Inner Basin at Lockett Meadows, is one of the most colorful fall color locations in northern Arizona. The Aspen trees are Mature, Tall, and Handsome. On October 8, 2021, we got up in the early morning and met at the McDonald’s on Highway 89 in Flagstaff at 8:00 AM and carpooled to Lockett Meadows campground.

Thirteen of us met at the trailhead: Arman, Tamar, Jim, Tom, Li, Ken, Terry L, Terry K, Chris A, Les, Lin, Laura and Gail. After group pictures, we were ready to hit the trail. The Temperature was cool at 50°F.

We split into two groups.
Li led the longer and fast-paced hike to Snowslide Spring:
Tom, Ken, Les, Terry K, Chris A, Li, and Les.
Lin led the shorter hike: Jim, Tamar, Arman, Terry L, Gail, Laura, and Lin.

The fall colors were beautiful, we stopped many places to take pictures and enjoyed the view. We stopped at our usual spot for a snack.

At the beginning of the hike, it was cool and sunny. As we made our return, the weather started changing, with thick and dark clouds moving in, the air temperature dropped, and we could smell the snowstorm coming.

As we returned to the trailhead, we felt a few drops of rain. We reorganized the carpools at the trailhead and drove safely back to McDonald’s. After less than 10 minutes, Li’s group was back to the McDonald’s too. It was a great day and an easy hike with beautiful fall colors. We did about 7.8 miles.

Li Li was in charge of the hikers taking a longer hike beyond the Inner Basin. Originally we were hiking up to the junction of the Inner Basin and Weatherford trails; however, Les Cherow proposed that we go to Snowslide Spring, one of the few year-round springs in the Inner Basin.

In our group we had Li, Les, Tom, Terry, Ken, and Chris. After leaving the trailhead, we enjoyed walking through the yellow aspen and taking a lot of pictures. The temperature was comfortable and the sun was out. After reaching the Inner Basin pump house and what Les calls the “bus stop” shelter, we walked a little farther and then made a right turn on a primitive road. We followed the road steadily upward until it stopped, but we continued on.

The aspen were gold or in the midst of changing. As we climbed, the aspen gave way to conifers and the route became steeper. About 1.5 miles from the bus stop and 1000 feet higher we were at the spring. Actually, we were at a grating from which the spring water emerges. According to Les, the actual spring was a little farther and higher from our location.

The temperature had dropped significantly and rain clouds had been building for a while. Our elevation was approximately 10,700 feet. We decided to turn around and start down to avoid the potential for a freezing rain or possibly snow. We hiked out of the Basin and decided to take the old trail (road) back to the trailhead rather than the trail. The route had the advantage of being a little shorter and not crowded. In fact we only saw six or seven other hikers.

While the colors are not as spectacular, there is plenty of color close to the ground. We enjoyed the hike and not getting wet from rain. We hiked 8.8 miles and had accumulated elevation gain of 2800 feet.