HAVE A VERY.....

 

The HAPPIEST of HOLIDAY WISHES

from our family to yours! 

A SUMMER OF HIKING

With 6" of snow on the ground and the temperature at 17 degrees, I can no longer deny the end of hiking season.  What I can do is share some enjoyable memories of this summer's hiking.

Hike #1:  Sandy's Canyon

I planned a vigorous hiking season for the summer, and started in May.  As is often the case, my first hike of the season was Sandy's Canyon.  It's not far from home and about 6 miles long, which is a good starting distance.  Parking is at the Canyon Vista Trailhead, and a short connector trail takes you to the intersection of Sandy's Canyon Trial.  I was accompanied by my constant hiking companions.

This is the vista part:

Some early spring flowers:

We intersect with Sandy's Canyon Trail:

At the bottom of the canyon.  Maggie can see a flea on a tree, and maybe that's what she's so interested in here.

A mentally ill arsonist was arrested for setting a series of 10 different fires in the Flagstaff area. One of them was here.  Fortunately, a quick response by the fire department minimized damage and the danger of a repeat of some recent catastrophic fires we've had.

The Sandy's Canyon trail ends here at this fascinating rock formation called Fisher Point.  The top  of Fisher Point is close to urban areas of Flagstaff, and hosts many more trails.

The trail continues on for another long mile into Walnut Canyon.  Unlike Sandy Canyon's wide-open aspect, the Walnut Canyon portion of the trail is narrowly enclosed by high vertical sides, and is dense with vegetation.  This portion of the trail ends where Mother Nature closes it with even more thick growth.

After a quick lunch, we turned around and retraced our steps, very pleased with our first hike.

 Hike #2:  Oldham Trail

Friend and faithful hiking partner Lea, who lives in the Williams area, called and said she was coming into Flagstaff for appointments and errands..would I like to do a hike early in the morning?  You bet!  We chose the Oldham Trail, which is part of the very urbanized Elden Trail system, most of which is shown on the map above.  Much of the Elden Trail system is within the Flagstaff city limits, and receives heavy usage from hikers and bicyclists.  The trail has some up and down challenges, and would be perfect for a couple hours of morning hiking.  So we thought.  Naturally, Lea and I were enjoying a good chat as we hiked, paying only enough attention to know the trail was in front of us.  We hiked as far as time allowed, then turned around.  We got back to a major intersection, which was jumbled with multiple official and unofficial trails.  Uh-oh. We took what we thought was the trail we'd hiked out on.  Pretty soon we were passing landmarks we didn't recognize.  We returned to the intersection and tried again.  Still not right.  We asked a passing runner and got directions.  We followed those directions, and ended up on a residential street.  We followed the street and soon Lea recognized the neighborhood and we were reoriented.  Some distance from where we thought we were, and our cars.  I won't say we were LOST, because we were essentially in town.  However, here's what the end of our hike looked like:

Hike #3:  Crystal Point/Odell Lake

This trail started out as a social trail in Munds Park, a summer home subdivision south of Flagstaff.  The Forest Service officially adopted it 20 or so years ago, and Ron was on the trail crew that cleaned it up and put up signs.  It's a delightful trail and receives a lot of deserved use from Munds Park residents.  I like to hike it early in the season because it's just far enough south to have perfect hiking temperatures. 

Here's a picture of Gypsy's rear-end, for a change.  Oh, and some trail scenery, with Sedona red rock country visible in the background.

This picnic table is at the end of the Crystal Point portion of the trail..  The boxes are filled with years worth of  journals containing interesting comments from hikers.  

On to Odell Lake:

As we hiked down to the lake, flora went from desert-like to riparian:

The dogs love the splashing they get to do here:

Again, a quick lunch and we retraced our steps.

Hike #4:  Spring Valley

Ron joined my constant companions and I for this hike:

This is a delightful loop hike that is used for cross country skiing in the winter and hiking the rest of the year.  

The scenery is terrific, both up close and far away:

Hike #5:  Spring Valley (again!)

I'd so enjoyed the Spring Valley trail  that when Lea was ready for another hike, I suggested it for her and I.

Should I say that though we once again enjoyed a good chat, we also paid much stricter attention to our whereabouts?

Hike #6:  Kendrick Mountain

The Kendrick Trail in July is a beautiful hike, with great views like this

 as well as lots of greenery and flowers.

Just below the top is this old lookout cabin, empty but in good repair.

We found an area with these little strawberries.  I picked and ate quite a tasty few!

We didn't go up to the lookout tower this time, as a monsoon was starting to come in.

We started down looking at this.

It chased us all the way down

but we arrived back at the car having suffered only a few drops of rain.


Hike #7 Benham Trail

Lea, Gypsy and I hiked this this trail.  Maggie stayed home with an injured shoulder.  The trail starts out not so steep, but the last mile or so will get your heart pounding!  As always, nice views.

Hike #8 Mormon Mountain

Ron and my constant K9 companions joined in.

Fall is the time for mushrooms and fungus in the forest, and we couldn't believe how many different kinds we saw during this hike.

At the top of this hike is a log that's been decaying for years. I posed Maggie to look like our dog Betsey when I took her picture at the same log in the early '90's. 

You might be able to guess where we had lunch after this hike:

Hike #9 Sycamore Rim Trail

Lea and I did this hike during the October Staycation.  The Sycamore Rim Trail is a 12 mile loop.  Lea and I didn't have time for that, so we hiked a 3 mile section out and back.  Though I hoped to hike the rest of this trail in sections, it didn't happen.  There's always next year!  Lea's dog Petey joined Maggie and Gypsy.

Sycamore Canyon is deep and remote.  There's one bushwhack trail through it which Ron hiked years ago and I never have (nor will).  I like the rim...all that scenery!

Hike #10 Sweetwater Preserve

This was the Tucson hike we did during our Family Gathering in October.

Hike #11 AZT

Ron and I did this hike during our October Staycation.



Hike #12:  Odell Lake (Revisited)

In late October Lea and I wanted another hike.  Since it was quite coolish in Flagstaff, the Odell Lake hike was again the perfect solution.  Lea brought her daughters Shaylee and Chyanne.  I didn't realize it was their first-ever hike, and they accomplished the 7.6 miles in amazing shape.  Go Girls!

A break at the picnic table included the girls making entries in the hiking journals.

Fall is when tarantulas come out, and we saw this one.  Though they're quite tame and many people handle them, all of us were in full girl mode and were satisfied with pictures.

The oaks at the end of the trail were in their full fall foliage.

And so it ends.  Lea and I have talked about some winter hiking in Sedona.  We'll see if we can make that happen.

"How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, and the hills and the sky?  Anyone knows they are.  How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm, the rhythm of the day and the season instead of the hour and the minute?  No, you cannot explain.  So you walk."
-   Source Unknown