One of the more interesting stretches of main travel corridors in North America is Interstate 15. I-15 starts its north-south journey at the United States-Canada border in Montana, where it follows the base of the Rockies before heading south into the mountains. Eventually, it passes through the Great Basin alongside the Wasatch Range of Utah and through the Mormon-founded cities of Salt Lake, Provo, Cedar City, and St. George, at which point it descends into the Mojave Desert. For the most part, I-15, like many other limited access highways, was engineered to provide for a relatively level driving experience that would eliminate both the speed-reductions inherent in climbing elevations by switchbacks and grades over 5% and also the engineering costs associated with such road design. For the traveler seeking a much more dramatic and scenic route, the Federal highways and local roads are definitely the way to go. This is not to say that the scenery is by any means boring. As noted, I-15 passes through a complete column of North American landscapes, from grasslands to mountains to deserts and finally into the unique landscapes of southern California between Victorville, California and San Diego. What it does mean is that the experience is a bit more manicured and serene rather than totally wild.
There are exceptions, of course. Despite the best intentions of planners and engineers, the rugged western North American landscape eventually puts up a challenge even to modern convenience. On such place is a short trip of less than 30 miles in extreme northwestern Arizona. Separating the small portion of the Mojave that surrounds St. George, Utah is an abrupt rise of elevation on nearly all sides. A few small tributaries of the Colorado River, and a larger one, the Virgin River, manage to cut through the western mountains of these surrounding peaks, often quite dramatically. The canyons these water courses create form the only real passes into the rest of the Mojave beyond, and the builders of I-15 had no choice but the follow the impressive cut that the Virgin had made, at least without blasting and tunneling through a lot of land. Even then, the work was expensive, and the drive would end up being nothing short of spectacular.
At a few points the sky disappears and one is surrounded by huge walls of rock, which owing to its Mojave location, are quite devoid of much in the way of vegetation other than sagebrush, creosote, various cacti, and Joshua trees. While the descent into St. George from the Great Basin to the north is the true entrance to the Mojave for I-15, this would be the first look inside the door into a grand entrance hall down a spiral staircase. The best part is, such a view through I-15 is only scratching the surface, as the second and higher floors above the canyon walls rise further into truly lovely lands of a marriage between desert and forests. I have only caught glimpses of this elevated world from the majesty below, but I was fortunate enough to come across a fellow blogger who knows the area quite well. His post can be found here.
Anyway, with as dramatic a drive as this is, one imagines it would keep unfolding into far more dramatic territory than the edge of the comparatively mundane Great Basin that the driver has left behind to the north. Well, it turns out that the Mojave shares the topographical characteristics of its cooler northern neighbor, which features large basins among high ranges. Not a mile after exiting the canyon, one comes across deceptively flat expanses of desert. I say deception is in order, because towering peaks loom once again around the flats for pretty much the rest of the trip through the desert. Nevertheless, it is quite a contrast!
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