Friday September 22nd 2017

As predicted, today was a cooler and windy day. The temperature only made it up to about 80 degrees. My leisurely stay at home approach to my visit in this area continued. I took advantage of the cooler weather to take a longer hike in the open desert area. I took plenty of water and a few provisions in my pack. When I feel like I’m prepared I can get ambitious. Today was no exception.

Cactus on the side of the trail.

Trail heading up the hill.

View of the Verde valley behind the yellowing desert bush.

I left my RV home and headed north up the hill. I continued on the trail past the boundary of the state park into the Coconino National Forest and kept climbing. At the top of the hill it leveled out at a cattle gate. I decided to turn back. If I continued on I’d either have to go down the far side and continue on for about three miles before intersecting with a 5 plus mile long trail back. It was too late in the day for that long a trek.

I was almost back to the trail head when that ambition associated with being prepared kicked in. I decided to take a branch trail to a different trail head. I only had a vague idea where that trail head was located. I knew I could always reverse direction. The new trail seemed to keep turning the wrong way. It went down through a dry wash and climbed out well to the west of the campground. I finally found a path back in the direction of the campground. When I finally returned to my RV home I approached it from the south. The last part of the hike was a big loop to the west and south.

Tuzigoot National Monument; an ancient hilltop pueblo.

Looking back up the trail that has been eroded by weather and dirt bicycles.

Valley view

All of the trails I was on are used by hikers and bicycles. Some of the trails in the park are also used by horses. Watching out for droppings on the trails shared with the horses is a necessity. I didn’t see any horses, but did see one pair of hikers on the trail. The campground has filled up for the weekend so I suspect the trails will be much busier tomorrow.