Flagstaff

We got some bad news this morning (family related) which has definitely put life in perspective to both of us.  We ended up having a slow morning and then opted to head to Flagstaff to add a positive note to the day.

We decided to take 89A up through Jerome, Sedona and then on to Flag.  I can't remember if we've ever taken this route from Prescott to Flagstaff so it was good to try something new.  The drive between Prescott and Sedona was nice.  We drove through some interesting rock formations and then through high desert with amazing mountains in the background.  For the entire drive rain was threatening but it managed to hold off.  The drive from Sedona to Flag was beautiful.  We went through Oak Creek Canyon, a drive we've both done many times, and enjoyed the scenery. 

Driving into Flag was just what we had remembered.  Upon diving into town Scott said "We need to rent a house here".  Sounds like his mind is made up....  Flagstaff is definitely an important/special place to us.  For the eight years that I lived in Phoenix we went camping in Flagstaff at least three weekends a month every summer between May and September.  Most every weekend that we camped, there were at least 2-3 other couples/friends and dogs that came along.  We have tons of memories of hiking, biking, lounging in our hammocks and just loving life!  We've always said that we would live in Flag in a heartbeat!

We wanted to do a nice hike into the aspen trees (one of our favorites from the years of coming up here) so we headed up Mount Elden.  The first and biggest change on our drive up the mountain road were the no fire signs posted and the second change that we noticed was how unmaintained the road had become.  When we got up to the Shultz Creek Water Tank we noticed a huge new bulletin board with information regarding fire and I started to notice charred trees.  Within about 30 seconds we could start to see the fire damage.  Let me just say that this was pretty awful for us.  We decided to continue along the road to see if our campsite was still around and we couldn't find it.  The fire had wiped out everything! 

We turned around and headed back to the Weatherford Trailhead and decided to read about the fire.  Sure enough, this fire had taken place last June from a campfire and scorched 26 miles of our beloved Mount Elden. 

We headed up the trail and could see that the trees along the trail had been scorched, but everything was green and alive.  We saw a deer run accross the trail about 50 yards in front of us.  It was fast.  Unfortunately, the further we hiked the reality started to sink in that one of our favorite hiking trails has forever changed.  The trail eventually forks to the right where there are tons of aspen trees and the trail is extremely scenic.  Unfortunately, this is also the side of the trail where there was the most fire damage.  When we reached the fork, the direction we had wanted to go was closed due to fire damage and probably rehabilitation efforts.  Nothing like trying to raise our sprirts by coming to a place that we both love and finding the destruction that the fire has caused.

When we got back down to Shultz Tank near the trail head we took a little walk around the water.  We decided that it was probably time to head back down to town and it was getting cold out (in the 50's). 

We decided to have Beaver Street for dinner and Oregano's for dessert, it was good.  When we left the restaurant it was raining.  We drove in rain for the next hour on our way back to Prescott. 

What a day, we both left Flag with a definite sadness that one of our favorite places we have ever been will take years to regrow.