Heading out of Cottonwood, I saw a   mountainside that  had a big white " J" for " Jerome."

Here is a  close-up of the mountain above.

This sign for Jerome said " road open 365 days a year."

The road to Jerome was designated as " Historic US 89A," but it is now SR 89A, the US route designation having been eliminated for 89 and 89A in most of (and possibly all of) Arizona.

The climb to Jerome was somewhat steep, and I quickly rose above Cottonwood in the distance.

Although this sign marked Jerome's city limits, I still had a long way to go.

Ten minutes later, I came to another sign for Jerome. The town was 1,700 feet above Cottonwood, but there was still plenty more climbing to do.