Upper Pasture Trail #38 - Giant Alligator Juniper Trail

Giant Alligator Juniper Trail 

2/29/20 
4.7 mile 

This hike can be done as a spiritual act to celebrate the sacrifice of firefighters.  It is basically a gentle path to a Large Alligator Juniper. The large alligator juniper is a beautiful sight. I did feel a bit sad looking at it.  As I understand it 20 fire fighters saved the alligator tree's life in what was called the doce fire of 2013 . Then, unfortunately, a few days later, 18 of the same fire crew died in another fire. The tree now stands as symbolism for life, for what the fire crew were able to do before their lives were lost. This grandfather tree now stands alive and well covered in pens from fire departments and red bananas draped around the tree. 

Around the shrine there are others trees not so lucky, they are black and chard , they stand present in the area like ghosts, gentle reminders of impermanence.  

For us,  we began the hike by parking at Contreras trail parking lot then walking the main road to
trail-head #38.  The road to the trail-head was a bit too rugged for Chad's Prius. #wimpycarthatisgreatonfuel

The transition from Contreras trail parking lot  #38 was an up hill trek on a dirt road with beautiful views of Granite Mountain. I think this hike might be challenging in moist weather due to sticky mud building up on your shoes as on this date we could see where trucks of a rainy time left deep indents in the road. 

There was no evidence of trucks on #38 just on the road up to the trail. I enjoyed walking on the road but if you were with someone with a different fitness level taking a high clearance car to the trail head would defiantly cut out the difficulty.  

Once at the trail-head the hills were spotted with pines and juniper. There was just enough wind that the trees danced a bit back and forth. Mingus stopped to look at a dancing tree a few times not sure if it was the wind or alive. He looked at me, then at the tree, and cocked his head, and I followed suit, looking at Chad, then back at the tree. Chad our logical one said, "Yep that's a tree in the wind."

Maybe it was a local wind ghost? oooo eeee ooooo.... wind ghosts and firefighters seem to be contrasting types, wind fuels fire, firefighters put it out... 

In addition to the wind, there was a flock of blue birds, that seemed to be traveling with us moving from tree to tree. I did some research post hike and there is a man in Oregon named Hubert Prescott who created the Prescott Bluebird Recovery Project. He is in no way related to my new home in Prescott Az but his friend the Western Blue Bird was seen with a pack of its relatives,  juniper to jumper on #38. 

#38 had areas with evidence of erosion places you could see naked roots, loose soil, and cracks in the earth. Chad (a forest service hydrologist) told us the forest service crew plans to make repairs.  I wonder now if they are done?

A fun little fact is that this trail leads to places were cows frequent, evidence via cow-pies and even a salt lick.  I think it would be fun to share the trail with some cows but Mingus would probably think he was on job and heard them off. 

There was what Chad called a "tank" or small body of water created for cows. Mingus and Moly got in to goof off and It was amusing watching them navigate the water which clearly had a sticky bottom. 

We then walked next to blooming manzanita's February seems a bit early, I guess they were trying to get a jump on spring. Manzanita is one of my favorite plants. I love the dark red bark and its wavy lines contrasted with the green leaves. 

There was also a small stream next to the trail. Mingus and Moly enjoyed drinking and playing in the water and there was no worry for any one to run out of water to drink. 

The hike back to the car was just as nice the days weather was perfect. There was even a large raven that let me stand pretty close to him and take a photo. I realize now writing this here that there were so many existential symbols on this day. 

A phrase I love and think of often is from Mary Oliver in her poem A Summer Day "Tell me what will you do with your one wild and precious life?" For me, exploring the natural world is a good start.