To get to Tonto, you take Route 60 from Phoenix, up to Globe. That drive takes you over the Gonzalez pass. We’d done this trip before, but from the opposite direction, and it was at night, so we’d missed the scenery. The mountains are strikingly beautiful, but what’s even more striking is when you get closer to Globe, and see the mines carved into the sides of the mountains there. I’m not sure how I actually feel about strip mining, but the results are certainly striking.
Once you turn off onto State Route 188, the Salt River Valley opens up in front of you. No camera will ever be able to do justice to that sight, but I’ve included a couple of pictures above as a reminder. There are certain things you just have to store in your memory banks, and the Roosevelt Lake is one of them. It’s such an amazing landscape.