Hike #19 – Interstate 40 Trailhead South – 18 Miles

Back on the Arizona Trail again last Tuesday, June 27th 2017, with my good friend Tom. This week’s section would be another from the Flagstaff area starting from a trailhead named Interstate 40 Trailhead. Just a warning… it’s not really a Trailhead, more like a side of the road park and trail intercept.  I was a bit concerned on parking my Chevy Tahoe there all day with the creepy old unmaintained road and norrow shoulder but it worked out just fine. To get there from Flagstaff head east on I40 and get off on Cosnino Road. Make your immediate right on Frontage Road then about a .1 mile down…. well… look for the trail down an inbankment. You’ll see trail signs but no trailhead sign. The trail itself was quite nice but the day was hot with highs of about 85 degrees, wind but no cloud cover. As with most hiking, you learn to enjoy what I call “cloud” magic…. though none for us today…. You’ll start off in a Piñon Pine area with a very slight uphill grade. Very nice views on the first mile or so. Being in the forest sometimes can make hikes slightly repetitive and boring. This hike would be 9 miles out and 9 back, at the turn connecting with where we left off a couple weeks back on the Marshall Lake Trailhead North hike. At about mile 5.5, you run back into Walnut Canyon and do a slight dip into an small canyon off shot just to come right back up to the canyon’s western ledge. It’s the only real up and down on this hike. Other then that it was a pleasant hike. Actually took a short nap under a Pine tree at the turn and was back to the car by 3:15pm. Made a good 3mph pace out and a little slower 2.9mph on the back. Still a good enough calorie burned to reward ourselves with hamburgers at Rock Springs Cafe on the drive home. 

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