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Friday, May 4, 2012

Six stock tanks and a herd of elk near Happy Jack

SHUFFS TANK
Happy Jack, AZ
Where there’s water, there’s wildlife and because of its numerous stock tanks, natural pools and soggy drainages, animals tend to congregate on the Happy Jack passage of the Arizona Trail.  Running 31.2 miles from AZ87 near the Blue Ridge ranger station to Lake Mary Road near Allan Lake, this mild section of trail is a beautiful mix of pine-oak forests and wide-open meadows.  Hoping to spot roaming elk and deer, we made an easy “stock tank” themed out-and-back day hike on the northern part of this passage.  Beginning at the Gooseberry Spring trailhead (head southeast--right when facing the sign), the trail passes by six watering holes.  All but two will likely vaporize by summer, but the two big ones should survive the season.  The first water appears to the left of the trail in under a mile of hiking and is little more than a natural shallow bog cluttered with water buttercups.  Tank number two is a bulldozed depression dug out where the trail briefly follows a dirt road.  Third water shows up as a tiny grass-choked pond shortly before the trail encounters Maxie Tank---one of the big ones.  Less than a mile farther, we met a local woman sitting near a deer blind on the far side of tank number four.  She is an avid wildlife watcher and says that the best time to spot animals at the tanks is between 7 a.m and 9 a.m. As it was nearly 10 a.m. when we arrived at tank four, we wrote off seeing any elk on this trip.  At the 4-mile point is Shuffs Tank.  Ringed by fragrant Ponderosa pines, wet meadows full of wildflowers, and hundreds of animal footprints, this was by far the biggest of the six tanks on our hike.  Here, thousands of Rocky Mountain irises are popping through the mucky swamplands south of the tank---they should start blooming in next few weeks. We decided to take a lunch break on the northwest shore, still hoping to spot animals.  Up until then, our only sightings had been the back end of a coyote, a mountain bluebird and thousands of gopher burrows. (Do butterflies and ants count?) Then, on the way back, about 2 miles from the trailhead, we hit pay dirt---a herd of 5 elk roughly 100 yards ahead of us.  By some miracle, Shortie the hiking dog had not spotted them and his handler was able to leash him while I camera stalked.  Click on the “more photos” link below to see the beasts (and Shortie) in action.
First water hole

LENGTH: 8 miles out-and-back
RATING: easy
ELEVATION: 7,500’- 7,555’
KID FRIENDLY: yes, excellent choice
DOGS: water, wildlife--chasing!
GETTING THERE:
Gooseberry Spring trailhead:
From Phoenix, travel north on I17 to Camp Verde.  Connect to SR260 east (Payson) and go 33.6 miles to SR87 (Beeline Hwy).  Turn north (left) and drive 10 miles to Lake Mary Road (FR3) which is just past Clint’s Well.  Turn northwest (left) and follow Lake Mary Road 21.1 miles to FR 935 (signed Gooseberry Spring), turn right and drive 0.2 mile to the signed AZT trailhead.  Paved up to the last 0.2 mile. Passenger cars okay.   For alternative directions, see "Four Gates" hike below.
INFO: Arizona Trail Association
MORE PHOTOS:

Monday, April 30, 2012

GOOSEBERRY SPRINGS TRAILHEAD

Arizona Trail Passage #30 
Coconino National Forest
First gate

Four gates plus 15 minutes = 10 miles.  That’s the crazy equation we developed for a pleasant, easy hike near Allan Lake.
Second gate
Third gate
We did this by following part of passage #30 of the Arizona Trail (AZT) with a GPS to measure our mileage and we determined that all one really needs to do to gauge a 10-mile out-and-back hike is count gates. Here’s the plan.  From the trailhead, begin hiking northwest (go left from the sign crossing the road) through a meadow following the AZT sign posts.  You’ll come to GATE #1 at the 0.5-mile point. Pass the gate, hike a few yards and cross Lake Mary Road (FR 3) where GATE #2 greets you at 0.51 mile on the west side of the road.  From here, the trail parallels FR 3 for a short distance before meeting GATE #3. Here, the signage is a bit confusing. The AZT sign points away from the gate, as if instructing you to go left. However, the correct route goes through the gate, (not around as the sign seems to indicate), and you’ll encounter another AZT sign near a dirt road. Cross the dirt road, hang a right after a few feet and follow the old railroad bed heading north.  This section passes the marshy headwaters of Allan Lake. You won’t see any AZT signs for a while, but they will appear again at critical junctions, so stay alert.  Once we passed GATE #4, we hiked for another 15 minutes or so to make an even 5 miles. As with all gates on forest lands--close them behind you --unless signage instructs otherwise.

