The Mogollon Section of the Arizona Trail

The American West has a bunch of sand and sandstone/limestone in the middle of it. The landscape of southern Colorado, southern Utah, Northern New Mexico and Northern Arizona sit atop the Colorado Plateau. Arches, Lake Powell, Canyonlands, Bryce, Mesa Verde, the Gila, and the Grand Canyon are all carved from or into it. At the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau, the 200 mile long Mogollon Rim is an escarpment marking the southern end. 

We hiked the section of the Arizona Trail which starts in the 5000-6000 foot elevation zone below the Mogollon rim, parallels, then eventually climbs the rim, continuing north to the 8000 foot elevation zone atop the Colorado Plateau.

We started at the Pine Trailhead, outside the town of Pine. The route is also a section of a trail following the Mogollon in its entirety, called the Highline. We traveled east along the route, the Mogollon rim above, with views to the south. There were a few water sources and the landscape alternated between old burn areas and arid ridges to more well-watered stands of fir, pine, and sycamore. There was little foot traffic. The trail crosses the headwaters of sycamore creek. Finally, on day two , we climbed the rim and traveled north through ponderosa forest, to drop back into the clear creek drainage for camp on night two. Wild life seemed fairly abundant, as we found bear tracks, ran into several elk, and a fox.

Headwater of the Verde River

unfinished train tunnel, a side trip off the Arizona Trail below the Mogollon Rim; vestige from a bubble market over a century ago

I believe this is coral fossil, at 7500 feet on the Mogollon Rim

Fossils from sea creatures in sandstone at 8000 feet on the Mogollon Rim

 
We hiked out through ponderosa forest to the highway 87 at the blue ridge trailhead, 36 trail miles from where we had started and where we had parked our car three days prior. On the last section, there were broken views of the San Francisco Peaks in the distance.