Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Bear Canyon Lake Hike

 

P1030773

As you can see, we were the only ones at the trailhead to Bear Canyon Lake yesterday. Although this is a busy area on weekends, during the week it is extremely quiet and we have rarely seen others on the trails.

This is a deep canyon lake, and there is no boat ramp or easy access, other than descending a fairly steep trail for about a quarter mile.

P1030800

There is marked trail on the west side, and a sometimes hard to find fishing trail on the east side of the lake. We started out with the unmarked trail, and after about a half mile the trail became so rocky and close to the edge of the water, we just weren’t comfortable. Jim decided it wouldn’t be a fun place to get back out of with a broken ankle.

This was the easy part.

P1030796

So we backtracked and took the real trail, although some of it was eroded,  rocky and on the edge. It’s a nice trail, though, and runs very close to the water.

P1030793

This hike may have set the record for finding clothing along a trail. I guess people go for a swim and forget to put their clothes back on when they get out of the water.

P1030803

P1030782

P1030783

P1030784

We did see some unexpected wildlife. A cute family of ducks and an osprey nest.

P1030791

We would have never looked up that high to see her but she was noisily warning us to stay away.

P1030798

And that ends our stay on the Mogollon Rim. This area has a huge variety of camping and hiking opportunities. If mountain biking is more your thing, there are miles of dirt roads and trails for that, too.

And the scenery isn’t bad, either.

Mogollon Rim FR 9350

5 comments:

  1. Oh yes, the trail looks a bit more manageable than the rough looking one.

    How funny about the clothes. Why would someone forget to put their clothes back on when they are way out there? Strange.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That sure does look like a rough trail. But you got some beautiful pictures. The scenery is simply gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL about the clothing. Anything your size?? :-)) Beautiful pictures. Looks like a lovely but take it slow hike.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeez, I would have expected to see people skinny dipping after all those clothes!

    Looks like an awesome area to put on the future list!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like a beautiful hike. Sometimes you need to make those decisions to turn around so you don't get hurt. Glad you did!

    I can't believe all the clothes!! I've never seen anything like that. Goodwill here you come!

    ReplyDelete