This trail is colorfully described in the October 1997 issue of Arizona Highways. October is a great time of year to do this hike due to the changing colors of the aspens to a bright yellow. This is one of the most photographed areas of Arizona at this time of year! Those that joined us were: Mike Wargel, Terry Connacher, Doris Madueno, Kim Hackbarth, Lois Buck, Jarvis Lowndes, Christian Seiler, Danja Bottducci, Mary Catlett, Don Wyatt, Barb Brackett, Patti Capps, Anne Lewis, John Madrol, Tom Van Lew, Jeannie Van Lew, Mike Clayton, Tom Garcia, Kevin Hicks, Larry Gedemer, Karin Fotis, Michael Hirth, Alex Johnson, Sylvia Prast, Rhonda Peters and Jacquelen Glover.

This trail starts out at 9300 feet and winds its way west to east through the Kachina Wilderness area across the south face (Flagstaff side) of the San Francisco Peaks, dropping to 8800 feet; total one-way distance is 6 miles.

We hiked to a halfway point just below Friedlein Prairie, where we had a great view of the San Francisco Peaks and the valley below. We then returned to the cars, for a round trip of 6 miles (more advanced and faster-paced hikers could have chosen to go to the end of the trail, at the junction with the Weatherford Trail near Schulz Tank, for a total of 12 miles round trip).

The hike from the parking lot was generally downhill from that orientation (west to east), and most everyone could handle the downhill slope. It is a very, very pretty, relative easy hike that gets a moderate rating due to the very high elevation. It starts in a forest of fir, spruce, and aspen, through meadows of flowers, past basalt cliffs at 1.5 miles, and spotty forest fire damage (probably due to lightning strikes) and a cave.

The hike ended with a light sprinkling of snow, making for a picturesque winter wonderland.