Show Low Part 3

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We’ve been here at Juniper Ridge for 11 weeks already. While we wouldn’t typically stay at this type of resort, it has definitely filled the bill for what we were looking for during these uncertain times. Other than playing a little bit of pickle ball, we really haven’t taken advantage of the other activities the resort offers. Of course, many of the normal events that happen each summer have been cancelled. But I get the sense that many of the folks living here normally have a full summer of things to do. For the most part there isn’t much turn over of people at the sites - nothing close to a private campground or state park. But that doesn’t mean there are no new residents arriving from time to time. The two sites immediately to our north have both had a couple different people in them over the months. Each site has a large shade structure that make for a challenge when getting a rig into them. The site two down from us also has a row of pine trees making the entrance even more difficult. We have watched three rigs over the months come and go in that site. A fifth wheel and a travel trailer each took over an hour to get the rig in. While a larger class A motorhome spent at least that long, nearly got in a position where it couldn’t get in OR out and finally gave up before they damaged their rig. So I guess there can be some excitement in the resort!

About five miles from our spot is the Silver Creek Hatchery. We usually enjoy checking these types of places out when we get a chance so we headed over to investigate. Unfortunately the actual hatchery is not open to the public except by appointment only. But there is the actual Silver Creek that runs thru the property and a trail that more or less follows the meandering creek. There is a reasonable sized parking lot and a dozen vehicles parked there. It didn’t seem likely that all these people were here to do the short hike and we quickly discovered that they are all here to fish. Silver Creek didn’t really look like a good fishing spot to us. It is probably only 15 to 25 feet wide and doesn’t look very deep. We start to walk east along the trail and after a couple hundred feet, we get away from the crowd.

A Calm Silver Creek

Continuing Along Creek

A Bit Wider

About a mile out from the parking lot, we hit the end of the trail. At least the legal portion of the trail. We had read that there would be signage to signify where the public is not permitted and there was little doubt when we reached that point. There even appeared to be a trail camera keeping a look out for possible intruders. There was no sign of any hatchery building beyond the barbed wire so it didn’t seem like we were that close (later a look on Google Earth shows a building another half mile away). Just seems like a little over the top for a fish hatchery. We turn around and enjoy the scenery on the walk back to the car.

I Don't Think They Want Us to Go Any Further!

Cool Damselfly

Stump for a Seat

The next day was going to be another hot one so we decided to head to the town of Greer for some hiking. Why Greer? It’s in the heart of the White Mountains (Arizona not New Hampshire) and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The town is at an elevation of 8300 feet but much of the hiking will go well over 9000 feet so it will be dramatically cooler there. It’s not super close - about a 60 mile drive or 80 minutes southeast of us. We don’t have any long hike planned but figure to do a few shorter hikes to get a sense of the area. Our first hike, the Spring Tank Trail, starts out in a residential area of Greer just north of town. Calling it a residential area might be a stretch. Think more like cabins in the woods. I suspect 90% of the residents only come here to escape the summer heat from places like Phoenix.

We find a wide section of the road to park near the trailhead and start up the trail. Its heavily wooded and the trail is in good shape. In just about a half mile we come across the namesake for the trail - Spring Tank. We’ve noticed that here in Arizona there are many bodies of water that are called tanks. I’m not positive of the distinction between a tank and a pond but in my estimation they seem to be the same thing. We have a geocache to find nearby and it turned out to be hidden about 120 feet from the posted location so we were in the area overlooking the tank for some time.

Spring Tank

View Above Spring Tank with Chris Waiting to Go

We continue up the trail and find it to be much steeper and given we are at almost 9000 feet, it’s a slow go.  We knew there was a forest road up top where the terrain flattens out so we continue up the additional 3/4 mile to the road. I was able to convince Chris we should go look for a geocache hidden down a gully on the far side of the road that hadn’t been found in over three years! It took some time to negotiate the large boulders and find the well hidden cache. We hadn’t planned on spending two hours for just over a 3 mile hike. But it did include two challenging caches and 800 feet of elevation change.

Spring Tank Track

We then continue into Greer proper. It’s a small town with a few businesses and cabin rentals that must cater to the part time visitors. I suppose it may also be a winter destination for those that like those activities. The town is rather isolated because it is five miles off State Route 260 on basically a dead end road. We go to the end of that road to find a small parking lot that gets us to our next trail. We sit in the parking lot and eat lunch while a brief rain shower passes over us. We are overlooking a small creek with a few people out trying their hand at fishing. I’ve come to discover that this little creek has a name that is nearly as long as the creek is wide - West Fork Little Colorado River. We finish lunch and find the makeshift walkway over the creek.

