Several weeks before this hike I was warned by one of our hikers that even in late September this could be a pretty warm hike since there is little tree cover on the trail, and the trail itself is actually an old jeep road topped by a thick layer of black cinders that collects and radiates heat throughout the day. John wasn’t actually on today’s hike but had hiked this trail in mid-August and got overheated in the process, so was thoughtfully giving me ample word of warning to the wise.

Naturally I passed on this information to everyone signed up for the hike, telling them to bring a hat, sunscreen, a Frogg Togg type cooling pad if they had one, and plenty of water and electrolyte replacements because of all the sweating we would likely do hiking to the top of O’Leary Peak in the heat.

Thanks to a cooling breeze supplied by Mother Nature for most of the day and more shade along the trail than I expected, we won’t be sweating bullets quite as badly as originally thought. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to dealing with the vagaries of Mother Nature.

From a small parking area just outside of O’Leary Group Campground, the O’Leary Peak Trail begins on the opposite side of a locked metal gate. The purpose of this gate is to keep all but official Forest Service vehicles off the old jeep road that serves as the trail to the top of O’Leary Peak.

At 9:15 AM under clear blue skies, 15 Arizona Trailblazers start the five-mile trek to the top of O’Leary Peak. Elevation at the trailhead is 6,846 feet, and we will climb a total of 2,070 feet before topping out on the summit at 8,916 feet. The starting temperature at the trailhead is a perfect 75 degrees.

We’re actually hiking up the south-facing slope of a long-extinct lava dome volcano that last erupted over 12,000 years ago, while just to our south sits Sunset Crater Volcano, a cinder cone volcano that erupted less than a thousand years ago. That we’re hiking in an area of serious past volcanic activity soon becomes starkly evident in the form of the large Bonito Lava Flow coming from nearby Bonito Crater and covering hundreds of acres of land to a depth of 20-30 feet or more. The trail runs close to and parallel with this lava flow for roughly a half mile before it eventually veers away and begins a gentle climb up the slope of O’Leary Peak.

Since this is something you certainly don’t see every day in Arizona, most of us take a short side tour to examine this curious lava flow and the aspen trees and ponderosa pines growing near its base as well as on top of the flow. One can’t help but think back in time and imagine what it must have felt like to stand on this very spot (or more safely, at least ten miles away) and experience the awesome power of Mother Nature as Bonito Crater erupted and ejected this massive volume of lava, as well as towering plumes of hot ash, from its vent and then watch as the lava slowly but relentlessly flowed over the landscape, burying everything in its path under a thick layer of fiery molten rock.

The land that would eventually become Arizona has a long and extremely violent history of intermittent volcanic activity that lasted for tens of millions of years. Name almost any mountain peak in northern Arizona and chances are that it evolved out of some form of volcanic activity. From Bill Williams Mountain to the San Francisco Peaks, which include the six highest mountain peaks in Arizona, from Kendrick Mountain to Red Mountain to Mount Elden, intermittent volcanic activity over a period of millions of years has been instrumental in shaping this land. From the Kofa Mountains to Picacho Peak, from the Superstition Mountains and Goldfield Mountains to the Chiricahuas in Arizona’s far southeastern corner, violent volcanic eruptions over eons of time, coupled with wind and water erosion, have controlled and shaped these tortured and convoluted lands to what we see today.

O’Leary Peak and Sunset Crater are but two of hundreds of volcanoes, cinder cones, and lava domes that dot the vast San Francisco Volcanic Field, sprawling for nearly 2,000 square miles to the north of present-day Flagstaff. This tortured landscape was a seething and smoldering cauldron of volcanic activity that lasted from approximately six million years ago to about 200,000 years ago, when the last great eruptions occurred. Sunset Crater, which we will see a lot of on today’s hike, was formed less than a thousand years ago, a mere blink of the eye on the grand scale of geological time.

The Uinkaret Volcanic Field in northwest Arizona straddles the Grand Canyon, resulting in countless cinder cones above and below the North Rim, including the prominent Vulcan’s Throne, one of the most famous landmarks in the canyon. This volcanic field also periodically produced major lava flows that poured into the raging Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon, creating towering columns of boiling steam and massive lava dams as high as 650 feet above the river, blocking its flow for up to 100 years or more. But given enough time and the relentless powers of erosion, the mighty Colorado always managed to punch its way through and flow wild and free once again. In eastern Arizona the Springerville Volcanic Field, centered around Mount Baldy, Escudilla, and the White Mountains, has created hundreds of cinder cones and lava flows as far back as two million years ago.

