John Classen, Course Master of the Motorcycle Cannonball, reports new heights for today. Having reached an elevation of above 7,700 feet for this day, John declares that the rest of the trip is, as they say, “all downhill from here.”

STAGE 13- From Gallup, NM to Flagstaff, AZ

Thursday, September 23

Today’s 196 miles of travel affords our riders opportunities to see more antelope and some wild burros, hopefully off in the distance as we pass scenic vistas and southwestern horizons for more than half the day. We will travel on a combination of US highways and state and Indian Nation highways. Part of the roadways include rough pavement and, as always, riders need to be vigilant. We cross through Navajo, Hopi, and Apache Reservations, with most of the day being spent in the Navajo Nation.

We will gain an hour as we pass out of the Mountain Standard Time Zone into the Pacific Standard Time Zone.

As we approach Flagstaff, our overnight city, riders will pass through volcanic country and cinder cones can be seen from the roadside. We will ride out of the semi-arid desert into a 7,000-foot elevation. The area around Flagstaff is considered a high altitude semi-desert, and is located adjacent to the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in North America. Temperatures fall precipitously after sunset throughout the year, and an average of 2-3 inches of rain falls here during the month of September, with daytime temperatures in the low 70s.

Flagstaff is in close proximity to the Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, and Yavapai reservations and is home to Northern Arizona University as well as the Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered in 1930 using one of the observatory’s telescopes. On October 24, 2001 the city was recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association as the world’s first “International Dark-Sky City.”

Flagstaff is located at the foot of the San Francisco Peaks, a range that includes Humphrey’s Peak, the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,633 feet, it was said that back in the Gold Rush days, the lights of San Francisco could be seen from the top of this mountain, which seems highly improbable. The first permanent settlement in Flagstaff was built in 1876 and is the county seat for Coconino County.

US Historic Highway 66 was completed in 1926 and ran through Flagstaff, and is also mentioned in the lyrics of the song “Route 66.”

By the end of Stage 13, our Motorcycle Cannonball riders will have traveled a total of 2,731 miles on this historic transcontinental journey.