The elevation ranged from 3k to 7k ft. We started in Sedona, went up oak creek canyon on 89a, then turned off road. We were in the ponderosa pines for much of the early ride until we got below Williams & started coming down. It was pretty chilly up higher.. i had on a mesh jacket & pants & was cold! It was in the 50's early on, but warmed up to the 90's after Jerome.
If you look closely in the above pic, you can see these guys:
There were 15-20 in this group, and another 8-10 about 10 miles down the road. They weren't too bothered by us.. deer seem to know when it's not hunting season! I think they were mule deer.. we've also come upon elk.. but not this ride.
We cleared the pines & started down into juniper & cypress. We cut over the top of the rim to the perkinsville road, then down to Jerome.
This is the early part of the Verde River near perkins ranch.
The perkinsville road was improved gravel.. good thing. Kim had a stock tank on his drz & was getting low on fuel. We had hoped to get to Jerome before he ran out.
from the northwest side of the Verde Valley. You can see the san francisco peaks & the Sedona red rocks in the distance.
Here's where Kim ran out of gas. I loosened a hose from my acerbis & gave him a couple of pints.. i just shut off the petcocks, took off a hose, turned on the petcock & let it run into an empty water bottle.
Sedona in the distance.. that is the clarkdale cement plant in the foreground. Jerome is to the right, but not in view, yet.
Here is Jerome from the northwest. We could see all the way across the valley to the eastern edge of the mogollon rim. It was raining over there.
Lastly, the old Jerome mine. It was a bustling copper mine in the early half of last century, but is an artist/tourist town, now.
No crashes, major mechanical problems, run ins with the law or drug smugglers.. It was an easy ride.. there were a few miles of more rugged roads, but i would rate it easy, overall.
scotty
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