Weather: 78ยบ, clouds and sun
About this Hike: Last Saturday's hike on the Mormon Lake side of Arizona Trail (AZT) Passage 30 was so enjoyable that we opted to continue it. Picking up at Horse Lake Trailhead, we were now on the other side of Lake Mary Road. Judging from the map, I expected some views of Lake Mary and hoped for dense ponderosa pine forest.
There ended up being a stark difference between this section of Passage 30 compared to what we hiked on last weekend. The dense ponderosa forest was gone. Atop Anderson Mesa is a lot of savannah grassland. Ponderosa pines are mixed in, but they are far less dense and are accompanied by more juniper and occasional pinon pine. Despite recent rains, many of the meadows looked absolutely parched and featured dried out grasses. Namesake Horse Lake was just a dry meadow.
The AZT in this section follows old ATV roads. They are rutted and tore up in places, and of course you always have to be listening to the drone of an approaching ATV or side-by-side. Its not a great hiking surface and my feet and back get tired and sore when hiking along old roadways. There are also a lot of unauthorized roads, making careful route following important. The AZT has surprisingly few markers at some of these confusing junctions.
While the trail lended to a few good views of Humphrey's and Mormon Mountain, the views were never spectacular. Maybe there would have been a viewpoint of Lake Mary if we continued another half mile or so. We opted to turn around about a half mile before the connector trail into Lakeview Campground.
It is always nice to be in the outdoors. However, today's hike was quite lackluster compared our hike just across the street a week ago, testament to the many microclimates that make up Arizona.
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