Bear Jaw - Abineau Trail Fall Hike

Last Saturday Chris and I took the boys up to the San Francisco Peaks for a hike along the Bear Jaw - Abineau loop trail.  It's one of my favorite hikes because it's on the north side of the mountains, has great views, and it goes up to about 10,400 ft. in elevation so you really get in to the alpine vegetation.  The aspen trees on the south side of the mountain (what you see from town) had barely started turning so we thought they might be more colorful on the north.  It turned out we were right.  The leaves were beautiful and it was a perfect day for a hike.  These awesome pictures are again courtesy of Chris since I still haven't replaced my broken camera. 

 

The day was sunny and warm, a perfect fall day.  

 The trail starts at about 8,500 ft. and goes up to about 10,400 ft.

The dogs had no problem going up the steep part of the Bear Jaw Canyon trail.  Notice Astro at the top of the trail.  He was happy to be hiking with the big boys.

Most of the aspen trees had turned bright yellow.

Some of the aspens are curved over from the weight of snow.

 Friday and Zephyr, best buddies since puppyhood.  If your wondering what the second collar with the antenea is on Zephyr, it's his GPS tracking collar.  He didn't go off leash on the hike, but I had him wear it anyway.

 

 Linus and Friday are right at home high in the mountains.

Part of the trail is along an old waterline road that winds around the side of the mountain.

Who wouldn't be happy in the company of good friends?

The fall colors were the best that I can remember seeing here in a long time.

 

Nothing like being escorted and guarded by two handsome men. :-)  Linus and Zephyr stayed in this position for a long time even if we stopped and started up again.

This is the view as we come in to the top of Abineau Canyon.  The top of the ridge on the right is really close to Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,637 ft.

The view from the top of the trial is toward the north.  The hills in the background are all cinder cone volcanoes and I think you can see the eastern part of the Grand Canyon in the very back on the left side of the picture.  What is up with those two serious looking greyhounds? 

Astro is almost 15 months old now and is completely full of puppy energy.  He never slowed down and was going non-stop the whole hike.

Friday and Linus take a break and enjoy the view of the peaks.

We went down Abineau Canyon which is really steep.  When we were near the bottom we had a little excitement.  All of a sudden two animals were running down the side of the canyon headed for the trail and us.  At first I thought maybe we were being charged by dogs, but then I realized they were deer.  Zephyr and Astro were out ahead of us near the end of their Flexi leads and the deer jumped out on to the trail about 10 ft. in front of them.  Talk about two very alert excited greyhounds!  Luckily I had a good hold on their leashes.  Friday and Linus sounded the alert and the deer ran off down the trail.  It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down.  

What could be better than this? 

Thanks to Chris, Friday and Linus for an excellent day!