A 'hot' drive home, Hwy 191- Cornodado Scenic Highway

While we were totally enjoying our stay at our boon docking campground on Hwy 191, things were happening around us.

A small section of Hwy 191 - one of the curviest roads in North America.

The fire at Josh Ranch, to our north had grown and connected with two other previous burn areas. Unknown to us, to the south was a bigger problem. The Pinnacle fire was threatening the closure of 191 southbound-our most direct route home.

On our last night, we had an early dinner. Tom had just fixed us an after dinner adult beverage and we were preparing to enjoy the evening glow after sunset. Earlier in the day, I'd made some brownies and we took some over to the camp host to ask him to keep our site open for us! 

He had just learned via radio, that the Pinnacle fire was moving up the hill and the highway would be closed at 10 in the morning. Ruh - Roh!

We'd already planned for an early departure, but knowing neither of us would sleep, we packed up the last few things, hitched Lucy to Charlie Brown, and pulled out of KP Cienega campground at 7:45.

All good, but in the distance we could see the fire. And we kept getting closer and closer to it! And then we came around the corner and saw this! There were burning bits right at the fog line! A couple of the fire crews guys looked real surprised to see us and the rig come around the corner.  A few twisty, curvy yards later, and we were past the fire.

Obviously these aren't the best images..... dark, moving, pucker- factor pretty high......

Once we rounded this corner, I was able to look behind and see we'd passed most of it!  Phew!

The rest of the drive down was curvy and dark.  Rigs longer than 40' are not allowed, and with the number of switchbacks and tight turns, we see why.  We didn't pass, or see, another vehicle the entire way down.  We also didn't see anything else! At the end of the curvy part, the GPS showed we weren't on the road anymore.  We'd arrived at the large copper mine in the town of Morenci.  It looks huge at night, and I'm sure it really shows its size in the daylight.  Another 40 or so miles to Safford, we were planning to  find a parking lot for a couple of hours.  But, a raid of the snack cupboard and cooler got us set up for a blast homeward.  The horse was smelling the barn so to speak!

Three days after we'd come down the mountain, the forests and camping areas in AZ were closed due to the extreme fire danger.  While it limits where we can go to escape the heat - up in the mountains - we also, feel that it was a good decision to make.  It is so very dry everywhere, and we saw lots of active fires on this trip.

So, when we can, we'll be planning a trip back up highway 191 once the conditions are better.  I still haven't seen it, but I can tell you there are LOTS of curves!

We pulled into our driveway at 1:45 am, and headed straight for bed.  40 days and 4,041 miles!

We've a couple things that need to be done to the trailer to make her more useable for us, and the truck is due for its servicing.  We'll get those things done, then, who knows which direction we'll take off for!  We met some great people along the way, out exploring like we were, and we have invitations to explore their corners of the world.  So many options........