Before long we spot the fire lookout tower at the top of O’Leary Peak, almost five miles away and over 2,000 vertical feet above us, and realize for the first time that we certainly have our work cut out for us reaching this tower that seems so small from our current vantage point. This reminds me of the somewhat quirky advice a good friend gave me some years ago when we faced the daunting task of hiking (with full backpacks) from the bottom of the Grand Canyon at Bright Angel Campground all the way up to our exit point at the Bright Angel Trailhead on the South Rim, a vertical gain of nearly 4,500 feet.

“If someone pointed a gun to your head, Chuck, and demanded that you eat an entire elephant that had just died from natural causes, how would you approach the task?” Of course I didn’t have a clue and also thought it was the craziest thing I had ever heard.

“It’s simple,” Tom said. “You would eat the elephant one bite at a time until it was completely gone. It might take you quite a while but eventually you would do it, especially with a gun to your head. We’re certainly not going to be eating any elephants today, but we need to think about hiking out of this canyon using that same analogy. Only instead of one bite at a time, we need to approach this task as taking one step at a time.” Although a bit graphic, he certainly made his point.

Needless to say, I didn’t have much of an appetite for the rest of that day, but we did eventually make it out of the canyon. That took quite a while as well, but certainly not as long as it would have taken to eat that elephant. So when it comes to hiking out of the Grand Canyon it simply boils down to taking it one step at a time. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other until that final step takes you to the very top. And obviously the same principle holds true for any hike, no matter how long or how difficult.

After the first mile the road begins climbing in earnest, as the heartbeat begins to accelerate. Now I’m starting to think of that darned elephant again. About two miles in from the trailhead and the views become more and more impressive, with expansive overviews of Sunset Crater and the Bonito Lava Flow far below the trail now and breathtaking views of the lofty San Francisco Peaks to the west, including large colorful swaths of golden aspen nestled within the Inner Basin and clustered along the northern slope of the peaks. Within the next week or two fall colors will be reaching their peak in this area.

Roughly halfway up the trail, the road begins a series of long switchbacks all the way up to the summit. Above 8,000 feet the air becomes increasingly thinner and more difficult to breathe for us flatlanders from the desert, but the views are also becoming increasingly more magnificent. Although most of the trail is open and fully exposed to the sun, occasional large ponderosa pines at trails edge offer scattered patches of welcome shade for the weary and overheated hiker. Thankfully on this day a cooling breeze stays with us for most of the time.

We continue trudging onward and upward toward the still unseen top of O’Leary Peak. Rounding each set of switchbacks, we’re certain the summit must be getting close. But similar to the false peaks of nearby Mt. Humphreys, we continue to be disillusioned and a little frustrated when all we see is another long set of switchbacks making their way up the peak. This trail has to end eventually since we’re going to run out of mountain pretty soon. At last, we spot the elusive lookout tower poking above the tree tops at the very top of O’Leary Peak and know that it can’t be long now.

As the road begins to narrow down, the last several hundred yards to the top is the steepest part of the entire trail. Finally, we come to a long, steep corrugated metal ramp that seems somewhat out of place as it marks the last stretch of road. We can just make out the edge of the lookout tower at the top of this ramp. Apparently the metal ramp was put in place to minimize trail erosion which can be seen along the edges and beneath the ramp. At the top of the ramp stands a second closed metal gate to keep out unauthorized vehicles. We have made it to the top of O’Leary Peak at last!

Yellow caution tape around the base of the tower and a brown wooden sign clearly stating “no visitors on tower” answers any remaining questions about going to the top of the tower for the views. But just to the southeast of the lookout tower through some large rocks and boulders and beyond several large trees lies an isolated viewpoint offering spectacular views of the San Francisco Peaks, the Inner Basin, and Sunset Crater and the Bonito Lava Flow. Some hikers eat a quick lunch on the peak, while others start heading back down. All hikers are back at the trailhead between 2:00 and 2:30. About half the group decides to head back home, while the other half heads for Flagstaff and the landmark Beaver Street Brewery for lunch and libations.