I almost named this expedition the Oldham, Oldham, Oldham, and Oldham hike, because we’d be hiking on four trails: the Lower Oldham, the Upper Oldham, the Oldham, and the Easy Oldham. But then it turned out that the Oldham trail combined the Lower and Upper Oldhams, and the Easy Oldham wasn’t exactly marked. So after all that, just plain Oldham seemed fine.

The Oldham trails were apparently named for Ed Oldham, a national forest ranger in the 1930’s and 40’s. You can find various links describing his activities by Googling Ed Oldham.

Eight of us started the hike from Buffalo Park in Flagstaff. Mark drove up from Sedona and the rest of us from Phoenix. We started hiking at 10:00 AM, enjoying a local temperature of 57°. What a pleasant change from Phoenix!

Gabrielle. Mark, Jim, Biljana, Dottie, Dave, Jazmin,and John ready for adventure. [photo by John]

The best feature of Buffalo Park is the parking lot. It has plenty of spaces and even some toilets. The trail across the park, however, is a perfectly flat, perfectly straight, perfectly boring gravel road to the far edge of the park. Fortunately, much better was to come.

The end of the park marks the beginning of the Lower Oldham Trail. This trail skirts the west base of Mount Elden and is almost completely wooded. Elevation is gentle and undulating, totalling 400-500 feet over about three miles. The air was brisk, clear, pine-scented, and totally exhilarating. It made you want to breathe just for the pleasure of it.

This kiosk marks the end of Buffalo Park and the beginning of the Oldham trail. [photo by John]

Hiking in the pines provides a welcome change to the desert terrain back home. [photo by John]

Sunlight and a gentle breeze through the forest... Oh yes...[photo by John]

A remarkable balancing rock. [photo by John]

The Upper Oldham Trail, however, wasn’t so easy. In three miles it rose about 1500 feet to a high point just under 9000! And none of us were accustomed to the thin mountain air. Because of that, Dottie, John, and Mark turned around and took the Easy Oldham Trail back to the trailhead.

Gabrielle, Jazmin, Dave, Biljana, and I, however, accepted the challenge and charged up the Upper Oldham Trail. Or perhaps labored  Or, most accurately, trudged. As our altitude rose, breathing became more difficult.

The trail levels off a little before reaching the high point, and some people wanted to stop there. But after a brief recuperation and oxygen replenishment, we again trudged (or maybe this time is was charged) to our original objective, the junction with the Sunset trail.

Here we are at the Oldham Here we are at the Oldham trailhead, halfway through the Oldham trail. The Lower Oldham Trail runs south of here, and Upper Oldham to the Northeast. The Easy Oldham doesn't directly connect but oh well. [photo by John]

Here we are at the top of the Upper Oldham Trail, where it meets the Sunset Trail. The view behind us is spectacular.

We didn’t spend a lot of time at the Sunset junction; everyone was tired and eager to finish the hike. But we did enjoy the great view for a few minutes and took the obligatory group photo.

 Descending the Upper Oldham Trail was, of course, much easier than the prior ascent. “This must be that down situation of which people speak,” we all thought. But soon we were back at the Oldham trailhead and ready for the easy trek back to the cars. Well, almost.

There’s only one thing difficult about the Easy Oldham Trail: finding it. As far as we could tell, it’s completely unmarked. So I’m not sure if we actually hiked the Easy Oldham, or parts of it, or whether we travelled on other unmarked trails that run parallel. I only know that we didn’t go back on the Lower Oldham Trail, and that I monitored our direction by GPS so we’d get back to Buffalo Park. And that we did without backtracking or getting lost and I suppose that’s good enough to be called a victory.

The Easy Oldham trail is, uh, easy, except that it's unmarked. [photo by John]

We finished hiking at 4:45 and as usual headed into Flagstaff for a bite before heading home. Beaver Street Brewery is a favorite of mine, but of many others as well, and it’s often hard to get in. But since there were only five of us and we were still before the main dinner rush we gave it a try and got in after just a short wait. The food, the service, and the beer were all excellent as usual, so much that I not only gave our waitress a nice tip, but a rare, valuable, and much-sought-after Arizona Trailblazers key ring as well.

Great weather and great trails certainly make for a great day! [photo by John]

Hike Statistics
Total Distance:	12.69	mi
Starting Time:	10:00	AM
Moving Time:	6:02	hrs:min
Stopped Time:	0:42	hrs:min
Duration:	6:44	hrs:min
Finishing Time:	4:45	PM
Avg. Speed Moving:	2.1	mph
Avg. Speed Overall:	1.9	mph
Starting Elevation:	7,172	ft
Minimum Elevation:	7,065	ft
Maximum Elevation:	8,885	ft
Total Ascent:	2,376	ft
Calories:	813
Starting Temperature:	57	°
Finishing Temperature:	64	°