The small town suffered severe economic hardships decades later, however, with the completion of Interstate 40 many miles to the south. Today the Hualapai (the people of the tall pines) host many foreign travelers who come here to experience the Old West on the longest remaining stretch of Route 66. At stops, one hears German spoken more frequently than English as folks dismount their rental Harley-Davidsons or emerge from their rental cars or RVs. The opening of “Grand Canyon West” by the Hualapai in 1988 to whitewater rafting, the skywalk 4,000 feet above the canyon floor, and the recently opened Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs has opened new economic opportunities for tribal peoples. Quoted from a Hualapai elder many years ago, “Here is the land where you will live. Go to the places you find water. Mark off your land and live by the waters. Name these places. In the summer, harvest the berries and wild food plants. In the winter, go and live in the caves on the land you own. These areas of land will be owned by your families, they will own the food and game on these lands, they will move within its boundaries to the caves, berry patches, and the hunting grounds.” Bicycling through this spectacular land has offered me the opportunity few travelers get to appreciate and “own” its unique tastes, smells, and feels. What more could I ask?
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 13:50:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015