Back Road Adventure

They called him Bigfoot. He was a ragged old grizzly bear, and he favored the high country around Terry Flat and Escudilla Mountain in far eastern Arizona. This bear had good taste. Once a year, he'd eat a cow; the rest of the time, he'd sleep or wander in a spruceand aspen-covered paradise where even today he'd have plenty of privacy.

Bigfoot has been gone for many years. Forest ranger and Nature writer Aldo Leopold chronicled his death in the book Sand County Almanac, published in 1949. A federal trapper had been called in to rid the area of livestock-killing wildlife, Leopold recalled. Here's his account of what happened next: "The trapper packed his mule and headed for Escudilla.

"In a month he was back, his mule staggering under a heavy hide. There was only one barn in town big enough to dry it on. He had tried traps, poison, and all his usual wiles to no avail. Then he had erected a set-gun in a defile through which only the bear could pass, and waited. The last grizzly walked into the string and shot himself."

As far as anyone knows, there are no longer any grizzly bears in Arizona. Leopold wrote as though he thought Bigfoot was the last. But another grizzly was shot at Strayhorse, roughly 40 miles south of Escudilla, in 1935. And that was the last grizzly killed in Arizona, according to records of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. But was it really? Near where it was killed, the tracks of two grizzly cubs were detected, and those two were never heard from again.

While the grizzlies in fact may be long gone, Terry Flat remains prime habitat for black bears (they're actually cinnamoncolored). However, the chances that anyone will see a bear at Terry Flat are rare. Bears are shy and elusive. Furthermore, Terry Flat is so isolated and remote that few people camp there, and the bears have not had the luxury of dining on garbage. On the other hand, wander in the dense forests of aspen, spruce, and pine that form a border around Terry Flat, and you're likely to find bear tracks.

FOR AUTUMN COLOR NOTHING BEATS PERCHING ON ESCUDILLA

When I arrived at Terry Flat in mid-July, my first thought was that the place's name was singularly nondescriptive. At an altitude of 9,500 feet, Terry Flat is a huge meadow shaped like a shallow bowl. In full summer it was a bowl filled with short grass and bell-like wildflowers. A level unpaved road forms a loop drive around the meadow. The view from any of the cut-offs on the loop is like looking down from an airplane.

The meadow was named for Lewis K. Terry, a rancher who lived a few miles southeast of Alpine during the 1920s and who had a Forest Service permit to graze his cows in the high meadow that forms a shoulder just east of Escudilla, the third tallest peak in Arizona (10,955 feet). There isn't any quick way to get to Escudilla and Terry Flat.

Back Road Adventure

Whether you start from Phoenix or Tucson, it will end up being a six-hour drive one-way.

Begin by driving from Tucson or Phoenix to Globe, which is reached from Phoenix via U.S. Route 60 and from Tucson on State Route 77. Allow about two hours to get to Globe from either city. At Globe, Routes 60 and 77 become the same road, winding down the 2,000-foot chasm called Salt River Canyon before reaching the community of Show Low, 87 miles north and east of Globe. Follow the road, State Route 73, from Show Low through Lakeside and Pinetop, and turn east onto State Route 260 at Hon Dah. From that point, it's about 60 miles to Springerville. Alpine is 28 miles south of Springerville on U.S. Route 191, formerly U.S. Route 666.

Alpine is a tiny community with three motels, an equal number of churches, and a few small stores and restaurants. The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest has an office there where information and maps can be obtained.

Forest Service Road 56, which leads to Terry Flat and the Escudilla National Recreation Trail, begins 5.5 miles north of Alpine just beyond Milepost 421.

About a mile after you turn onto FR 56, a well-marked cut-off appears on the left for Hulsey Lake, a small fishing hole. There is a small parking area here. Terry Flat is five miles from the lake cut-off. However, 3.6 miles from the beginning of FR 56, there is a fork just beyond Toolbox Draw; taking either either the left or right road at the fork will lead you to Terry Flat. If you take the left fork, in a half mile you'll come upon the trailhead for the magnificent Escudilla National Recreation Trail. The three-mile trail to Escudilla is more of a pleasant stroll than a strenuous hike, though it's best to go slowly because the air is thin at this altitude.

The climb to Escudilla begins in an area burned by a wildfire in 1951. Large stumps of Douglas fir show the fire's devastating impact. The trail meanders through dazzling groves of aspen and spruce trees. Along the way, numerous overlooks provide excellent views of prominent peaks across northern Arizona.

If you go all the way to the summit of Escudilla, you'll find a Forest Service fire lookout that offers even better views of the peaks and canyons of the Blue Range Primitive Area to the south. On a clear day, you can even see the San Francisco Peaks to the west at Flagstaff.

Forest Service and Game and Fish officials are confident you will not encounter any grizzlies along this trail. For many hikers, that will probably be comforting news, but some may agree with the sentiments of Aldo Leopold when he wrote: "Since the beginning, time had gnawed at the basaltic hulk of Escudilla, wasting, waiting, and building. Time built three things on the old mountain, a venerable aspect, a community of minor animals and plants, and a grizzly.

"The government trapper who took the grizzly knew he had made Escudilla safe for cows. He did not know he had toppled the spire off an edifice a-building since the morning stars sang together."

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Back-road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape, and you have plenty of water.

Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return.