Happy Jack Passage 28 of Arizona Trail

Weather:  68º, sunny

About this Hike:  Just over a month ago I explored a segment of the Arizona Trail (AZT) with the goal of seeing Turkey Mountain.  That hike enlightened me to about four more miles of AZT from AZ-87 to the trailhead parking area up along FR-82. 

With clear skies, and this being the first weekend in a while that I'm not dodging rain clouds, I decided today was the day to explore this part of Passage 28 of the AZT. 

I parked just off of 87 after driving through an unlocked cattle gate. The trail starts off in scorched ponderosa pine forest. Unfortunately, this defines the first mile or so of the hike. Many of the blackened trees don't appear to be completely dead. While about two-thirds of the lower needles are brown/orange, the crowns of the trees are still green. I wonder if they'll recover? Even more unfortunate, I believe this was controlled burns set by the USFS. I'll never understand how killing nearly all the trees in an area supports a healthy forest...

Eventually the condition of the forest did improve, although one never needed to look far to find fire-damaged ponderosas. The trail opens up at an overlook above Jack's Canyon and then descends into the canyon. The creeks still have a good amount of water in them from last week's torrential rain, but the few creek crossings were nearly dry and always easy to navigate. 

In the canyon and along the creek was the best part of this hike in my opinion. The shrubbery in the canyon is exhibiting its full display of fall color, and this made for some pretty reflections off the standing pools of water in the creek bed.

After about four easy miles of hiking I reached FR-82, which was my goal for the day. I had previously explored the AZT beyond this point. I briefly considered walking up 82 a ways, turning left at FR-93D and looping back on that. It looks like 93D follows a drainage, and I thought it might be an interesting approximately two mile extension to the hike. I kinda wish I had done it. Likely the extension would be more grassland and ponderosa forest...not that that's a bad thing. Regardless, I opted to make FR-82 my turnaround point. 

At the Hay Meadow Tank not so far from where I started there was a herd of cattle drinking the muddy water. Along with a herd of deer and a tarantula, this completed today's wildlife sightings. 

I continue to enjoy exploring segments of the AZT between Happy Jack and Flagstaff. 

Foggy Fall Mormon Mountain Hike

Weather:  60º, heavy cloud cover, humid

About this Hike:  Just about every weekend for the past month has brought rain. Arizona is receiving a lot of tropical moisture off the Pacific this year in a deluge that reminds me of the falls in 2018 and 2019. Despite the rain, I have found breaks in the downpours long enough to get out and go hiking every weekend. 

In recent past weekends I've noted that despite the rain most creeks and arroyos are dry. This finally changed. With nearly three inches of fresh rain in my backyard gauge this morning, creeks I've never seen flow before were chocolate-milk torrents today. But with radar indicating a break in the rain for most of Saturday, we couldn't keep our boots off the trail.

We opted to drive up to Mormon Mountain between Rim Country and Flagstaff. Not only would the cloudy, damp conditions create unique scenery, but we anticipated some fall color in the aspen stands at the top of the mountain. 

Ours was the only vehicle parked at the Mormon Trailhead parking area at the Dairy Springs Campground. A few brave tent campers were setup in the campground. The peak of Mormon Mountain was hidden by thick, gray clouds. 

The Mormon Mountain trail climbs 1,200 feet, yet it's never very steep. The climb is gradual and without narrow switchbacks and steep inclines. The trail is excellent and receives regular maintenance. I've done this climb once before, but it seems I failed to appreciate the thick, old-growth forest this hike traverses. 

Making it more magical was the damp conditions that are so rare for Arizona. As we climbed higher toward the summit at 8,400 feet we began to get into fog. The fog was like smoke, often swirling around us, but never so thick as to impede visibility. The old-growth trees were covered in pale-green moss. The unique gray light, the fog, and the lichens made this feel like an enchanted—if not slightly creepy—forest. 

The aspen fall color was hit or miss. Some were still green while others were starting to show a few yellow leaves. At the summit was where we found some peak fall color in the aspens. We ate lunch near the communications towers on top and then began the trek down. While we had cell service at the summit we checked the weather. It appeared a thunderstorm may be blowing in, although this never materialized—thankfully. In fact, we experienced no rain the entire afternoon, although the low, gray clouds indicated the heavens could unleash at any moment. 

As we hiked down, we appreciated the warming temperatures compared with the chilly, windy summit. Eventually we got out of the gray clouds that were hugging the top of the mountain. There was even some occasional sunshine breaking through the clouds. We paused at the viewpoint over Mormon Lake. Despite the rain, it's still dry as can be, although now there were a few puddles in the middle. I don't think Flagstaff and the Mormon Lake area received quite as much rain as we did in Payson. 

Today we could have chose to play it safe and stayed home. The weather didn't look promising. But I'm glad we got out. Not only did the weather cooperate, but we got to hike in some conditions that probably come around only once in many months. Today was a beautiful fall hike in an area we've been exploring so often as of late—the stretch between Rim Country and Flagstaff. 

Marshall Lake to Walnut Canyon

Weather:  70º, sunny, windy

About this Hike:  A couple months ago we did a quick day hike in Walnut Canyon. While a pretty area, Walnut Canyon isn't exactly new territory to me anymore. However, I did notice a segment of Arizona Trail intersects Walnut Canyon with a sign reading 'Marshall Lake 4.7 miles.' 

Since we've been exploring segments of the AZT all along Lake Mary Road this summer and fall, I wanted to come back and explore this Marshall-Lake-to-Walnut-Canyon segment. Today was the perfect day weather-wise, so I loaded up the truck and drove up to Flagstaff. 

I parked at Marshall Lake which has a good size parking area for the AZT trailhead. The so-called lake is a big grassy meadow right now. Last week's rain obviously didn't do much for it, but I'm sure it's beautiful when full of water. Perhaps after a wet winter I'll need to return to this area... The area is very popular for dispersed camping, and as usual, I found myself wishing I had small RV or camper van. 

The scenery along the trail looked like pretty much all the other hikes I've done near Lake Mary Road: stands of ponderosa, grasslands, meadows, and the occasional cattle tank. I saw just two other hikers and a few bicyclists. Otherwise, I had the trail to myself. Unfortunately many segments of forest are being actively logged in this area. Large dozer-line roads bisect the landscape while ponderosa logs are piled 20 feet or more high, their mulched branches littering the ground. 

The best scenery by far was the final 1.5 miles before descending into and joining Walnut Canyon. The forest turns more lush. Firs intersperse with the ponderosas. The views open up looking into the canyon, into Flagstaff, and toward the San Francisco Peaks. 

In the canyon and near the junction with the main trail there is a neat sandstone formation. It has a pale pink hue and the typical sandstone striations. There is a little rock overhang that some may want to call a cave. A quick climb up a side trail leads to a mini rock arch / window. 

While not a jaw-dropping hike, this was a fun ~10 mile round trip Saturday afternoon hike.