After trying a hike at lower altitudes which we aborted after getting beaten down by the sun we then decide to try higher altitudes next. The first stop does not appear to have shade so we move to the Pole Knoll Trail System which seems to have more than enough ponderosa pines at least near the trailhead. It also has caches which is a bonus and lots of other people which is a minus. But we decide to at least go to the cache first and then choose what to do next.
From near the cache we can see the weird contraptions on the meadows that can be seen from anywhere on the highway, we always wondered what they are. We assume that they are snow blockers and the internet seems to agree. Returning at the parking lot another group comes to show us a Horned Lizard, we explain to them that they should not touch it given its interesting defense mechanism, especially given that they have children that are quite excited about the lizard.
As we liked the initial hike we decide to go on a larger hike on the large trail system that starts from the trailhead. The trails are very easy in this section and they are even marked as such, we really like that fact. And the sun is now behind the clouds which is good, it is not so hot, and bad as it might be raining as far as we know.
Everybody else has returned to the cars and left so we are the only people exploring this beautiful trail through the aspens. As we walk we start looking for birds, maybe we can see some high altitude specialties.
And after a few chickadees and juncos we find something special, a beautiful pair of Clark’s Nutcrackers cracking nuts or pines above us. Quite special.
And then we reach the end of the easy section of the trail, from here we get into the more difficult section of the loop climbing up towards the knoll. It is a nice climb in the beginning similar to what we have seen in Taiwan and we even stop to eat some snacks before the seemingly inevitable rain.
And we are lucky, just as we finish the snack the rain starts so it is time to switch to rain gear and press on, maybe it is just a bout of rain and it will pass, who knows?
In this case we have chosen correctly as the rain stops during our climb and even the sun appears for some time just enough to make us uncomfortable hot.
As we reach the top it seems that another bout is coming our way so we take a few photos but decide to move on as fast as possible to not get caught by the lightning.
We still take one more glimpse at the views from the top, quite nice but mostly hidden, and then it is time to descend. Just in time as the rain and thunder starts almost immediately as we start to descend.
At the base the trail becomes level again passing through some beautiful stands of aspen that we really enjoy. And the rain stops again which is a bonus.
We pass a sign that say Bear Tr so we assume it says “Bear Trap” even though we know it says Bearing Triangle. But Bear Trap is more fun especially as we hike through this secluded area through the fog and who knows what can jump at you from every corner.
And then we arrive at the parking lot and start on our return trip to Phoenix. However it starts to rain quite heavily as we approach Pinetop Lakeside so we decide to stop at a McDonalds to eat lunch and maybe wait the rain out. But then we hear flooding and roads closed so we eat fast and drive through the heavy downpour for a couple hours before we finally pass through it and can drive to Phoenix unimpeded by the rain after a great time out in the mountains.
