Route 66 - Mojave Desert, Arizona

For over a hundred years, the name Mojave (and its alternate spelling, Mohave) has been used to describe 'the people who live along the water' - the Native American tribe who lived there and whose descendants still live there.

The driest desert in the United States, the Mojave boundaries are marked by Joshua trees, which are only native to this area, and also by other desert areas, and both the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain ranges; both of these are on fault lines, notably the San Andreas fault.

Desert implies a certain lack of population, but the Mojave has urbanised areas, notably Las Vegas, with a population of over two million, and the 29th most populated city in the United States. Founded as a city in 1905, Las Vegas didn't take long to acquire its first casinos. The 1950s also brought nuclear testing, with residents and visitors able to watch the mushroom clouds - and experience the fallout - from testing in the Nevada Desert some 65 miles away.

Known for shopping, gambling, and nightlife, Las Vegas bills itself as 'The Entertainment Capital of the World'. However, before Tom Jones and Elvis headlined at The International, nomadic tribes left their mark on the area around 10,000 years ago.

Not so long to go now - the end is in sight!



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Route 66 - Seligman, Arizona

Here we are in Seligman, Arizona, home to fewer than 500 people and a popular stopping point for Route 66 travellers. This area was historically the home of the Yuman-speaking Havasupai Native American people, who have been settled in the area for almost a thousand years. Formerly surviving through agriculture and hunter-gatherer culture, tourism is their modern-day main source of revenue as Supai, their major city in the Havasupai Reservation, has around 20,000 visitors a year, despite having the reputation as being one of the most remote cities in the United States, ultimately reachable only by hike, horse, or helicopter.

It is often said that Seligman wouldn't exist without Route 66, and Route 66 wouldn't exist without Seligman, or at least famous resident Angel Delgadillo. Of an age with the route itself - he was born in 1927 when the roads that formed Route 66 were first being connected. Angel followed the family trade and became a barber just like his father, Angel Delgadillo Sr. In 1972, Angel moved his barber shop from its previous location to take advantage of Route 66's slightly adjusted route, which now passed through Seligman. Everything went with him: his father's 1926 barber chair and three pool tables. With nearly 10,000 cars passing through daily, trade was brisk for Angel and the rest of Seligman's businesses.

Then on 22 September 1978, the cars disappeared, the new Interstate 40 had opened two miles to the south, and as Angel put it, "the world forgot about us". Angel and his brother discovered that the only signage that even mentioned Seligman was 16 miles away. They campaigned for another four more useful mentions, but it wasn't enough.

Not to be beaten, Angel tapped into the one thing most Route 66 travellers are interested in - nostalgia. Seligman took the bait and is now known as "The Birthplace of Historic Route 66".



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Route 66 - Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona and the Lowell Observatory are a perfect match. As the scout for an observatory site stated in the 1890s, when tasked with looking for a suitable place, "other things being equal, the higher we can get, the better".

Established in 1894, the Lowell Observatory is one of the oldest in the United States and worthy of being designated one of "The World's 100 Most Important Places" by TIME magazine in 2011. The Observatory's major claim to fame is for the discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.

Tombaugh had an unusual path to astronomy; part of a farming family, his college plans had to be put aside when a storm ruined the farm's crops. He started to build his own telescopes at the age of 20 in 1926, testing them by digging himself caves to keep the air temperature constant - this also doubled neatly for family use as a cellar and emergency shelter. He sent his detailed drawings of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory, who decided to offer him a job in 1929. The young researcher was given the job of looking for Planet X - predicted by research by Percival Lowell and William Pickering - and conclusively proved on 18 February 1930.

Tombaugh was also keenly interested in the possibility of UFOs. In the mid-1950s, he said there had been three objects over the past seven years for which he could find no scientific explanation. He thought that other reputable sources were being "unscientific" in refusing to believe the possibility that aliens might exist.



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Route 66 - Petrified Forest National Park

Welcome to the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, 230 square miles of desert and Badlands. There's so much to see here over such a wide area that it's probably a trip in its own right. The park has over three-quarters of a million visitors every year, with a good few hiking and backpacking over the course of a few days.

The part was declared a national monument in 1906. Route 66 goes right through it, guaranteeing that casual sightseeing can be done from the comfort of an air-conditioned car! Made a national park in 1962, it's not just notable for the landscape; around 400 species of plants can be found across the park, and in addition to other animals, birdwatchers will be keen to spot over 200 separate species, some migratory, some permanent residents.

But onto the petrified bit - the park is particularly noted for its fossils, not least the fallen trees that give it its name, and which grew during the late Triassic Period, some 225 million years ago. Animal fossils include giant phytosaurs (an extinct group of semi-aquatic reptiles) and a probable sister evolutionary group of the branch from which birds, crocodiles and early dinosaurs descend.

Human habitation came somewhat later, with evidence of tribal groups dating back around 8000 years and farming culture from around 2000 years ago.



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Lees Ferry

The Grand Canyon is located in northwest Arizona. It is the largest canyon in the United States and designated a World Heritage Site. A result of tectonic uplift, the layers of visible rock are between 2 billion years to 270 million years old. Snaking its way through the canyon for 280mi (450km) is the Colorado River. Calm as it may seem, the river is a wild ride through more than 200 rapids making its way into Lake Mead.

 

The first people to live in the canyon were Ancient Puebloans. Exploration through the canyon only began in the late 1800s when geologist John Wesley Powell, with a crew of 10 men, launched a river expedition that would last three months.  

The journey begins at Mile Marker Zero - Lees Ferry, so named after John Doyle Lee, an American pioneer who set up a ferry service in 1873. It was an ideal location for a ferry crossing as the river was accessible from both sides. Operations ceased in 1928 when construction of the Navajo Bridge was completed 4mi (6.4km) downstream.

 

Today, Lees Ferry is the launching site for river rafting expeditions and considered the official start of the Grand Canyon’s Colorado River journey. 

 Boarding the inflatable raft, I settle down taking in the Echo Cliffs to the east and Marble Canyon to the west. The river is wide and calm and reflective. The landscape is a vermillion hue with vegetation protruding from the river’s edge. The atmosphere is peaceful and tranquil. I push off heading west. Outwardly, I am calm and relaxed but inside I am anxious and nervous as I ride into the unknown of the Colorado River.

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