After leaving Pica we headed towards Yampai. In an eastbound context, Yampai marks the end of the Yampai Canyon and from here BNSF’s trackage descend towards Pica and into Aubrey Valley for the run to Seligman. Yampai is rather remote yet offers some compelling opportunities, depending on local road and lighting conditions, so I wanted to try my luck there…
Our Best Trip Ever - Part 13 - West Out of Seligman
After a nice and chilled evening at the Seligman/Route 66 KOA, we packed up the next morning and “prepared the cabin for departure.” After dumping our waste water and filling our propane tanks we headed out westbound on Route 66 through Seligman, Arizona. At this point we didn’t have any particular destination in mind. Rather, we knew the route we wanted to travel though. We wanted to stay on Route 66, which follows the BNSF’s Seligman Subdivision, as it meanders through some of the most beautiful scenery in northern Arizona. Interstate 40 takes a more direct and southernly route from Seligman directly to Kingman, Arizona. We were taking the road less traveled…
Our Best Trip Ever - Part 12 - Seligman, Stackers, Sunset
Having had a great time exploring the “back country” of BNSF’s Seligman Subdivision, and truthfully a little dogged out from the rough roads, I was content to head towards Selgiman for the night. We had spent some time there on previous trips but we only used Seligman as a base for operations and we never really spent time photographing the area. I knew there were some nice spots with a lot of potential so we left Crookton and drove the few miles west to Seligman to get a spot for the night…
Convergence at Crookton
After leaving the Canyon Diablo bridge we meandered west along Interstate 40 towards Williams, Arizona. By this point it was late afternoon and the lighting was getting good. I was hoping to shot at a location we discovered during our last trip to this area in 2006. It is a cool spot near Williams that affords a semblance of solitude and the railroad track alignment offers some great curves to accentuate the struggle trains face climbing the Arizona Divide. We dubbed this area “Scary Bear Road” because the area was remote and certainly seemed like bear country to us. (We have “friendly names” for many of our railfanning locations to help differentiate them and make them easier to remember…)