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| Coconino Rim - AZT #36 North, AZ | |
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| | Coconino Rim - AZT #36 North, AZ | | | |
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Coconino Rim - AZT #36 North, AZ
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| Hiking | 10.30 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 10.30 Miles | 4 Hrs 5 Mns | | 2.52 mph |
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| partners | | AZT Segment #36 north end. I only hiked the Coconino Rim Trail portion of this segment which continues on when you cross to the south side of FR 310 headed toward Russell Wash and Moqui Station. However, Beckett and I did shuttle the vehicles of desertgirl and sredfield to Moqui Station.
Beckett and I arrived Friday afternoon so we decided to climb the Grandview Lookout Tower and spoke with the watch person, Kathy. Not much was smokin' except a prescribed burn. I did take some photos of Kendrick's Peak since that's where a good many of you would be the next day. Looking east from the tower you can see the peaks to the northeast of Humphreys (Kathy couldn't remember the name), Humphreys, Kendrick, Williams and Sitgreaves mountain(s).
Since we had such great cell phone reception Beckett called desertgirl to verify the camping spot which we reserved by putting up a tent (I called the Tower the phone booth as Beckett made several calls from there). Anyway we had the perfect camping spot; mostly because the ladies room was only a tenth of a mile away and even had tp. 
Since we had time to kill before the others arrived, we took some side trips including a drive to Hull Cabin (originally part of Hull Ranch & built around 1884 - was also used as a ranger station for 33 yrs), that Kathy had mentioned, which was only a couple miles on FR 307 just to the east of the tower and down part ways from the plateau. Apparently the Forest Service is fixing the Hull Cabin and another bunkhouse up to be used for rentals. There is also a nice sized barn there too.
After that we headed to Desert View on the east side of the Canyon where we looked around and climbed the Watch Tower. We really got some nice pictures as we got a "nickfraley" sky. They had a nice store there too with various amenities including a wine cooler to go with dinner. We stopped at two more scenic viewpoints (Lipan and Moran) before going back and setting up camp including a campfire; and we built a good one too as it lit perfectly on the first try.  Of course, we had great kindling and various pieces of wood to work with and a fire ring already set up.
Saturday, the four of us started from the Grandview Lookout and headed on the Coconino Rim Trail at around 7:06 am. The terrain through the Kaibab Forest was mostly flat with some ups and downs and one pretty good sized hill/mtn to climb. You get a few glimpses of the canyon along the way but it's mostly stands of ponderosa. We did get rained on strongly for about 15 minutes. I got soaked. Needless to say, my next investment is an umbrella. This was mine and Beckett's longest hike (that's 10.3 miles not the 9.4 we THOT we were doing) so we were pretty pleased with ourselves. 
After our hike we went to the Bright Angel area and had a hardy lunch and then walked around. We got to see a couple condors flying about and hopefully I got some decent pics. Later that evening we went to Grandview Point to catch a sunset. Upon our drive back to camp, though it was dark, we did get to see a dozen deer cross the road. Otherwise, we only saw a bunch of elk and cougar road signs  . However, desertgirl saw quite a few elk on her journey.
The sleeping weather was near perfect which means that when I stuck my feet out of the tent at 5:15am, they didn't demand to come right back in. Yep, I like that car camping a lot... so many amenities.
Thanks to my hiking companions for showing me a great time in, on and around the AZT!!!! LIFE IS GOOD... oh, except for a little blister on the side of my foot... I didn't say "Life is Perfect" |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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