Chris Made It Across the Colorado River (Little West Fork Version)

Our goal for this hike was one named the Amberian Loop. At 2.2 miles and just under 700 feet of elevation, it’s supposed to offer great views of town. About 0.4 miles up the trail is a split where the actual loop starts. We had read online comments from previous hikers that taking the left at the sign and doing the loop in a clockwise direction was preferred. We start to get some amazing views after shortly after the turn.

Take the Left for Better Marked Trail

Overlooking Greer AZ

As we get near the top of the hike we are on a bit of a mesa or plateau at almost 9100 feet. Most of the trees are burned and the terrain is quite rocky. Staying on the trail becomes a challenge. There are small markers on the trees and generally we can spot the next marker as we pass each one. We do notice that there are no markers on the back side of the trees. This would explain the comments about the trail not being marked. We eventually get back to the more substantial trail. It continues south on the mesa but we turn right and head north back to the car.

Burned Out Trees at Top of Mesa

Better Marked Trail

After a quarter mile or so we find another marked trail on our left. We don’t have it on our GPS but wonder if it is an alternative route back down to the car. It turned out to have a great view of the valley south of Greer, but didn’t appear to be heading in a direction that would get us back so we enjoyed the view and then continued on the loop to the car. Our detour added about half a mile to the hike but all in all, it was a pleasant hike with great views.

Valley View

Another Valley View

Back to the River

Amberian Loop Track

Our two hikes had gotten us in 6 miles and even though we had another hike in mind, our legs told us otherwise. On the way out of town we spot a nice looking campground- Rolfe C Hoyer Campground. It’s a forest service campground without utilities but does have a dump station and potable water. From the looks of things, at least some sites are large enough for a rig our size. Could be an convenient place to stay in the future so we could be close to the many other hiking opportunities in the immediate area. We instead head down to check out some of the small reservoirs opposite the campground. Both Tunnel Reservoir and River Reservoir have water in them but they level seems to be quite low especially based on the large concrete boat ramp that doesn’t quite reach the water! This was a fun, if tiring, day trip and must consider coming back.

Boat Ramp at Tunnel Reservoir Doesn't Reach Water

A Part of River Reservoir

A few weeks ago while hiking the Los Burros Trail, we saw a side trail and fire road up to a fire tower. It was late in that 10 mile hike and didn’t have the energy to add it on. So we headed back in the middle of August to get in another hike and beat the heat somewhat. The fire tower is at Lake Mountain and is at 8500 feet. We start out on the  Los Burros Trail for about half a mile before hitting FR 269. The trail up to the fire tower is just a few hundred feet further but we decide to hike the the fire road with the plan on hiking back down the trail. It’s a slow steady climb to the tower gaining nearly 400 feet elevation.

Heading Up FR 269 to Lookout Tower

We did a brief diversion to a geocache in the middle of the woods on our way up and found a faint trail that got us up top. The 49 foot tall tower was built in 1926 and looks in good shape for being nearly a century old. A truck was parked nearby and we were quickly greeted by a voice from the tower. Apparently it’s a fire tower that is still in use. That may explain the well maintained appearance. The guy up top was quite friendly and talkative. Possibly because he doesn’t get a lot of visitors. He seemed surprised by our approach until we told him we had gone for a geocache. He told us there was another one at ground level on the opposite side of the tower. As we started to look, he seemed to think we needed some help and gave us a few hints until we spotted it hidden under a rock.

Fire Tower with Lookout Guy Chatting with Us

Just before we had gotten to the tower, we had heard a clap of lightning and wondered if we might be getting wet before we make it to the car. Our tower friend had a much better view of the weather and told us it appeared to be heading a different direction and we would likely stay dry. There were a lot of trees around the tower so there isn’t a great view except for one opening right near where an Adirondack chair was setup. We head back over to the main trail back down which first heads past the lake. It’s not a very big lake (more like a pond or even a tank!) but I suspect it is much larger come spring.

Partial View from Lake Mountain Lookout

Not Much Water in the Lake

The hike back down the trail was pretty easy. In the distance we could hear gunshots - probably some locals out target practicing. It was hard to tell how far away they were but at times it seemed like we were going to be walking into the line of Fire. As we got further down the mountain, we ran into a few of the open range cattle. Most of them didn’t bother to give us more than a passing glance. But there was one black one with a few white spots on its head that seemed to keep a wary eye on us the whole time we passed by. I can only assume he was designated guard cow for that day. We made it back to the car with it still looking like it might rain but never did. After eating lunch we headed out but did one short walk for a geocache not far off the Chipmunk Springs Trail. We had mountain biked the opposite end of this trail a few weeks earlier and from what we could see, we would have enjoyed the ride all the way to Los Burros.

