Spring Driving Conditions in Eastern Arizona

[Orange]

Just a general warning for drivers in the high-country...the routes in and around Show-Low and the rest of the White Mountains...there is a great elk migration or something going on...it's crazy. The pictures here were taken right after we hit one on the 260, 100 yards from our turn-off at Sunrise. Suck! While the DPS officer was taking our report, he received another call...a driver hit an elk 10 miles west of where we were. They are REALLY bad!

Post-Elk

I tried to highlight the elk hairs here...not sure they showed up well.

[joebartels]

Sorry to hear!

We nicked one ten days ago returning from the Grand Canyon.

A little over a decade ago I was shocked to hear Sitgreaves in 2002, there were six Elk accidents, per mile of road.

[azbackpackr]

I lived in the White Mountains for most of the time from 1999 to 2013. I did not drive at night outside of my towns, Springerville-Eagar. I can't remember a single time I was driving at night outside of the towns that I didn't almost hit an elk, and once we did hit a deer. And I drove at night or was on the road in a car at night probably no more than a dozen times in 14 years. It is not safe at any time of the year, but there are sometimes when the elk are moving uphill or down due to seasonal changes, and those times are even worse.

Just don't drive at night in the White Mountains. Period. I lived there 14 years, and I lived by that rule as much as possible.

[outdoor_lover]

@Poochie
You're actually lucky you weren't killed...Elk are heavy enough to go through the Windshield completely and there have been Fatalities due to that....Glad it wasn't worse!

[Orange]

@Outdoor Lover
Oh I know...I came close to needing some new pants for sure... The way the thing hit, and the fact the driver was able to steer into the elk at an angle, there could not have been a better result. Even Marco asleep in the backseat didn't fly up or anything. We knew we were lucky. And when a navajo family from Springerville stopped to help us and make some calls in town, and offer us their front yard to camp in for the night, we knew we were blessed. Believe it or not, there are still some good people out there!