{"id":65006,"date":"2015-09-03T00:47:38","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T06:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=65006"},"modified":"2020-03-20T19:27:24","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T23:27:24","slug":"sitgreaves-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=65006","title":{"rendered":"Sitgreaves Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sitgreaves Pass, named after Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves<\/a>, is a winding road that passes through the Black Mountains. This is the route from Oatman to Kingman AZ and it is not a road for the faint of heart. It is very windy and twisty with tons of blind corners that reveal butt-clenching “surprises” as you go through them (e.g. burros, sudden drops, fallen rock, crumbling mine entrances, or tourists who have stopped to feed the donkeys or take a photo). <\/p>\n

It’s said that in the “olden days” tourists would pay locals to drive their car through the pass or have their cars towed over the summit. I can understand why I saw many a driver with a look of concentration or terror on their face as they passed by. Motorcyclist stop frequently to “take a break” from the wind and road. <\/p>\n

But, I had a tiny car and learned how to drive in Nova Scotia where winding roads are a normal thing, so it wasn’t too bad. And, I will say that the route is one of the most beautiful I have ever travelled on.<\/p>\n

Memorials to the Departed<\/h3>\n

Peppered throughout the pass are little crosses. At just about every roadside stop you will find at least a small handful of crosses with pictures, names, or memorabilia. At first, I thought they might be Mohave graves or some sort of ritual because this is Aboriginal land, but I began to suspect that these are spots where ashes are spread.<\/p>\n

There is one particularly beautiful spot with enough crosses to make you think you are standing in a graveyard, the view is spectacular and at this point, you are able to see three states: Arizona, California, and Nevada. What a fantastic place to have your ashes spread.<\/p>\n