Hold on to the wheel, because now the road earns its wild reputation — this is the great descent, mile after mile of tight, stacked switchbacks corkscrewing down off the Mogollon Rim. Take it low and slow, use the pull-offs, and don't rush the fellow behind you. But do notice the magic happening out your window as you drop: you're driving down through the life zones of North America in the space of an hour — out of the cool Canadian spruce and fir up top, down through the ponderosa pines, into the oak and juniper, and finally toward the cactus and scrub of the Sonoran desert below. Naturalists say this one drive takes you through the ecological equivalent of a trip from Canada to Mexico. Watch the trees change, feel the air warm, and mind those curves.
Photo: Coconino National Forest · Public domain