One of the many wonders to anticipate in northern Arizona is the day in late summer when the Verbesina enceliodes, Golden Crownbeard, bursts out in this brilliant vista.
Tag Archives: San Francisco Peaks
Hiking in the Cool Country of Northern Arizona
A short, easy Summer loop hike from Snow Bowl Road on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff leads to Alfa Fia Tank.
The Trailhead for Alfa Fia Tank begins at this post and rail fenced meadow. Parking a car is easy.
The San Francisco Peaks as seen from the shoulder of the mountain.
A butterfly on wild Iris.
Deep ferns line the trail.
Aspen, Spruce and Ponderosa Pine trees.
The first view of the meadow and the distant cinder cones of the San Francisco Volcanic Field.
Alfa Fia Tank.
Tall Aspens surround the meadow.
The meadow offers many great picnic spots.
The area once was fenced, but only the posts and a few strands of barbed wire remain.
Rain closes in on the trail. The Summer monsoon season typically lasts through July, with frequent showers and thunderstorms.
Arizona’s desert climate: just add water.
Now you see them…
Now you don’t! Monsoon rains brought plenty of of moisture to Arizona this summer.
What must seem commonplace elsewhere is a real treat in dry Arizona. Now just add sunlight and the mountain will be back.
Hiking the Kachina and Weatherford Trails
The Kachina Trail runs along the southern side of the San Francisco Peaks, shown here, at the 9800 foot line. The highest Peak is Humphreys Peak at 12, 643 feet. This is the highest point in Arizona. This photo was taken from Schultz Pass Road at about 7000 feet elevation. Flatlanders planning on hiking the area should allow time for acclimation.
The Kachina trail is named for the Kachina Peaks Wilderness through which it runs. The San Francisco Peaks, or Kachina Peaks are sacred to many tribes including the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and Zuni. The trail head shown here is located just below the Snowbowl ski area outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.
For much of the 6.8 miles, the Kachina Trail winds through massive groves of Aspen trees.
The Kachina Peaks Wilderness area covers over 18,000 acres. and only foot travel is allowed. The ecosystem is fragile, and hikers are encouraged to stay on the trail.
Quaking Aspen trees line the edges of the many grass and fern covered meadows.
Everywhere are reminders of the violent origin of this mountain, a stratovolcano, which last erupted 1.4 million years ago.The original 16,000 foot summit collapsed, maybe in a blast such as Mt. St. Helens, creating the caldera now named the Inner Basin. Ice ages have passed this way previously, and glaciers scarred the slopes. These peaks are the centerpiece for a huge volcanic field which was last active in AD 1100, when indigenous peoples inhabited the area. Here you can see various layers of lava flows now hung with delicate greenery.
Looking south from the high elevation you can see far into the northern Arizona countryside, spotting some of the 500 cinder cones of the volcanic field.
Looking north you can see the tips of several of the San Francisco Peaks, which are above tree line. Here are Agassiz, Fremont, and Doyle Peaks. The tallest, Humphreys, lies hidden behind the others. If you imagine drawing a line to connect the sides of these slopes up in the air, you can get a picture of how large this volcano once was.
Summer weather around the San Francisco Peaks can change rapidly. What starts out as a sunny day with a low chance of precipitation can change quickly. Do remember to bring plenty of drinking water on your hike. Elevation sickness can be eased by staying hydrated.
The sunny sky can suddenly darken with rain-laden clouds. Hail is a common occurrence. Come prepared for heavy summer monsoon storms with possible lighting and loud thunder.
Fields of wildflowers join the ferns in the meadows. These are Verbena macdougalii.
The ferns are huge and grow tall in the sunlight. Can you spot the trail? It’s there…
Luckily, we hike with our dog, so staying on the trail was easier.
Can you see me now? Here’s the trail!
There are some long uphill slopes and some very rocky passages.
Some of the trail leads over and through huge boulders.
Eventually the Kachina Trail begins to lead downward towards Schultz Pass and the Weatherford Trail. The trail dips into several ravines carved long ago in the volcanic slopes.
The Weatherford trailhead is located at Schultz Tank at 8800 feet elevation. As you descend toward it, the vegetation changes and you find dense stands of spruce, fir and Ponderosa Pines.
Some of the tallest and healthiest Ponderosas along the trail are a good reminder of why these pine trees own that name. The tallest known pine on record is a Ponderosa. Arizona hosts the world’s largest contiguous stand of these trees. Mature trees have orange-brown bark, and some say they smell like vanilla.
After the rain, the insects come out of hiding, and go back to work. This fly is on a Lupine flower.
The Kachina Trail intersects with the Weatherford Trail and the Freidlein Prairie Trail.
The Weatherford Trail is an old road that once was an enterprise to take Model T Fords to the mountain top. It has been closed to vehicular traffic. It must have been quite an adventurous ride in a car, back in the day.
Looking back toward the Peaks from the Weatherford Trail, you get another nice view of a dense grove of Aspen.
Since the Weatherford Trail itself leads uphill again, we take the lower section that leads down to Schultz Tank where it is possible to park a car. There are also bathrooms at Schultz Tank. We left a car at the Snowbowl, hiked one way, and used the second car at Schultz to retrieve the first one.
The end of the trail, or perhaps the beginning, if you choose to hike up to the Snowbowl trailhead, or take the Weatherford trail to up Doyle Saddle.
There’s Fungus Among Us
Arizona’s monsoon rains in the mountains produce a summer crop of mushrooms, toadstools, slime molds and other delights. Here are a few that have appeared already this 2014 season. I don’t know enough about fungi to attempt to identify them for you. Experts can determine if any are safe to eat, but many are deadly poison. Squirrels seem to eat some of them but I don’t know that is an indicator of human tolerance.I think they are fascinating to find.
