Fisher Point via Sandy's Canyon

This morning we drove out to the small parking area in front of Canyon Vista Campground, near Flagstaff, to hike to Fisher Point via Sandy's Canyon. Overall, we hiked 7 miles round trip with 280 ft loss/gain. We later saw there is a new, larger parking area about 0.5 mile away (closer to Fisher Point).

Part of our trail was also on the Arizona Trail.

View over looking Sandy's Canyon, the San Francisco Peaks in the far distance.

We had an early start to beat the heat, the moon was still up in the sky.

Large boulder along the trail.

Lovely rock formations as part of the canyon wall as we got closer to Fisher Point.

small cave at the base of Fisher Point

Beyond Fisher Point, we continued along this part of Walnut Canyon for about 0.75 mile

a niche in the canyon wall

inside the niche, it looks like a fire ring has been built

Further along we found a larger cave.

The cave narrowed inside,

and narrowed even further, a thin person could fit, but I could not.

Looking our from the front of the cave.

More interesting rock formations along the canyon walls as we continued hiking up the canyon.

walnut trees in the canyon

back at Fisher Point

some of the wildflowers we saw along the trail today:

 

Abineau/Bear Jaw Loop

We drove out to the Coconino National Forest to hike the Abineau/Bear Jaw Loop Trail in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. This was a 7 mile hike (mostly a loop) with 1,800 ft of gain, hiking up to 10,327 ft of elevation. We saw 10 other people on the trail today, not many for a Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.

A 0.4 mile spur trail leads up to the loop. We decided to go counterclockwise, up Abineau Trail first, taking the steep trail up and the more gentle closed road and Bear Jaw Trail down.

This trail goes through a mixed forest of pines, fir and aspen trees. The trees were tall!

On the way up the Abineau Trail we had some views of the side of Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona.

There were a few snow patches to cross on our way up.

The high point of the loop is the junction of the Abineau Trail with the closed Waterline Road (10,327 ft).

Here we had a great view of the side of Humpreys Peak, and

to the north, nearby cinder cones, the Painted Desert, and in the far distance, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We then headed down the Waterline Road for 2 miles, enjoying the gentle down grade. There were a few downed trees, but they were easy to step over or duck under. We saw several butterflies enjoying the dandelions.

The Bear Jaw Trail was in the forest, here we had a few looking up towards where we had hiked down, and what I believe may be Abineau Peak.

It was a bit early for wildflowers, but we saw lots of these bright yellow peas.

 

O'Leary Peak

Today we drove out north of Flagstaff to hike up O'Leary Peak in the Coconino National Forest. This is a 10 mile round trip hike with 2,000 ft of gain to the fire lookout on top. The hike is up the forest road that is closed to all vehicles, except Forest Service fire lookouts.

The first mile is flat. View of O'Leary Peak with a portion of the Bonita Lava Flow

The trail gains 1,000 ft in the next 2.5 miles. Here at 3.5 miles we could see the antennae on the top of the fire lookout above the trees.

View of Sunset Crater

The trail gains another 1,000 ft in the last 1. 5 miles, here we had great views of the San Francisco Peaks.

 Happy to see we are getting closer to the top.

Fire lookout on O'Leary Peak is at 8,916 ft.

There was a forest service employee working in the fire lookout, so we were only allowed to go up to the second platform on the lookout.

View from the second platform on the fire lookout, we took a lunch break near those rocks below and enjoyed the views.

Wide angle view:

zoom of Sunset Crater

zoom of the San Francisco Peaks

some of the wildflowers we saw along the trail today: