arizona adventures part one--Zane Grey 50!
So, was Zane Grey a pretext to hike the Canyon, or the Canyon a pretext to go back to Zane Grey? Either way, this was a glorious double-header of a trip! Driving north on Highway 87 from Phoenix aipport toward Payson, it again blew me away how quickly you were in the starkly beautiful, virtually uninhabitated desert. I think I was more aware of that this time, driving alone instead of with Richard and (cousin) Cheryl like two years ago. Giant organ cacti gave way to greener, denser high desert forests as the highway rose, with lots of steep rises and falls, up to 5,000 feet in Payson. The next day it was up early and off to do some solo trail maintenance east of the Fish Hatchery on the Highline Trail, to meet part of my requirements for upcoming summer races. Crossing the stream that runs south from the Hatchery, you immediately encounter the rocky, twisty, up and down terrain that makes the Highline such a rugged trail and Zane Grey such a tough and wonderful event (the 50 milers tha