On a beautiful Saturday morning in late April and at this point half-way through the hike, 26 smiling Arizona Trailblazers gather for a group picture with the shimmering blue waters and heavily-forested slopes of Lynx Lake in the background. Earlier in the day, we started from the Salida Gulch Loop Trailhead at 9:05 AM, under brilliant clear blue skies with a perfect starting temperature of 58 degrees. Today’s expected high is forecast to be 75 degrees. It just doesn’t get much better than this.

Arizona Trailblazers hiking the trail. [photo by Tom]

Looking at the attached GPS map, you can see that this is basically a double loop configuration, with a connector trail tying the two loops together. We will be hiking both loops in a counter-clockwise direction.

After a long rest and lunch break at the ramadas overlooking Lynx Lake, we’ll then finish the second half of the perimeter trail around the lake, before rejoining the connector trail and hiking that back to the Salida Gulch Loop Trail, where we’ll finally complete the second half of the loop back to the trailhead and our vehicles. Total hiking distance is 9 miles, with about 1,200 feet of cumulative elevation change over the course of the entire trail.

Group introductions and trail descriptions out of the way, it’s time to move out, Trailblazers. The Salida Gulch Loop Trail starts climbing right out of the starting gate and continues to climb in a steady uphill grind for the next mile or so, leveling off from time to time through grey-green hillsides of thick chaparral, consisting of scrub oak, manzanita, and jojoba, with a mix of pinion pine, juniper, and willow thrown in for extra measure. We even run into the occasional prickly pear cactus along the way.

Without a well-defined trail to mark the way, we could easily become lost and disoriented in this rugged terrain. As we steadily gain elevation we’re eventually treated to sweeping views of the Bradshaw Mountains to the south with Mount Union, the highest peak in the range, at just under 8,000 feet.

There are at least six peaks in the Bradshaws over 7,000 feet in elevation. Probably the most well-known among them and one this hiking club has done many times in the past is Spruce Mountain. In fact, one of our own hike leaders, Gabe, is actually leading that hike today.

So we have two separate groups of Arizona Trailblazers hiking in the Prescott National Forest today. At 7,696 feet, Spruce Mountain is the third highest peak in the Bradshaw Range and accessed from the Groom Creek Trailhead.

There’s also gold in these mountains, first discovered way back in 1863, along with silver and copper. Over 150,000 ounces (4.7 tons) of the precious yellow metal was taken from the famous Crown King Mine alone. In today’s gold prices that works out to about $120,000,000. Not a bad haul for a single Arizona mine.

After two miles of hiking, much of it uphill, we all regroup near the bottom of the Salida Gulch Loop at its junction with Lynx Lake Connector Trail #94. We take a time-out to rest and wait for the rest of our group to catch up, while we soak in the surrounding scenery.

From here it’s only another 1.5-miles to the lake on the connector trail. Compared to the two-mile stretch of the Salida Gulch Trail, the connector trail is relatively level, with occasional short climbs and descents through tall ponderosa pines, other large pine species, and Arizona walnut trees, all providing welcoming shade. We also enjoy cooling breezes from time to time, as we move quickly through this seemingly old-growth section of Prescott National Forest.

On a lighter note, other than one small cluster of tiny (barely 1/8th inch across) yellow flowers, we do not spot another flower anywhere along today’s 9-mile route.

As tempting as it would be to blame that on the vandals as well, in this case Mother Nature is to blame.

All hikers are finally back at the trailhead by 1:15 PM. The temperature has risen to a still ideal 70 degrees, and we’re all famished. If it was available, I would almost consider eating some boiled boot leather at this point. But that not being the case, I suppose I’ll just have to wait.

The group is split down the middle on stopping for a late lunch/early dinner, with 12 people opting to head back home while the rest of us decide to stop at LEFF-T’s Steakhouse & Grill, one of our favorite restaurants and watering holes, located on State Route 69 in Dewey.