Intently Watching Us Pass

Definitely Looks Like Bad Weather

Our Fire Tower Track Near Los Burros

At the Edge of the National Forest

Another woodworking project I tackled while I have access to a decent shop was to make some small tables for outside with our camp chairs. I had an idea of the design I was looking to create so I spent some time on the web searching for plans I liked. I hadn’t found a good lumber store in the area so I decided to make them out of cedar. It’s a fairly lightweight species and does well in the elements. Plus typical big box hardware stores carry cedar. I spent quite a few hours at the shop but eventually got three of them constructed. Once built, Chris did the time consuming part of clear coating them. Hopefully they will hold up for many years worth of drinks and snacks while sitting outside.

Cedar Folding Table

Me, Myself and I Show How Table Opens

Chris was looking for something different to do in the area and discovered a winery while searching online. I remember the first time I heard about a winery in Arizona and questioned how the heck they manage to grow grapes here. Having lived in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY, I had an impression of what soil and climate would be needed for growing grapes - and Arizona didn’t fit the mold. But we have visited wineries in Sonoita and Page Springs AZ over the years so we figured why not give the town of Concho a try. 

We haven’t really explored the area northeast of Show Low so we found a few other sights along a loop that would take us past the winery. Our first stop would be at the Wenima Wildlife Area just north of the town of Springerville. This is another example of a place that likely goes unnoticed even to locals. It’s not shaded green on maps to signify its existence. Even though there is a sign off the main road, the landscape at the turn off is not very impressive. It’s mostly flat dry grassland. But like often is the case, a geocache hidden at Wenima highlighted the place’s existence. The first mile on the dirt road makes us wonder what could be back here. But by 1.5 miles, we have dropped a couple hundred feet and have come upon a small and lush green area next to the Little Colorado River. 

View of the Colorado River at Wenima

We find the geocache hidden near a small picnic area shaded by a large tree. There is a trail that follows along the river but much of the plant growth is tall enough to block the view of the water. We do a short walk along the trail and come back thru what looks to be an irrigated plot of land with thousands of sunflowers. It’s a pretty stop worthy of the hour it took us to check out.

Geocache, Picnic Table and Trailhead Combined

Another River View

Field of Sunflowers

The next stop is just 15 miles north on Route 180. Lyman Lake State Park has a campground and your typical state park fare: picnic shelters, hiking trails, etc. But the big draw for most visitors is the 1500 acre lake the park encompasses. It’s created by damming the Little Colorado River. We hadn’t bothered to get an annual Arizona state park pass since there aren’t many others in the area. It’s only $7 to get in and worth the price. Being a weekend, the place was crowded but not packed. The camping area looked nice with some trees but this area is rather barren. We pick a shelter near the visitor center overlooking the lake to eat lunch before heading out for a hike. 

Lunch View

The Peninsula Petroglyph Trail is a little more than a mile long and is pretty descriptive. It’s on a peninsula and there are petroglyphs. There is both a lower loop and an upper loop. Up top we are over 100 feet above the water level. There is no shade to speak of. Although we found a couple of huge ravens that had found a bit of a rock overhang to get out of the sun. The actual petroglyphs are easy to spot but aren’t the best we have seen in our travels.  From this vantage point, it’s easy to see the size of the campground and it did look to be full. They also permit dry camping along a section of the shoreline. Looks like fun to be able to walk 50 feet from your rig to the cooling waters. 

At Trailhead

Lyman Lake from Above

Ravens Beating the Heat

Petroglyphs

Campground

Beach Camping

Next we drive out the dirt road to Rattlesnake Point. None were spotted as we walked around the old Pueblo ruins. Only a few of the estimated 80 to 90 rooms are excavated and exposed. Some rooms have been excavated, investigated and the filled back in to preserve them. A shelter has been built over the exposed rooms to help preserve them from the elements. I need to remind myself that while it looks like a decent place with the nearby lake, this lake didn’t exist back in the mid 1300’s when the place was occupied. 

Exposed Pueblo Rooms

YIKES!!!

Our next stop is the Red Rock Vineyards in Concho. Chris had picked this one because there is also a lavender farm associated with the winery. Of course being this late in the summer, all the lavender had been harvested. We stopped in for a wine tasting. A group of 8 had just left, so we had the place to ourselves. The wine was okay but we are dry wine lovers and most of the ones they have to sample are rather sweet. We drive back thru Snowflake AZ getting a few geocaches along the way. One was near a ranch where the barb wire fencing used a unique mounting technique with horseshoes welded to the poles.

Entrance at Red Rock

Garden Are at Winery

New Grape Vines Just Planted

Lavender Field

Praying Mantis and Reflection

Interesting Barb Wire Mounting Method

One afternoon while sitting outside, I noticed hummingbirds at our neighbor’s feeder. I get out the long telephoto lens and wait for them to come back. They are definitely fascinating to watch. Here are the best shots I got.