HIKE OF THE MONTH

hike of the month A Mosey Less Than a Mile Along the West Fork of OAK CREEK Leads to a Plant Lover's Paradise

LOCATION: 140 miles north of Phoenix. GETTING THERE: Take Interstate 17 north to Flagstaff, then head west on Interstate 40. Take Exit 191 and follow West Route 66 for 2 miles to Woody Mountain Road (Forest Service Road 231), and turn right. The entrance to the arboretum is 4 miles from the intersection. Continue 15 miles to the bridge over the West Fork of Oak Creek, which is marked with a sign. Park in roadside pulloffs. TRAVEL ADVISORY: You may walk the canyon on your own with care. Wear sturdy shoes. There is a charge for the arboretum's guided wildflower walks, which go to various locations in the Flagstaff area. Reservations are required because space is limited. WARNING: Watch for poison ivy when hiking the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Arboretum at Flagstaff, (520) 774-1442 or www.thearb.org. Coconino National Forest, (520) 527-3600.

IT WOULD BE A STRETCH to call this a hike. An amble maybe, or a mosey, perhaps a walk. In any case, the pace proves just right for those who love to stop and smell the roses. And the beebalm, the goldenrods, the taperleaf, the yarrow and the bugbanes, too.

On a stunning Saturday morning in midAugust, 15 people gather at The Arboretum at Flagstaff. With knapsacks, cameras and hand lenses, we're headed for a wildflower walk up the West Fork of Oak Creek, a plant lover's paradise. The monsoon rains deluged northern Arizona, and the plants have responded with a lavish explosion. Roadsides glow with ranks of tall sunflowers and scarlet gilia.

With leaders Nancy Morin, director of the arboretum, and Steve Yoder, educational director, we pile into waiting vehicles and rattle down the washboard road 15 miles to the bridge across West Fork, the headwaters of famous Oak Creek. After we've reassembled, Nancy notes, "This is not lecture mode. As we see things we'll talk about them."

Before the walk even gets going, questions arise about the curious filmy green moss draping the branches of the tall evergreens. Steve verifies that the trees are spruce, and then reveals that the moss is actually a lichen called old man's beard. Overall, this place feels more like a rainy Oregon forest than a typical Arizona canyon.

The moss mystery solved, we file down under the bridge and proceed upstream. We barely go 50 feet before somebody spots a patch of purple beebalm, a plant with several aliases: bergamot, Oswego tea and wild oregano.

Steve enlightens with fascinating botanical tidbits and folklore as we go. Serviceberry, for example, has edible fruits, and the stems are used in basketry. Old-timers called the plant "shadblow" because it blooms when shad fish run. The Spanish word for taperleaf means "herb of he-goat," in reference to the distinctive odor of the crushed leaves.

There's no trail up the canyon; we follow the boulder-strewn streambed, watching footing as we go, detouring to see what's growing in a sunny meadow or on a shady hillside. We stop to look at nearly every flower, shrub and tree gentian, yarrow, goldenrods, geraniums, phlox, a red potentilla, an orange western wallflower.

Nancy peers closely through her hand lens at a flower she'll later "key out" in a fat taxonomic book to find a specific identification. Everyone, and everything, has their noses in the flowers, including the butterflies, bumblebees and hummingbirds seeking the sweet nectar within.

We move on, slowly, admiring the pleasing color combinations: the lipstick-reds of Indian paintbrush, deep-purple delphiniums, white Richardson's geraniums, blue lupines, yellow nodding groundsels. The photographers appreciate the pace. Albert Lighter stops often to shoot a botanical beauty. He and his wife, Toby, retirees from Indiana, now volunteer at the arboretum. They express absolute delight at all they are learning on this walk.

After lunch in a shady spot along the creek, we find the time has vanished. The group heads home, happily content with the quality, rather than the quantity, of the walk of less than a mile. That's what happens when you take time to smell the roses. Al To enjoy this hike with the Friends of Arizona Highways, contact the organization at (602) 7122004. The number of participants will be limited.