Spring temperatures in the valley were rising and traveling north to cooler temperatures seemed more attractive by the day. This always-popular trail is an old favorite and didn’t take much planning, so why not?

Darrell, Dave, Carol, Beatrix, Christina, Mary, and Jim get ready to set out.

The hike starts from the Groom Creek trailhead on Senator Highway south of Prescott and then proceeds basically east and up climbing about 1300 feet in about 3.5 miles. The climb is fairly continuous but never steep, the weather was beautiful, the pines and firs were beautiful, and the occasional outlooks were beautiful as well.

Curiously, the Groom Creek loop never passes Groom Creek itself; it’s basically a trek up and down Spruce Mountain. Another curiosity is that Spruce Mountain has no spruce trees! Some early settlers misidentoified the firs as spruces and the name of the mountain just stuck.

Christina, Darrell, Mary, and Beatrix enjoy a mid-hike snack just below the summit.

Just below the summit is a shaded picnic area where we stopped for a mid-hike snack. There was no looking for a nice comfortable rock during this hike!

At the summit there’s a watchtower and we were fortunate to find it manned and open for visitors. The view from the summit was fantastic but, as usual, the view from the tower was even more so. These watchers have a tedious job but none of them ever say they get tired of the scenery.

She was so friendly that I gave her a key ring!

Dave poses with the friendly fire-watcher. [photo by Dave]

The fire-watcher’s cot had this blanket. How appropriate! [photo by Dave]

A view from the watch tower. Spectacular!

Because we did the loop clockwise, the hike down was longer than the hike up. But again, the drop was fairly continuous and never steep. And after a winter of hiking among cactuses, hiking in the forest was truly great.

Dave hikes down from the summit.

Darrell, Carol, and Beatrix celebrate finishing the hike.

After the hike we repaired to El Gato Azul, a small, quirky, and trendy Southwest-inspired Spanish restaurant near the courthouse square in Prescott. What’s the difference between Spanish and Mexican, you ask? It’s hard to describe but somehow it’s just more Mediteranian, and the menu goes way beyond tacos, burritos, and enchiladas. Plus they have wonderful outdoor seating along a downtown hiking and bicycling trail.

Thanks to everyone who joined me in this hike. I hope you had a great time and that you’ll be hiking with Arizona Trailblazers again soon!