It has been warm and dry this month and this has allowed us to continue doing trail runs in Flagstaff and Sedona. Here are a few photographs from these runs.
Long Canyon
A side trip while running Long Canyon in Sedona provides a great view of the red rocks.This tinaja (pool) hidden away in Long Canyon makes a good destination.End of the trail in Long Canyon–the sign says so.
Fort Tuthill
It was interesting that the snow had melted everywhere except the trail.
Snow on Soldiers Trail, Fort Tuthill.Footprints in the snow, Soldiers Trail at Fort Tuthill.
Wet Beaver Creek
This trail a favorite of our running group. The turnaround is at this deep pool.
A deep pool marks the turnaround point for our run along Wet Beaver Creek.A sandstone bench makes for an interesting section on the Bell Trail along Wet Beaver Creek.
Templeton Trail–Easy Breezy Trail
An early morning start was chilly but it warmed up quickly on this run.
Cathedral Rock looms in the distance along this section of Templeton Trail.Cathedral Rock and the intersection of Templeton — Easy Breezy — and Hardline Trails.The return on this loop was on Easy Breezy Trail.
Teacup Trail
We don’t do this often because parking is difficult much of the year. But we got lucky on this day.
Teacup Trail with Coffee Pot Rock in the background.
Oldham–Down Under
We did this earlier this fall and wanted to do it again. Mud, snow and ice made it tricky.
Down Under Trail (formally known as Red Onion) where it crosses Elden Lookout Road.Too much mud and snow here–so we turned around.
Huckaby Trail
Another trail run with a cold start but a warm finish.
Two runners make the climb from the canyon floor to the ridge above on the Huckaby Trail.A view from the high point on Huckaby Trail looking back at Midgley Bridge–the turnaround point for this run.
Schultz Creek Trail
The first two miles were fine with just a few muddy spots. After that we encountered patches of ice and snow — so we did the return on Schultz Pass Road.
Patches of ice on Schultz Creek Trail. Not a problem running up–but not something we wanted to do running down.
As noted elsewhere on these pages this winter has been very dry and warm. That changed in March as a series of storms moved across the southwest. By the time it was over we had accumulated 2.47″ of SWE (snow water equivalent) and 35.6″ of snow. It was greatly appreciated because we are now heading into our dry and windy season (“wildfire season”) and anything that helps to moisten the landscape is appreciated.
Here is a collection of photographs taken during this extended period of snow.
08 March 2025
Clouds cap the San Francisco Peaks just before sunrise (08 March 2025).Cross country skiing at Fort Tuthill Park in Flagstaff (08 March 2025).Grasses poke through the snow at Fort Tuthill Park (08 March 2025).
14 March 2025
Low clouds race across the Mormon Lake area (14 March 2025).Snow covers the tables and benches at a picnic area at Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff, Arizona (14 March 2025).
15 March 2025
The clouds departed but winds increased resulting in plumes of blowing snow over the San Francisco Peaks (15 March 2025).
Then it got warm and everything melted. But the forecast indicates that snow is likely this week so time to get some more photographs.
Here are some recent photographs of winter scenes in and near Flagstaff.
An early morning photo shoot near Mormon Lake.
A few nights of sub-zero temperatures provided enough ice for these locals to skate and play hockey on some water detention ponds.
Panorama of the detention pond next to the Sheep Crossing FUTS trail.Panorama of the detention pond north of the Sheep Crossing FUTS trail.Ice hockey on the frozen detention pond.
New Years Eve day brought widespread fog and low clouds to the area.
Low clouds and fog in Mormon Lake.Low clouds and fog on Forest Highway 3.
There was even enough snow for a bit of cross country skiing at Fort Tuthill County Park.
Skiing of Soldiers Trail at Fort Tuthill County Park.Snow-covered trees in Fort Tuthill County Park.Snow-covered trees in Fort Tuthill County Park.
More snow is expected later this week…more photos likely.
After an early winter of mostly rain across northern Arizona, big snows have finally arrived. Two storms in three days delivered about two feet of snow on the south side of Flagstaff with lesser amounts on the north side. I live on the south side. So we have had a lot of snow to shovel off the driveway plus the piles of snow that the snowplows leave. Yeah, lots of work.
But we did find time to get out and ski. Normally, we do trail runs on Saturday mornings with Northern Arizona Trail Runners Association (NATRA). But when there is more snow than trail we switch to snowshoes or cross country skis.
So we found ourselves with a handful of other runners out at Fort Tuthill early Saturday morning. The roads in the county park were already plowed making entry easy. There is a new “snow play” area in the park so getting the roads and parking cleared quickly is a new priority.
And off we go following the Soldiers Trail in a clockwise direction. Very quickly the runners found the snow too deep so they opted to run along the plowed roads in the area. The remaining four skiers traded the lead often because breaking trail through this much snow is a bit of a workout.
Breaking trail at Fort Tuthill.Ski tracks at Fort Tuthill.
We worked around the south side where the trail follows the old logging railroad grade. Then the trail curved around to the west side of the park where we could quickly see how forest thinning has made a big improvement on the health of the forest. Finally, we found ourselves at the trail intersection of the Flagstaff Loop Trail in the northwest corner of the park. This was as good a turnaround spot as any.
Intersection of Soldiers Trail and Flagstaff Loop Trail.
The ski back was significantly faster than the outbound trip had been because we now had a nicely packed trail to glide on. We arrived back at the parking area just about the same time as the runners.
Another winter storm is on the way with up to a foot of snow possible. Winter has finally arrived.
It’s been a warm and dry fall and up until a few days ago only about one inch of snow has fallen. That all changed yesterday and today and we have had about 18″ of new snow in the Flagstaff area with more to come. Instead of our NATRA group trail run today some of us went cross-county skiing (but I forgot the camera!). So, here are a few shots from the neighborhood instead.
New snow blankets the Ponderosa Pine forest.Detailed texture of snow clinging to branches.
