“Few are altogether deaf to the preaching of pine trees. Their sermons on the mountains go to our hearts; and if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish.”

Written in 1896, these timeless words of wisdom from conservationist John Muir set the tone for today’s hike on Passage 34, or the San Francisco Peaks Passage, of the 819 mile long Arizona Trail, officially designated as a National Scenic Trail upon its completion. Finished in July, 2009, Passage 34 was the last of the 43 sections, or passages, of the Arizona Trail to be completed. Total length of Passage 34, running from Schultz Pass to Cedar Ranch, is 32.3 miles. But today our goal is to hike the 7.5 mile segment from Aspen Corner off the Snowbowl Road to Forest Road 418. If we actually accomplish that, this will be a 15 mile round-trip hike. Although rated in the guidebooks as “Easy” because of the minimal elevation change (+/- 200 feet), any way you look at it 15 miles is a lot of hiking.

The day is bright and sunny with clear blue skies and a crisp fall temperature of 58 degrees as we strike out from the Aspen Corner parking area at 10:20 AM. Our starting elevation is 8,800 feet at the base of the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff. The connector trail from Aspen Corner to the Arizona Trail is unmarked, but runs parallel with the road for a short distance before turning away and going gently downhill through the forest. Within a few hundred yards of the parking area we finally link up with the clearly marked Arizona Trail and begin hiking north toward the Aspen Loop Trail.

Periodic light patches of snow along short stretches of the trail, in addition to large stands of brown and brittle bracken fern along much of the trail, attest to the recent freezing temperatures that have descended on these high alpine forests beneath the San Francisco Peaks as Jack Frost makes his seasonal visit to northern Arizona’s high country and Old Man Winter pays an early visit to the mountains.

However, despite a week or more of sub-freezing temperatures at these higher elevations, most of the aspen trees along the trail have barely began their transformation from emerald green to golden yellow. It appears that we are at least a week or two too early for peak fall colors in the scattered groves of aspen that blanket the slopes and the meadows of the San Francisco Peaks. Timing is everything when it comes to fall colors, and just one day can make all the difference especially in the case of an overnight windstorm or heavy rainfall.

The aspen, the signature tree that defines Arizona’s high alpine forests, is actually the most widely distributed tree in all of North America, ranging from Alaska to Newfoundland to the Sky Islands of Southern Arizona.

Often referred to as a “fire recovery tree”, it is frequently the first tree to start the process of renewal after a devastating forest fire.

Every single stand of aspen, however large in size, propagated from a single tree sending out root sprouts in all directions just beneath the surface of the soil. The largest single organism on Earth is not a large fungus colony or a vast bacteria culture or even the largest of the Giant Sequoias, but instead a stand of over 40,000 aspens in the Wasatch Range of Northern Utah, all propagated from one single aspen. In the world of trees this is quite a unique species.

Pack mules in training – Carrying Cargo 101. [photo by Jim]

Mules carrying people, like those traversing the Grand Canyon’s major corridor trails, are trained for an even longer period to make sure they are right for the job. Those that wash out of that training are only allowed to carry cargo. The last thing you want when sitting atop a mule on a narrow trail with steep drop-offs in the Grand Canyon is a skittish animal.

About halfway into the hike we come across several toppled aspen, most lying across the trail and in close proximity to one another. They are apparently in good condition from the healthy green leaves in their crowns, and at least two have obviously fallen very recently from the fresh and clean looking appearance of the wood at the shear point. With widespread bark beetle damage to Arizona’s pine trees, we are used to seeing numerous fallen pine trees on our hikes. But it’s unusual to see several aspen trees crashed to the g round like these.

Now in addition to falling pine trees we have to be aware of falling aspen trees as well. From this one might conclude that hiking can sometimes be a bit hazardous to your health, although the odds of getting pulverized by a falling tree are probably much slimmer than getting struck by lightning.

A large and colorful shelf fungus. Anyone hungry? [photo by Quy]

After a well-deserved rest and lunch break the majority consensus is to make this our turn-around point rather than push on for another mile and a half to FR 418 which was our original goal. The autumn days continue to grow shorter, and darkness descends early in these high alpine forests at this time of year. And we would prefer not getting caught by nightfall while still short of the trailhead. So we gather our gear and hit the trail, reversing course back to our waiting vehicles.

Most of us arrive back at the parking lot by 4:15 in the afternoon. After the hike we stow away our gear, clean up a bit, and pose for a quick group picture which we missed at the beginning of the hike.

Although we didn’t hike the full 15 miles as planned, we came close to it at 12.5 miles according to several GPS readings among our hikers. And although we saw far more horses and mountain bikers than hikers on the trail today, it was still a beautiful fall day for hiking Arizona’s alpine country.

Finally, at Rudy’s suggestion, we all head back down the Snowbowl Road and stop off for a late lunch/early dinner at the Ski Lift Lodge & Restaurant directly across from the junction of Route 180 and the Snowbowl Road.

Hopefully on a future fall trip to these mountains we can time the peak colors a little better. But in any season of the year a hiking experience around the San Francisco Peaks of Northern Arizona is always a special treat.