ATV 10

Everyone is always asking me, “How do you find these places?” I just go. If I look on a map, I try and get some idea of something to go to, a lake , a mountain, a creek, and always go to fire lookout towers. If you can’t find anyone that has been there, that’s even better ! I have never heard of anyone even saying the words Gooseberry Springs or Kinnickinick Lake, so this is a big plus ! It was slightly over 100 miles from my house but the extra half hour was worth it. I couldn’t ask for a better place to park. The weather was excellent with a high of 85 degrees.

The roads here were excellent for ATV’s , smooth in most places with no scary spots for the wife. This area seems to have a lot of these wetland areas. I’ll bet most of these areas dry up in the summer ???? maybe not once the monsoons start ??

These have to be some of the best camping/picnicking spots in all of Coconino Forest. We seen a lot of these small isolated clearings. The forest in many spots is a mixture of pine and aspen. Look behind the ATV’s, the forest is screaming “COME FOR A HIKE !” ,,, and get lost. Do hike with a GPS especially in a forest like this with no trails.

Don’t ask me how to pronounce it. If you notice they spelled it differently on the two signs ? Oops !

Well,,, it’s another nice big unused lake. The water was just a little muddy looking but I imagine that will clear with time. Around the lake are picnic tables mostly with trees (tree) for some shade. This area is not thick forest, but it will do.

I’m not sure what kind of bird this is,,, Stork ?,, Crain ? It didn’t seen to be concerned with our presence.

We took an alternate route back heading to Mormon Lake Lookout. The roads and trails were spectacular. We did have a few rough spots, rough not dangerous. For the most part you couldn’t get much better or scenic roads. We were able to navigate over to the road that went up to the lookout. This satisfied my curiosity but it was a bit late to venture up this road. (We were just there a few weeks ago).

I guess we would have had time to go up to the tower. It seems the last road I wanted to explore is closed to motor vehicles. The Arizona Trail is always a great place to hike.