Eight Trailblazers got up before the crack of dawn and converged on the See Canyon Trailhead at 7am. To our surprise, this usually empty and isolated spot was full to the brim with volunteers awaiting 200 runners from the Mogollon Monster ultramarathon! We convened and started our hike which was punctuated by pass bys of serious, but friendly and polite runners the entire way up and some of the way down. Our strenuous hike with almost 2000 foot elevation gain in 3.6 miles up, was just a blip in their anticipated 100mile and 17000 ft elevation gain planned over 2 days. Hats off to the runners!

Time to start hiking. [photo by Tamar]

We picked a perfect day- a bit nippy at the start, but almost completely shaded all the way down in the midday sun when temps were in the high 80s. We sauntered up the trail as it got steeper and rockier and slippier until it reached Rim Road 300. At this point , we reversed direction and went down. Half of us had enough energy to take the detour to See Spring on the way down adding elevation gain and an extra mile in order to experience this shaded water filled spot.

Do we know which trail we are on. [photo by Tamar]

In all, we only saw a couple other hikers on the trail until the very end. The quick stops to let runners by allowed us to catch our breath on the uphill. The vegetation was lush and green and it is hard to beat the sound of running water in the creek. A great hike was had by all. A few of us stopped at Fargo's Steakhouse on the way home for an efficient, delicious and satisfying lunch on the patio.