On Saturday September 28, 1998 fifteen of us met at Arby’s on Shea Blvd, arranged carpooling, handed out radios and headed north to the Mazatzal Wilderness. Those who went were: Tom and Jeannie Van Lew, Tony Grundon, Chuck Parsons, Peggy and Chuck Giovanniello, Doris Madueno, Terry Connacher, Anatoli and Natasha Korkin, Richard De Souza, Nancy and Tom Shaughnessy, Dave and Courtney Pressler.

After a brief stop at the Roosevelt turnoff Rest Area and a five-mile ride down a dirt road following a horse trailer, we reached the trailhead by 9:30 a.m. We had our group shot taken by one of the international students from ASU who were with the Outdoors Club.

The Mazatzal Wilderness is a vast area. We were taking the Barnhardt Trail and it barely touched on the area that could be covered. The trail started on the Barnhardt Mesa with cholla and prickly pear cactus, many bearing dark red fruit, and palo verde trees. The trail started out wide and rocky but got more distinct as we went along. We encountered a series of switchbacks, with pinyon pine and juniper. We had great views of the canyon and valley below where we could make out highway 87, Rye and Gisela. We passed 2 or 3 waterfalls (no water this time!), one in a narrow canyon that must have been at least 50 foot high. At the higher elevations and in the protection of mountains, grew Ponderosa Pine. We saw coyote scat and some one thought we also saw signs of bear. Our little group that brought up the rear found a 3-4 ft long rattlesnake warming itself in the morning sun just past the intersection with the Sandy Saddle Trail.

We took pictures, as it was the first I had actually seen a rattlesnake that close in the wild. It was rather slow moving and didn’t seem too alarmed by us as it was not rattling and seemed to ignore us until it finally had enough and slid down the side of the trail back under the cover of rocks and brush.

Richard, Tony, Peggy, Anatoli, and Natasha

It was there that we met a Forest Service employee with his saddle horse and mule. He told us he was out signing the trail warning about the lightning caused fire that was on the other side of the peak.

He informed us we could not continue the loop around Mazatzal Peak on the Snaketree Trail. We explained that 12.4 miles was enough for one day and had no intention of doing the 17 mile loop! We found a shady spot where we stopped for lunch, enjoying the overlook down the canyon.

We heard via the radios that the rest of our group had gone beyond the turnaround point, finding a shady spot to stop for lunch and naps.

The hike down was somewhat cooler as the peaks often shaded the afternoon sun. The smoke from the fire filled the air more and more, and we wondered if it had reached the peak and was heading down on us (of course it wasn’t but it made for interesting conversations as we walked along!).

Some of the group reached the cars by 4:00 and the last of the group was out by 4:40. It was a beautiful day for a hike in the woods!