Immense and yet Minuscule
The Coconino National Forest is over 1,800,000 acres in extent, and impressive even on a micro level. Let’s take a hike and see what there is to see.
Built of Stone
Moenkopi Formation mudstone and sandstone
About 237 million years ago theMoenkopi Formation rocks were deposited in a coastal plain that covered what is now northern Arizona and surrounding states. The plain ended at the shoreline of a sea in Utah. Seasonal stream beds crossing that plain deposited thick sheets of sand. Over millions of years, “another 10,000 feet of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks accumulated.”
Quote and details from Stone Landmarks,Flagstaff’s Geology and Historic Building Stones
A lava flow and black cinders in the San Francisco volcanic field.
Exposed Moenkopi sandstone with overlaying cinders
All of these sedimentary layers have been warped, twisted and eroded, ending up being uplifted by molten lava between 70 million and 30 million years ago as a huge chunk of thick crust. This was the origin of the Colorado Plateau, a 130000 square-mile block. In time, that molten base began to erupt in the San Francisco volcanic field, creating thousands of cinder cones, long lava flows, the stratovolcano known as San Francisco Mountain, and lava domes like Mount Elden near present day Flagstaff. Volcanic activity continued, with the most recent eruption occurring in AD 1064. At that time, the Sinaguan people found that the loose cinders made a good mulch for growing crops, and they created Wupatki. They used the red Moenkopi sandstone exposed in the area along with Kaibab limestone and black basalt from the volcanic field to build substantial buildings.
Wupatki and the surrounding Moenkopi sandstone building material
Wupatki was built directly on the exposed layers of Moenkopi.
Centuries later, when the railroads necessitated the creation of the town of Flagstaff, the buildings were made of wood. However, over the years the citizens learned the same lesson that many cities of the day learned, as fires consumed the town. When reconstructed, the materials of choice were identical to those of the ancients, Moenkopi sandstone, Kaibab Formation limestone and volcanic basalt.
The Babbitt Brothers Building was constructed in 1888 of Moenkopi sandstone.
The landmark Coconino County Courthouse was constructed in 1895 of “Arizona Red” Moenkopi sandstone.
The Bank Hotel 1886
The Bank Hotel is built of a combination of local sandstones of different colors.
The David Babbitt Building was built in 1907 of split-faced blocks of volcanic rock.
The Raymond Building was built in 1911.
The Raymond building uses carved Moenkopi sandstone.
The ornate 1906 wall that used to surround the grand home of Charles J. Babbitt, which was destroyed by fire. Wall is 265 million year old limestone.
The Nativity Chapel was built in 1929 of basalt chunks collected by parishioners from local lava flows.
New offices occupy Flagstaff’s old Ice House, built in 1946 of limestone filled with impressions or molds of fossilized shells.
Molds and casts of fossilized clams, snails, brachiopods and sea urchins are found in the limestone chunks of which the old Ice House was built.
Used copies of the Stone Landmarks are available for purchase at various booksellers. Photos are my own.
Wildflowers
Varied
Mountain wildflowers
Cinquefoil along a stream
Desert wildflowers
Blue sky with thunderheads
Desert clouds in dry times
Mountain sunset
Desert sunset
Sculptured rocks
Volcanos and lava flows
Basin and range vistas
Desert vistas
Thick Saguaro forest
Cool desert shade
Dry Sonoran desert
Desert volcanic hillside
Desert lakes-Lake Pleasant
Mountain Lakes-Lake Mary
Snow-covered volcano
N is for Navajo Rugs
The Navajo or Diné, Nation covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Diné Bikéyah (link), or Navajoland, is larger than 10 of the 50 states in America. The Diné in Arizona live north of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.
Navajo weavers (link) have long been known for their beautiful hand-woven rugs.
Time Among the Navajo
According to Kathy Hooker in her book, Time Among the Navajo, it takes 2 months to make a single rug. Many Navajo families raise their own sheep. After the weather warms in the Spring, the women and children will catch and shear a sheep by hand, using shears. Then the wool must be cleaned by shaking and washing in a wash tub. The wool is rinsed in cold water several times, and then washed with soap in warm water heated in a kettle on the stove. After rinsing again, the wool is hung on a fence to dry. Carding commences when the wool is dry, using wooden paddles with metal teeth to pull the wool and straighten the fibers. Typically it will take 2 weeks to card enough wool for a single rug. The batts of wool pulled from the teeth of the cards are spun into yarn using a twirling spindle. Another two weeks can be spent on spinning. Once spun into yarn, the yarn is washed again and is wrapped from one fence post to another to dry. The weaver will have planned her design which she holds in memory, and she knows what colors of yarn she needs to create that pattern. The wool may be dyed from plant dyes or some store-bought colors, especially red. For black and white, the natural wool is used. Brown is created by boiling wild walnuts. Bark, roots and fruit of other plants are used to make additional colors. It will take 3 weeks of constant work to complete the tightly-woven rug.
The weaving loom is an upright design.
Navajo loom, this is a miniature model
Ray Manley’s Southwestern Indian Arts and Crafts photo shows weaving outdoors.
No two Navajo rugs are alike. The place of origin for a rug typically determines the type of design. The Navajo Reservation can be divided into 13 weaving regions. There are other distinctive designs as well. If you wish to purchase a Navajo rug, choose a reputable dealer or trading post so that you can enjoy an authentic Navajo rug.
Navajo Two Grey Hills Rug
Navajo Storm Pattern Rug
Old rug from the 1930s
Two similar contemporary design Navajo Rugs
Why is Arizona so... 