It took Josh less than a day to establish his routine of afternoon hiking. With the later starts, he would miss the foot traffic of day-tripper and had more chances of seeing wildlife as it came out at dusk. Plus he could sleep in. He was on vacation after all.
His first hike was to the Inner Basin – a high-country meadow surrounded by the San Francisco Peaks. The peaks themselves are remnants of a volcano that exploded hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the basin was sure to give Josh a sense of the terrain.
The 4+ mile hike starts at Lockett Meadow (8,600 feet) and gains 2,250 feet in elevation as it intersects with the Weatherford Trail. Along the way, there are forests of aspen trees, golden meadows and spectacular views of the peaks.
Josh was on the look out for wildlife beyond bambi-esque encounters with squirrels and rabbits. As he looped back to the trailhead, and dusk came, he startled a deer coming out to feed. But this sighting was quickly trumped. Another turn in the trail and Josh was staring at a black bear.
The black bear is the only bear species still living in Arizona, and there are only about 2,500 in the state. While the wooded areas of Northern Arizona are their preferred habitat, encountering one is still unusual. Josh was pretty psyched about the face-to-face meeting and the bear itself was unfazed – wandering back into the woods.
Getting back into town, Josh’s only regret was that he didn’t have a camera. He bought a Nikon Coolpix the next weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment