Weather: 37º, sunny
About this Hike: I have snowshoe hiked at Arizona Nordic Village many times. It's a beautiful forest setting with well groomed and signed trails. Inevitably after the long drive up to Flagstaff, it often seems to take another hour to get up to the Nordic Village. Oftentimes, this is the only option as Nordic Village is at higher elevation than downtown Flagstaff. There may be no snow in town, but plenty to play in at The Village.
One thing about Arizona snow is that it never lasts long. You need to run to it when it comes. This is especially true if you want to enjoy it in Flagstaff. It snows heavy in Flag, but it never stays long.
This past week going into the weekend was a 'perfect storm.' I decided to shorten the drive up to Flagstaff and spend Friday night in Sedona. It's only 28 miles (via SR 89A which was closed) to Flag, right? It always takes no less than an hour to get between the two Northern Arizona cities.
Regardless, for the last two years I've wanted to explore more of the extensive network of trails beginning in Buffalo Park and heading toward Mount Elden. Two years ago I got a small taste of these trails, and was left wanting for a lot more.
Today did not disappoint. I estimate we covered somewhere around 6-8 miles. Unlike Nordic Village's groomed trails, this was trudging thru ungroomed, deep snow. It was a workout. The morning started with perfect powder, and as the Arizona sun heated up, the snow became heavier and slushier. The pines were caked in white, but it soon began dropping in the sun. I opted to drop my ski sweater, leaving only a thermal athletic shirt on. I was still too warm most of the time.
Trails in this network are well labeled with signs and orange blazes on the trees. I still carried a phone with a Buffalo Park map downloaded on the AllTrails app so I could use GPS to help navigate. It can be a lot trickier following a trail when everything is covered in white.
Buffalo was very busy and people were getting creative with parking (many of which ended up getting stuck!). This offered me my first chance to drive my truck in the snow, and the 4x4 did not disappoint. I scored a great parking spot simply because I was able to plow thru several inches of snow without getting stuck.
I thoroughly enjoyed this snow-venture. I'm from a city in Upstate New York that holds the same name as the aforementioned park in Flagstaff. I moved to Arizona to get away from snow. But Arizona snow is different. It's warmer. More of a rare treat. I appreciate going to the snow to play instead of having it forced on me. I only wish I lived a little closer to Flag so I could run to the rarity of fresh Arizona snow more often.
