04/03/02 Hiking Kendrick Mountain Trail (7 miles round trip):
Mid/upper 30's last night. I found another camping area in the Coconino National Forest north of Flagstaff on US-180 at 7500 feet. Wandered around and found the trailhead for Kendrick Mountain Trail.
I started at 7700 feet which is as high as I've been since last September in the Rockies. The trail led up through large Ponderosa Pine. A wildfire had been through here sometime in the past few years. Little undergrowth and blackened tree trunks 5-6 feet high. The radio has been saying this is the driest winter in Arizona in recorded history and they expect lots of wildfires as a result. I'll be moving my old butt out of here shortly and hope to miss all of that.
A half mile brought me to a sign indicating I was entering the Kendrick Mountain Wilderness. At 8500 feet large aspens became the predominant tree as signs of the wildfire gave out. Great views of valleys below, meadows, forest, peaks and ranges.
The trail continues upward at a moderate incline. The legs were good and the heart and lungs seemed OK. The mind gave out at 9500 feet though. I probably shouldn't even have been hiking at this altitude without any buildup and common sense took over at 1:45 minutes with another 700-800 feet to go yet.
I continued north on US-180 towards the Grand Canyon. Passed the results of another wildfire and then a cow and a bull elk with a nice rack crossed the road in front of me. I saw them in plenty of time so had no problem in slowing down.
I was headed for Red Butte Trail in the South Rim section of Kaibab National Forest when I spotted a sign for Red Mountain Trail. Checking it out I saw a sign that made it sound interesting so I backtracked to find a camping spot and will do it tomorrow.
04/04/02 Hiking Red MountainTrail (3 miles round trip):
30's again last night but the temperature rises quickly once the sun is up over the mountains. Got to the Red Mountain trailhead at 8am. Reading the sign a little closer showed the trail to only be 1.5 miles, one way. Oh well! Off I went anyway.
Red Mountain, as seen from the road is a red sandstone cliff rising several hundred feet. The trail is through big, old junipers and pinon trees. I followed the trail at full walking speed but there was enough incline that I had the heart working at an good rate. Ponderosa pines appeared towards the end of the trail.
The trail ends at the base of the cliffs. Here are large, fat, conical shaped columns rising 40-50 feet in the air. These things are called cinder cones and were created by some sort of volcanic activity a million years ago.
Hiking Red Butte Trail (2.4 miles round trip):
This trail starts at 6500 feet and rises to 7500 feet in 1.2 miles. I could see the red butte from the road and thought it would be a good trail to stretch the legs out on. The trail leads up through juniper trees at a moderate incline until near the end when things get steeper. It had me huffing and puffing and resting before I got to the top.
The top of the butte is about 200-300 feet long/wide. A fire tower sits up there along with a picnic table and a toilet. The view is 360 degrees of the Coconino Valley floor, meadows, forests, the north rim of the Grand Canyon and mountain ridges.