Just a week ago the Rodeo–Chediski fire was brought under control and about to be put out, but it had burned 468,638 acres (732 square miles) and destroyed 426 buildings since it started back on June 18th. This fire was the combination of two events; one started by an arsonist and the other by someone stuck in the wilderness with a broken all-terrain vehicle, trying to get help. Seeing the forest floor scrubbed clean is strange enough, but seeing the shadows of the leafless trees on the ground adds to the peculiar sight.

Among the trees, the sap that had been boiled out of them was everywhere. Within all this tragedy, I find something beautiful.

I feel for the people who lost their homes and the pain they must cope with at such an enormous loss.

Can’t let the downer of that devastating fire be the extent of what my eyes will witness today, so I turned off the road to detour over to Roosevelt Lake Bridge. Back in 1911, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the dam that bears his name, but it wouldn’t be until 1990 that the bridge was built. The dam was too narrow for modern cars, and so the bridge became a necessity. It is the longest two-lane, single-span, steel-arch bridge in North America. The bridge spans 1,080 feet across Roosevelt Lake, and while one can continue to Highway 60 further south, a shortcut to Phoenix via the Apache Trail is also found right here.

I’m opting for the dusty, unpaved Apache Trail, which is nearly 30 miles of a twisty, winding, sometimes very narrow road that travels through a gorgeous slice of Arizona and leads into the Superstition Mountains over to Tortilla Flats.

Apache Lake in the distance. It’s not uncommon to see trucks pulling boats on this primitive road to hang out at this popular recreation site.

The Superstition Mountains where legend has it there’s a lost gold mine somewhere out in the wilderness.

Some parts of the dirt road are in pretty good shape and are easily navigable, while others are nail-biters with blind corners that induce fear that someone towing a boat should come around the corner and force you to back up.

As I said earlier, it’s a beautiful route for those able to deal with less-than-ideal driving conditions.

Towards the end of the route, you can reward yourself with a visit to the Superstition Saloon in the famous biker hangout of Tortilla Flat.