A person has to be grateful for the outright coincidences that land them where they are, and there is no end to my gratitude that Ron and I ended up in Flagstaff. We can enjoy the Coconino National Forest literally and figuratively out our front door 24/7/365.
The Coconino National Forest is a Living Being. She is ~1.8 million acres of public land and is the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in North America. She knows everything. Her geography includes Humphrey's Peak, the highest point in AZ, and the Verde River and its valley. Her geology the includes enormous volcanic fields around Flagstaff and the Red Rocks of Sedona.. An abundance of plant and animal life call her home. She is well versed in flood, fire, drought and disease. Humans use her responsibly and irresponsibly. Hers is an on-going life being well-lived.
With Covid-19 such an apparent monster and public information being only relatively reliable, I decided to indulge in an abundance of caution and practice a One-Woman hiking season this year. Since I'd be hiking alone, I set a few parameters. One was that I would only explore the Kelly Off Highway Vehicle trail system, which is local to home, fairly well marked physically and available on a GPS map I have on my phone. Another parameter was to limit my hiking distance to 6 miles, which meant 3 miles out and 3 miles back. The final two parameters were weather related. As the summer developed to be a hotty, I decided not to hike on days when 90+ degrees was predicted. As there is typically a summer monsoon season, I decided not to hike on days when the chance of monsoon was predicted for 60%+. These were sustainable parameters.
An aside for those who know that Gypsy has been my Constant Hiking Companion for years: I tried a couple of One-Woman and Her Dog hikes. The distance and heat were too much for an aging Gypsy, so I retired her from hiking. Don't be sad for Gypsy, though. She and Jasmine go on daily rambles with Ron. Ron's rambling pace and distance is perfect for all of them. It gives the dogs plenty of time for stop and go running, digging, sniffing, chasing squirrels and otherwise enjoying the Forest in every conceivable doggy way.
The Kelly Off Highway Vehicle trail system was conceived by the Coconino National Forest in 2011 when they closed many secondary forest roads to vehicles. Off-roaders are part of the recreating public, and rather than have them riding willy-nilly, this beautifully designed system of approximately 100 miles of trail was developed specifically for off-road vehicles, including motorcycles and utvs/atvs. Hikers, bikers and equestrians are welcome, but motorized vehicles are the target group. As I've mentioned here before, I'd done a little solo hiking on it a few years ago and liked it. Sue and I really started exploring it over the past two summers and both loved it.
Though there are maps available on the Forest Service website and at the trailheads, I didn't find them very useful. The GPS map on my phone was my primary source of location. As it developed, since I was on marked trails and hiking only 3 miles at a time, I didn't have much fear of getting lost. So I chose to take an exploratory attitude. I chose not to plan ahead other than my starting point, but kept track of where I was during the actual hike. I started out re-hiking some of the portions of trail Sue and I had hiked. This was very satisfactory until I came across this sign, which opened up a whole new KOHV trail to me:
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| The adventure started here! |
When I followed the arrows on this sign, I came out at a familiar place, plus saw a series of signs indicating connection after connection to other parts of the trail. I was in heaven! The ways this trail system connects is a never ending fascination. Every hike took me to a place where there was another connection, and another hike for me.
This hiking season was pure enjoyment. I ended up doing 15 hikes; a respectable Hiking Series, I'd say! I loved the variety of the Forest as I hiked. Although I'll take a beautiful view and got to enjoy a couple, they're not necessary for me. The hike IS the reward. Come along and I'll show you!
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| The Forest in her greenery, early in the season. |
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| One of the views. |
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| Here, too! |
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| A pretty tank. |
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| The endlessly fascinating patterns of Nature. |
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| I've heard if you lay on the ground and hold your bare feet against a tree for awhile, it will tell you its story. Wouldn't this mighty juniper have a tale to tell? I'd like the bolt of lightning part! |
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| Fire is part of the life of the Forest. |
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| This area was covered with very round volcanic rocks like I'd never seen. |
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| Here's one partially born! |
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| An iconic fall Flagstaff picture: a field of Showy Goldeneye. |
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| The trail was often very rocky like this. Early on I switched from lightweight hiking boots to sturdier backpacking boots and still got footsore. |
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| There were numerous grates like this to make fence crossing easy for motorized vehicles. This was a real commitment to trail building. |
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| Many people enjoy the Forest this way. |
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| One of the ways the Forest works for us is through grazing leases. Steak on the hoof! |
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| This long-standing thinning project benefits the Forest through density management, and the contractor by providing timber for sale. |
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| It's a rough, raw look while it's happening, but necessary. In a few years, the Forest will have a new face, filled in with lower growing plants and plenty of flowers. |
It wrapped up this way: every year, despite looking up dates and trying to stay cognizant, I'm surprised by hunting season. As with the Running Series, I didn't have a number of hikes in mind for this Series, or a particular stopping date. Until I looked at my calendar last week and discovered that Friday antelope and deer archery season started, and my hikes were right in those units! Archery season will roll right into rifle seasons. FULL STOP! My hike this past Thursday ended a fantastic Summer Hiking Series.
"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
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