HIKE OF THE MONTH

Flagstaff's Observatory Mesa Trail Offers More Than a Heart-pumping Climb

I had walked maybe 200 yards up Observatory Mesa Trail, part of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System, when I spotted a small metal sign affixed to an enormous roughbarked ponderosa pine snag, a standing dead tree. "Wildlife tree," it read. "Saved for their food and shelter. Help to protect it." Judging by its size, this oldster must have lived some 300 to 400 years before it succumbed.

Soaring spar-straight to more than 100 feet, the ponderosa's trunk was pocked with cavities bored by woodpeckers and flickers. Near its top, loose bark sloughed off in sheets. Scattered at its base lay rotting branches that had broken off the trunk.

All these things provide homes for wildlife: the holes for cavity-nesting birds; the loose bark for roosting bats; and the downed branches for insects, lizards, and rodents. Descending headfirst along the trunk, a busy pygmy nuthatch scoured the bark for bugs. There was food there, too.

What I like about hiking is the stuff you can learn, or recall, just being out there, and, right from the start, this hike was instructing me. Save for the metal sign, probably tacked up by school kids, I probably wouldn't have noticed the ponderosa snag. Once I did, though, I realized that it had a Observatory Mesa Trail can be hiked FOR SIS year-round except when snow buries the pathway To reach the trailhead in Thorpe Park, take Santa Fe Avenue to Toltec and turn north to Thorpe Road. For maps and more information on this trail and the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS), call the Flagstaff Visitor Center toll-free at (800) 842-7293.

(LEFT) A cyclist pedals the incline to Observatory Mesa. Part of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System, the Observatory Mesa Trail connects Lowell Observatory to the miles of hiking and biking trails that criss-cross the mountain town.

(RIGHT) Massive old-growth ponderosa pines line the trail.

Thorpe Park, just a few blocks from downtown. The noise of diesel locomotives rumbling along tracks through the city's center and of traffic humming along nearby highways is a constant on this hike, but don't let that throw you off. The trail provides a heart-pumping uphill walk, rising some 440 feet in just 1.6 miles. And you're likely to have company. A hiker said hello as she charged past me at the ponderosa snag. A guy on a mountain bike, trailed by two dogs, waved as he sailed by. A raven chortled from its perch atop a tall pine.

At first, the trail winds through a ravine spilling off the mesa. After a half mile, it turns sharply left to climb the ridge. There it rises through the Lowell Observatory property, finally leveling off atop a mesa for an easy amble to the gate at trail's end. At this point, you can either turn around and return to the trailhead or extend your hike by venturing farther on national forest jeep roads.

I turned back. The sky, slate gray when I started, had gradually darkened. Thunder rumbled in the distance. About halfway down, a light sprinkle fell, then a steady drizzle. Stopping to look around and don a rain parka, I could make out the outlines of the magnificent San Francisco Peaks looming through the mist. Lovely.