Day 17 - Staycation Saga - St. George, UT to Mesa, AZ

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Day 17 – Wednesday June 10, 2009—St. George to Mesa

So, we got up this morning, ate some breakfast, Shari was feeling much better, and then went down to the temple to take some pictures and learn some unexpected history. After about 30 minutes at the temple, we climbed in the car and began our longest stretch of non-scenic driving. (there was scenery, but we were doing 75 mph not 15 mph or 30 mph like most of the trip and we didn't stop to read any signs).
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We had heard that the bridge at the Hoover Dam near Las Vegas was done, so we decided to try going home that way. Well, it’s not. It only took us about 7 ½ hours to get home, which is about the same amount of time for the other routes, which wasn’t too bad. Once the bridge is done, it should cut quite a bit of time off of the drive from Vegas to Phoenix. We really didn’t hit any traffic, except road construction in Vegas and Dam traffic. The bridge is going to be AMAZING when it is done! The bridge will cut high above the canyon through the hills and be much straighter, wider and faster than the road currently being used. We arrived home in good time and are very grateful for this time together. We are now going to clean and unpack our newly bought first home! Yeah!


Historical Notes: 

 Temple & Honeymoon Trails

The Temple Trail (left side)
Teh Temple Trail is the route used from 1871 to 1877 to haul timber from Mt. Trumbull, Arizona (west of the Grand Canyon and north of Lake Mead), to St. George, Utah, for the building of the St. George LDS Temple. Pioneers traveled 80 miles along the rough, dirt road, hauling by horse drawn wagon, one million board feet of timber. In places, rock was laid by hand to build up a roadway which would support the heavy logging wagons. negotiating the trail laced with washes, canyons, and sandy areas, from the valley bottom to the rim of the Hurricane Fault, demonstrated the resourcefulness and faith of these Pioneers. 

The Temple Trail is still an obscure wagon road which has faded with the passage of time. The depressions formed by the wagon wheels are still visible in some places. The staging sites for the Temple Trail are at the Sawmill at Mt. Trumbull and here at the St. George Temple. 

The early settlers who were called to St. George were given an assignment to build a Temple in an inhospitable desert from scarece raw materials. They not only completed the tremendous task, but did so before building their own homes. The surrounding communities and the vast, wild, and beautiful Arizona Strip has had a long, and lasting relationship, worthy of note and celbration. 

The Bureau of Land Management joins with the people of the area in honoring this historic colonizing event

Old Arizona Road / Honeymoon Trail (right side)
The original Old Arizona Road linked the Little Colorado settlements in Arizona to northern Utah through Kanab, Utah, and Lee's Ferry, Arizona. Its southwestern extension, linked these same southern settlements to St. George, Utah, through Pipe Springs and the Arizona Strip. Settlers first began traveling this route in the 1860's and the road was established in the early 1870's. The Old Arizona Road soon became a major communication and transportation artery in addition to serving religious and economic functions. 

The St. George LDS Temple opened in 1877. Many faithful members of the church traveled the Old Arizona Road from southern Arizona to the temple to be married or participate in other rites of the church. The name "Honeymoon Trail" comes from this use. 

Religious use of the read declined with the arrival of railroads in northern Arizona and ceased in 1928 with the building of the Temple in Mesa, Arizona. The Old Arizona Road continued to be used for commerce and the segment from Pipe Springs to St. George was in use to the Mid-1930s, even though it was not paved until later. Today, U.S. Highways 89 and 89A parallel its original route near House Rock Valley, Arizona. Highway 89 in Utah follows the trail from Pioneer Gap into Kanab, Utah. In other segments, dirt roads follow or parallel the route.