On this beautiful summer Sunday morning, which also happens to be day 1 of our stay-cation, we headed up to Flagstaff to beat the heat and tackle our second mountain on the 20 peaks challenge!
The sun rays on this early morning sky were spectacular!
Mt. Elden is a mountain literally on the edge of downtown Flagstaff, a well maintained trail and very popular with the local regulars so it is a busy trail. We got to the trailhead early so we luckily got a spot in the parking lot and we set out right at about 8 am. (by the way, there are no facilities at this trailhead.
A view of the tower from the start.
We saw a lot of lizards on this trail and of course, tons of beautiful wildflowers and birds.
Lots of beautiful views that overlook the town of Flagstaff.
Some amazing views of the San Francisco peaks and Mount Humphries, which is an upcoming hike!
Ok, I fell. Ok, I fell a few times on this trail. 4 times to be exact and all on the downhill. This trail has a lot of loose gravel and I never even noticed on the way up, but I sure did on the way down, so be careful! Lol. Btw, I’m ok, it turned into an ugly bruise.
This guy had a big fat grasshopper for lunch while we watched ?
The dandelions our here are HUGE!
Honestly, this has not been a particularly memorable trail by way of views of difficulty really. The proximity to town and views of it did not give me all the feels as far as being out away from the bustle of the city and it was much more heavily trafficked. But it was certainly still enjoyable and challenging in its own right.
On this peak trail we clocked 5.93 miles and 2,233 feet in elevation gain and at the top of the peak you stand at and elevation of 9,299 feet. This Peak also has a fire lookout tower. Mount Eldon checked off 2 challenge hikes, it is a #sixpackofpeaks as well as #14 on the Top 20 Peaks Challenge.
We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff where we both had the daily special of a good old fashioned French dip and a couple of their delicious beers, of course. If I’m giving an honest review here, this brewery did not stand out to me. It wasn’t bad, but it was just standard. I’m not sure if i’ll Come back mainly because there are several other outstanding spots in the area.
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