Back Road Adventure

back road adventure Terry Flat Loop

Elk, bears and even wolves can be seen on this drive, but the highlight is Terry Flat, the largest meadow in the Escudilla Wilderness.

SCENIC BACK ROADS ARE just a turn-signal away in the White Mountains, and the farther east you drive, the more likely you are to have the back road to yourself. On this trip, a friend and I headed to Terry Flat Loop and the Escudilla Wilderness from the mountain village of Alpine, which sits near the Arizona-New Mexico border.

With an altitude of 8,050 feet, Alpine is surrounded by a forest of ponderosa pines, spruce, fir and aspens. It's a hub of outdoor recreation, including hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, hunting, birding, wildlife photography and just plain looking.

Local wildlife includes deer, antelopes, elk, bears, mountain lions, turkeys, javelinas, Rocky Mountain sheep, coyotes and Mexican gray wolves.

We started our day trip at the Alpine Ranger Station on the west side of town. Part of any trip for me involves digging into the local history, and I learned that Alpine was originally called "Bush Valley," after Anderson Bush, who settled the town in 1876. In 1879, Mormons began arriving from Utah. They colonized the valley and changed the town's name to "Alpine."

I then asked the receptionist how Terry Flat got its name. She said she thought it was named after Terry Reidhead, a logger and sawmill owner. She was right. The name was established after the 23,000acre Escudilla Fire in 1951, which burned the entire northeast side of the mountain and part of the top. The Forest Service accepted logging bids to salvage what they could of the 32 million board feet of burned timber. Terry's father, E.O. Reidhead, was one of the bidders.

"I was about 3," Terry says. "I remember the district ranger, Lafe Kartchner, went with us in Dad's '51 Ford pickup. We took the old log road that went to the top. We were right above Hulsey Lake. Dad took out a marking hammer and began marking timber [to be cut] on the left side of the road. The ranger took the right. They marked up to Paddy Fork Tank. All the time, I ran along

travel tips

Vehicle Requirements: High-clearance vehicle Warning: Back-road travel can be hazardous, so beware of weather and road conditions. Carry plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return.

Information: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, Alpine Ranger District, 928-339-5000; www.fs. fed.us/r3/asnf/recreation/ wilderness and www.fs.fed.us/ r3/asnf/recreation/scenic.

(511) Travelers in Arizona can visit az511.gov or dial 511 to get information on road closures, construction, delays, weather and more.

behind. On the way back, the ranger asked me what my name was, and I told him. He said they didn't have a name for the big flat up on Escudilla, so they'd call it Terry Flat."

Five and a half miles west of Alpine on U.S. Route 180/191, we turned north onto Forest Road 56, and 2 miles later, turned into the parking lot at Hulsey Lake. When we stepped out, the first sound we heard was the quiet. A few mountain families were fishing, but even the children were playing quietly. My friend shot some photos of the quiet lake and the quiet people under a quiet sky. From Hulsey Lake, we drove through a dry, overgrown forest of Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir and aspens. On the south side of the road, loose talus slopes drop steeply to a narrow draw far below. From Hulsey's 8,600-foot elevation, we gained nearly

QUIET ESCAPE Talwiwi Lodge sits in seclusion (right) near the Coronado Trail (U.S. Route 191) in this view from Escudilla Mountain. Photograph by Jerry Jacka

1,000 feet in 2.5 miles to the Escudilla Trailhead.

Spanish explorers named the prominent landmark "Escudilla" because, from a distance, it reminded them of an inverted bowl. At 10,877 feet, Escudilla is one of the highest mountains in Arizona, and also one of the most accessible. All but the top of it was logged in the early days. The top, with patches of oldgrowth forest, was declared a Wilderness in 1984. Since nothing mechanical is allowed in the Wilderness, mountain bikers are required to leave their bikes at the trailhead. The 6-mile round-trip hike takes an average of three and a half hours.

From the trailhead, you

can take a 6-mile-long narrow dirt road that loops around Terry Flat clockwise or counterclockwise. Terry Flat is the largest of Escudilla's many meadows. Ringed by forest, the rolling meadow holds little islands of bent trees that huddle together against the wind. When the side roads are dry, it's safe to take them to some of the spectacular viewpoints on the rim of the plateau.

This time of year, when the aspens turn color, Escudilla is crowned with gold. In the spring, the aspens are a shimmering, luminescent green. And in the summer, the meadows are splashed with a stunning array of wildflowers.

By the end of our trip, we had driven 64 miles since we turned off U.S. 180/191 onto FR 56. Thinking back on our adventure, I noticed a phenomenon that's common in this part of the country somewhere along the way, we had grown quiet.