Today our plan is to go as high up as we can on Mogollon Rim and explore the Mogollon Cabin loop, further than we have explored it previously. But first we have to get there and we are surprised as we see a lot of emergency vehicles on the side of the Beeline highway. We are not sure what is happening, there is nothing visible, but the road is not closed and on we go towards Payson and then towards Pine.
We stop briefly in Pine to take a look at the outdoor and Farmer’s market, neither has anything very interesting but we buy at least some fudge and then it is time to continue in the high mountains.
We stop at the road to the trailhead which is marked by a battleground marker and decide to stop and have a snack before starting the hike.
Right here is also the Arizona Trail climbing the Rim and now continuing on northwards. In fact half of the hike is on the Arizona Trail which we look forward to, of course after finishing our impromptu lunch.
We park near the General Springs Cabin that marks the trailhead and decide first to take a look at the cabin. Surprisingly it is open, which is not what we remember from our previous visit so should we enter we wonder?
Of course in we go, it is in good shape but quite empty, we were hoping for at least some furniture. It might have been worthwhile to make it a refuge for people lost or hikers on the AZT but who knows what the plans are.
The trailhead here is quite developed with a good map and on we go following Fred Haught Trail into the forest.
The trail is mostly flat and we enjoy that there are no other hikers and the fact that we have tree coverage, it is quite warm even high up.
On the trail we have to look for a cache and it takes quite a bit to find it in the canyons that interfere with our GPS signal. But we get it in the end and now we are free to enjoy the nature all around us.
And there is lots of nature including chipmunks and interesting birds like Red-Faced warblers which are always fun to see.
In this section the trail follows a creek which is likely the reason for the cabins and also for the concentration of wildlife all around.
There are lots of butterflies also, especially swallowtails but we enjoy the Western Tanager singing to us even more, he seems to be quite excited for some reason.
And on we go following the beautiful trail. It is a very scenic section with a relatively mature ponderosa forest surrounding the creek that we are following.
There are also cabin remains near the trail and we enjoy exploring them as well as the beautiful cacti growing near the trail. They are in flower right now, exactly what we want to see.
The creek is also fun to explore with dragonflies flitting around and even some crayfish in the water, sooo special!
What we don’t expect to see is a snake on the trail. Even though it is non poisonous one we go around it and then watch as it slithers off trail, just in case of a bike or something dangerous coming by later.
And then it is time to leave the creek and the canyon and hike up towards the main road here, Forest Road 123. The climb is quite steep but short and then we reach the most useless sign ever, all motorized vehicles forbidden. On a section where the only access is via a trail through trees and then going down the steep slope we just climbed, weird.
Maybe it has something to do with the pipeline running right next to it? We are not sure but at least from here a semblance of a pipeline road starts until the 123 where we find one more cache before starting on our return hike.
We decide to try to use FR 123 and some other side roads to return to the trailhead, instead of the trail as it seems a faster route. It even would be if some wouldn’t be impassable and some wouldn’t be taken over by logging activity. Really almost the whole area seems to be a whole logging operation with healthy trees being cut down and packaged to be processed for lumber. A bit more disconcerting even though we find their temporary housing there is no one here, it feels like a ghost has taken away all the living.
The living people that is, there are a few elks and lots of nighthawks overflying us as it gets dark and we still haven’t found the right access side road to the trailhead.
But then we find it, passing again through a logging camp and then descending towards the trailhead past some cows who look none too happy to be disturbed. But we do get to the trailhead and now it is time to return home.
Which is easier said than done as on our return trip it is clear why the emergency vehicles were out on the Beeline Highway in the morning. There is a raging fire now in the same spot and the traffic is closed in the opposite direction but we just squeak past before our direction of traffic is also closed, phew. And then we arrive home after a beautiful day on the RIm, looking forward to next time!
