Flagstaff, AZ

Following our fire evacuation Tuesday evening from the National Forest just north of Oak Creek Canyon, we traveled north approx 10-12 miles to Flagstaff and located a campsite just outside the US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, on the west side of town.  We arrived much after dark but managed to find a nice site a mile or so into the pitch-black forest after a 10 minute ride over rutted dirt road.

Flagstaff is situated just under 7000 feet elevation and therefore has very nice cool temperatures this time of year.  Nights reached as low as 40 degrees and the days we were there it was in the 60's, a very welcome change from the 100's of Tucson and Phoenix.  Flagstaff has very clean, fresh air, and the mornings would start out that way until the winds of the day kicked up and brought smoke from the nearby Slide Fire.  By mid-afternoon, the air was heavy with smoke and the skies overcast with brown-orange haze, as can only be seen when the sun is attempting to pierce through thick dust or debris preceding a major storm.

We were excited to see Flagstaff, though we were forced into town early due to the fire.  We had hoped to have a "base camp" in the National Forest between Sedona and Flagstaff for a day or two, going back to visit a bit more of Sedona, then taking in Flagstaff a day or two later.  That was not to be, however, as the road between Sedona and Flagstaff was closed due to fire for the indefinite future, and the only way back to Sedona was via the Interstate and a fairly circuitous route not conducive to our type of motorbike travel.

On Wednesday we visited downtown Flagstaff, through which Historic Route 66 runs.  Flagstaff has a fairly small town feel, with the BNSF railroad running immediately through the city, and a not-sure-if-gentrified business and commercial district filled with eateries, pubs, lawyers' offices and real estate agents.  Surprisingly, real estate in Flagstaff is not as affordable as you may surmise, given the fact that the town attracts its share of bohemians and hippie-types and has more than it's share of dilapidated 35-year-old campers and vans (yes, surprisingly, significantly more dilapidated than ours).

The "main drag" in Flagstaff pictured below, with the skies overcast with smoke, on what would have otherwise been a perfectly clear day.   

The following day, we ascended the hill just outside of town where Lowell Observatory is located to capture this shot of Flagstaff, before the smoke blew in and covered the sky.

The Arizona Snowbowl is located just a few miles outside of town.  Despite the fact you can't see it here, these mountains still contain traces of snow on their peaks.

Below are a few shots of our camp at the Naval Observatory, just to the west of town.

The Naval Observatory lands border US Forest Service Property, on which our camp was located.

A half-mile or so from our camp, the forest opened up into this vast prairie, with conifer-covered hills rising in the background.

The smoke from the Slide Fire would be located just to the left of this photo, south of town.  Not far from here, back just beyond the treeline, I scared up two elk-- the first I've ever seen in the wild.  Later we would learn they are all over northern Arizona.  Near Grand Canyon National Park you can practically approach them as they are in such great numbers.

It seemed as though it had been quite a while since I'd had the motorbike off the van for a few-day stretch, so I took the opportunity to do a bit of exploring on the Forest Service lands.

I also didn't miss the opportunity to drop the bike 3 times in 10 minutes, thanks to deep ruts and grass-covered stumps throughout the trail.  The excellent Indian lunch buffet I had an hour earlier in town didn't help matters for stability and agility on the bike!  After a while I just got tired of repeatedly picking it up.