HIKE OF THE MONTH

{hike of the month} Reynolds Creek Trail Feels Wild in the Accessible Sierra Anchas

JUST PAST THE CONVENIENT reach of Arizona's cities, but close enough to qualify as a day hike, the Reynolds Creek Trail in the Sierra Ancha mountains makes a full-day getaway. The remote but wellmaintained trail has an untamed feeling as it travels an extraordinarily scenic route in the mountains. North of Theodore Roosevelt Lake and just east of the Mazatzal Mountains, the rugged Sierra Anchas fill the distance between Tonto and Cherry creeks with precipitous peaks. The Sierra Anchas' high country shows characteristics of a coastal rain forest in the heat of the monsoon season. Wildflowers spring up, moss drips from conifer limbs and cold mountain streams, such as Reynolds Creek, clamor down canyons. In autumn, bigtooth maple, velvet ash and quaking aspen trees inundate the canyons with color.

The Reynolds Creek Trail takes hikers 3.7 miles up a wooded canyon as it follows the course of Reynolds Creek. The riparian forest along the creek makes a cool cover in the summer and a colorful one in the fall. The path also doubles as a thoroughfare for animals that like to lap the creek water. The trail starts at a sunny section of Reynolds Creek where dozens of species of wildflowers congregate. The path swerves around thickets of long grasses and crosses the creek on troughs dug into bedrock. On the other side of the creek, the trail starts a steady climb up the north canyon wall under a forest of pines.

At about mile .6, the trail breaks from the tree cover and takes on a high desert look as it brushes next to the eroded rim of the chiseled canyon wall. Mountain mahogany trees, agave and cacti line the trail. Reynolds Creek Falls, which cascades 50 feet during snowmelt and wet weather, comes into view here.

After a zig-zag up the rock wall along a section called The Switchbacks, the trail follows the creek southward under a cover of hardwood, fir and pine trees. In autumn, this section becomes a kaleidoscope of color. Velvet ash and Arizona walnut turn yellow, and bigtooth maple trees flare every shade of red. At about mile 2, the trail enters an aspen forest in Knoles Hole.

The path meets up with an old road and follows it deeper into the mountains past currant bushes that sparkle in the summer with garnet-colored berries. Directional signs point the way off the road to a path up a ridgetop, and cairns mark the twisting route down the other side. The downhill leads through a shadowy aspen and mixed-conifer forest where bears like to look under rocks and logs for food.

Hints of civilization appear when the trail skirts the old Murphy Ranch, renamed Haldi Ranch by the current owners. The ranch signals the trail's end. Hikers can continue on the road to the Aztec Peak Lookout Tower or loop back to their vehicles on one of the mountains' network of trails. Or they can simply return the way they came. With all the special scenic spots, potential to get a glimpse of wildlife, and beauty from flowers or fall color, this trail's worth the double take. Also