Continuing Passage 30 - Up on Anderson Mesa

Weather:  78º, 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. 

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. 

Arizona Trail - Turkey Mountain

Weather:  73º, sun

About this Hike:   Today we visited another segment of the Arizona Trail up in the area near Happy Jack. This summer we've been exploring various segments of the Arizona Trail, usually accessed off Lake Mary Road between Payson, Happy Jack, and Flagstaff. 

Today the plan was to visit a place called Turkey Mountain. I didn't expect much from this so-called "mountain," but was also curious why it merits a sign pointing it out from Lake Mary Road. 

I mapped the drive in via Forest Road 93, which is the signed turn-off from Lake Mary to Turkey Mountain. All of the dirt forest roads in this area have been excellent graded gravel. With this being a lower-numbered road (usually more accessible to vehicles per the USFS road numbering guidelines), I expected more of the same. And at first it was... Unfortunately, a few miles in smooth, graded gravel gave way to a narrower, rockier road. It quickly became rutted and with steep stair-step ledges. My Tacoma probably could have handled it. However, I was still three miles from where I intended to join Arizona Trail and start the hike. I didn't have the energy for a drive like this today. 

After studying the map, I opted to return to Lake Mary Road and turn at Forest Road 211 in Happy Jack. This proved to be a good choice. We parked the truck at FR-211 and a short ATV road thru Jack's Canyon. I could have continued up FR-211 and turned onto FR-82, but we short-cutted a big corner by doing it this way, plus I was sick of driving at this point, my legs eager to hit the trail. 

The short hike thru Jack's Canyon was enjoyable as it followed a dry, winding creek bed with some neat rock formations. The ponderosa forest in much of Jack's Canyon seems to have suffered some recent fire damage. Not enough to torch the crowns of the trees, but enough that the younger, smaller ponderosas are all dead now. I dubbed it "Arizona's Black Forest." 

The next segment of the hike involved a walk along FR-82. This was another excellent dirt and gravel road. In retrospect, I wish I would have mapped the FR-211 to FR-82 route and had just done this in the first place, but then I never expected FR-93 to be so bad. 

We walked FR-82 and arrived at a gated trailhead for Arizona Trail. There were a few cars parked there. I really wished at this point we had just driven up...

Regardless, this provded to be an enjoyable segment of Arizona Trail. It was nothing like the 'rainforest' we experienced on the heart of the rim last weekend. Instead of towering spruces, firs, and rocks coatted in moss, this part of the rim is all ponderosa, juniper, and an occasional oak with a grassland floor. Just the same, the grasses have all greened up nicely with the recent rain, although the numerous cattle tanks and creeks in this area were still dry as a bone. 

We eventually reached FR-93 and used that to hike back to Turkey Mountain. A white Toyota Tundra was parked out there, testament to the fact my Tacoma could've done that road. 

The hike along 93 was unpleasant. It was exposed, rough, and rocky. The landscape changed to short, fat junipers and grassland that looked more like high-desert savannah. However, the pines came back into view as we approached Turkey Mountain. With a prominence of about 300 feet, this little knoll was otherwise nothing impressive. Still I wonder, why does it merit a sign from Lake Mary Road pointing it out? Surely there's something special about it? 

We returned the way we came. It was late in the day and the light had changed, giving the forest that unique late-day glow. The hike back was a bit of a slog as were getting sore and tired. We ended up doing about 15 miles round trip which was far more than I had planned for. It was good to experience another segment of the Arizona  Trail today.