HIKE OF THE MONTH

Thumb Butte Walkers Enter Land of Falcons and Abert's Squirrels

ABOUT 3,000 HIKERS amble up the slopes of Prescott's distinctive landmark, Thumb Butte, on a typical month, making it the Prescott National Forest's most popular hike. Tantalized by this tidbit, I decided to discover why.

My husband and I are both hiking enthusiasts who'd happily skip any hardship associated with the great outdoors, including cramped tents, heavy backpacks and dehydrated food.

So the 2-mile, 90-minute Thumb Butte Loop Trail sounded appealing-I jokingly called it "Back-country Lite." We could sample the 1.25 million-acre Prescott National Forest in central Arizona in the morning and still browse historic downtown Prescott's shops and restaurants in the afternoon.

When we arrived at the trailhead on a recent September morning-temperature a perfect 75 degrees-fluffy cumulus clouds floated lazily in a cerulean sky, and the calming scent of ponderosa pine hung heavily in the air.

Taking a deep, relaxing breath, I suddenly didn't care if I ever got back to civilization.

We quickly passed a sign marked Trail No. 33 and veered right on the loop trail to take advantage of a more gradual climb. In the shade of towering ponderosa pine trees with a view of the dark basalt Thumb Butte, we followed the path angling south past scattered chaparral: Arizona white oak, mountain mahogany, manzanita and juniper.

Within a quarter mile, I spotted a gray Abert's squirrel with tasseled ears and an upturned tail scampering away at the sound of our pebblecrunching footsteps.

One of the trail's many interpretive signs explained you can spot the squirrels' nests high in the ponderosa pines: "They look like messy clumps of needles, but are actually carefully built homes with entrances, ceilings and inside linings of soft materials."

Sure enough, we spotted several squirrels' nests as we trudged onward. Classified as a moderate trail, the path at times rose steeply past gambel oaks, whose distinctive large-lobed leaves had just begun to turn autumn gold, and scatterings of wildflowers, including brilliant yellow goldenrods and orange-red penstemons. A repeated rat-a-tat-tat punctuated the peaceful silence; then we spotted the culprit: a pesky black and white woodpecker high in a ponderosa pine.

After hiking south nearly a mile, the trail veered to the east. Less than a quarter of a mile later, we reached the junction to the Groom Creek Vista, which offered a spectacular bird'seye view of a wide-open azure sky. At the overlook, I saw the towering Bradshaw, Sierra Prieta, Granite and Mingus mountains rising on the horizon, and a high basin cradling Prescott, once Arizona's Territorial capital. We lingered on a bench, relishing the view and watching three daring rock climbers scale chimneys leading to Thumb Butte's summit.

This summit is off-limits to rock climbers from February 1 to July 15, when a pair of peregrine falcons, lifetime mates, return here each year to nest. For conservationists, it's a sign of hope. The peregrine population crashed in the 1970s after several decades on a DDT-tainted diet that resulted in eggs so thin they were crushed by the weight of incubating adults. At its nadir, the raptors' numbers plunged by 90 percent. One of the first species protected under the Endangered Species Act, the peregrine was delisted in 1999-27 years after DDT was banned.

After we headed north down the loop trail, going back to the parking lot, we understood why so many hikers come here. In less than two hours, we'd witnessed the handiwork of the animal kingdom's clever architects and the bold return of the peregrine falcon. And we could still indulge our Inner Urbanites on nouveau Southwestern cuisine and café latte in historic downtown Prescott, just minutes away.