Yeager Cabin Trail #111, AZ

Continued from Little Yeager Trail #533

Taking a break at the orange wildlife gate, I drank some water and readjusted my fanny pack belt so it could ride better on my hips. A speed walker passes by quickly on Forest Road 105.

Yeager Cabin Trail is a pleasant trail, fairly level with some minor up and down climbs and shady pines lining both sides. Once in a while, I would admire the small flowers I would spot. There is nothing significant about the trail, save perhaps the slow pace you can enjoy between trail 533 and trail 28. On several occasions over the whispering breeze in the pines keeping me company, I could hear trucks and ATVs laboring on Forest Road 105 above and to the south of me.

At one point looking down the draw I spotted a nice flat rock outcropping and for a fleeting moment, much like a leaf skittering across a trail, I thought I could sunbathe (I'll leave it at that) on those rocks below for an hour or so. However, I reconsidered, figuring it would be my luck someone would be hiking the trail as well.

Surprisingly, just above the rock outcropping, I noticed water below and I was fascinated by this. I did not anticipate seeing water. It was not much, hardly worth calling as creek; yet I found it pleasant to see. And soon the trail crossed the path of the small creek. Stopping, I walked downstream to a nice large rock, but first I bent down and splashed my face with the refreshing water, before sitting on the rock and taking a break. The water in the small creek sang to me as it labored, slapped, or caressed the rocks on its journey into evaporation or disappearing into the ground. I reflected on this a moment, we are much the same way. In our life's journey, we labor, slap it around or caress it, only to evaporate and disappear, forever. This little creek though will disappear during the full heat of the blazing summer, only to return after life-giving rain comes. In short, once our cycle of life is done, it is finis; my little creek, on the other hand, its cycle of life will go on and on.

Enough thoughts, need to get going!
Back on the trail, I did not walk far before I spotted a small sheet metal water trough. Nearby were signs where the trough was held in place and large pieces of rusted two-inch iron pipes scattered about. Surveying the setup, I had the impression the trough had been hooked up and fed by a spring at one time. If only seasonal.

A short distance from the trough the trail terminated at Trail #350!
Trail #350! This should be Trail #28!
Not only that, but a sign behind me marking Trail #111, the very trail I just walked on, is designated for everything up to ATVs. Prior to coming, I had read it was designated for horseback and hikers.

Continue on to Yeager Canyon Trail #28

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2003-05-31 Abe