LENGTH: 10 miles roundtrip
RATING: easy
ELEVATION:  7,450 - 7,500 feet
THE RULES: non-motorized use only
DOGS: leashed dogs okay
KIDS:  good choice
DISTANCE FROM PHOENIX: 130 miles one-way
GETTING THERE:
ALLAN LAKE (a.k.a. Gooseberry Springs) TRAILHEAD:
From Phoenix, go 75 miles north on AZ87 (Beeline Highway) to Payson.  At the intersection of AZ87/260, continue north on AZ87 to Clint’s Well and turn left onto Lake Mary Road (FR 3).  Continue 21.1 miles on FR 3 to milepost 312.2, turn right (east) onto a gated dirt road for Gooseberry Spring (FR 935) and drive 100 yards to the signed parking area on the right.  Hike begins across the road--head northwest toward the campground following the AZT signs. For alternative directions, see Shuffs Tank. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Hiking Flagstaff's plateau lakes


HORSE LAKE
Mormon Lake Arizona Trail Passage 30
Elk skeleton in Horse Lake: April 28, 2012

Pinion pines and junipers on Anderson Mesa
Triple digit heat has arrived in the Valley and with it comes the annual hiking exodus to higher elevations.  From October through April, we desert dwellers tend to frequent hiking trails in an elevation range of 1,000-4,000 feet.  Come May--we migrate.  I don't know about you, but my first few high elevation (7,000'+) hikes of the year leave me more breathless and more tired than expected.  That's why I like to do a couple of easy ones first.  The mostly flat "plateau lakes" section of the Arizona Trail-- commonly known as “Horse Lake”--fits this objective perfectly.  Part of 33.9-mile passage #30 of the Arizona Trail (AZT), this easy-to-access route wanders past three ponds (Vail, Prime and Horse) on the pine-pinion-juniper shaded meadows of Anderson Mesa northeast of Mormon Lake. These fugitive "lakes" vacillate between hip-deep pools and soggy swales in sync with rainfall.  Regardless of water levels, the mesa manages to stay moist enough to support plenty of flora and fauna.  In late April, the meadows begin blooming and yesterday, we found lots of Woodhouse phlox, stem-less daisies and yellow spiny daisies. Most hikers prefer to do this as key-exchange trek, parking vehicles at both the Marshall Lake and Horse Lake trailheads meeting in the middle for a 10.5-mile one-way hike.  For our one-car day trip, we began at Horse Lake trailhead, hiked out to Horse Lake and then doubled back.  Easy. 
Hazy view of Flagstaff's  San Francisco Peaks

LENGTH: 7.6 miles roundtrip (as described here)
RATING: easy
ELEVATION: 7,090' - 7,142'
DOGS: leashed dogs allowed
BEST SEASON: Mid-April thru October
DISTANCE FROM PHOENIX: 160 miles one way
GETTING THERE:
Horse Lake (south) trailhead:
From Phoenix, travel north on I-17 to exit 339 for Lake Mary Road located south of the I-40 junction
just before entering Flagstaff. Turn right and continue to the bottom of the off ramp where there's a Circle store.  Turn right again and go 16.3 miles south on Lake Mary Road (FR3) to milepost 327 and turn left on FR82E (Ashurst Lake/Pine Grove).  The Horse Lake trailhead is 0.7 mile ahead on the left.
Marshall Lake (north) trailhead:
From Phoenix, travel north on I-17 to exit 339 for Lake Mary Road located south of the I-40 junction
just before entering Flagstaff. Turn right and continue to the bottom of the off ramp where there's a CircleK store.  Turn right again and go 10.5 miles to FR 128 on the left (signs say observatory--it's easy to miss).  Follow curvy FR 128 2 miles to the big Marshall Lake sign/fence, turn left and continue less than a mile to the signed AZT parking area.
INFO:
Arizona Trail Association:
Coconino National Forest, Flagstaff Ranger District: 928-526-0866