Sunflower Flat Photoset • MountainMatt • 2017-04-03 • HikeArizona.COM

Sunflower Flat, AZ

	2017-04-03
	7 by MountainMatt

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Sunflower Flat, AZ

Hiking	2.93 Miles	105 AEG

Hiking	2.93 Miles	2 Hrs 57 Mns		1.15 mph
	105 ft AEG	24 Mns Break	20 LBS Pack

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Camped within a stones throw from the scenic flowing Willow Spring and walked to both the nearby Sunflower Flat as well the headwaters of Big Spring Canyon aka the east side of Paradise Forks.

---I knew Sunflower Flat would be swollen with snow melt water due to this years great winter storms but little did I know just how massive it really would be!

This ephemeral wetland is currently a enormous body of water nearly 3 times the size of the nearby Whitehorse Lake.
It was truly such a beautiful sight to see and especially because I had this spectacular Northern Arizona seasonal lake all to myself besides the surprisingly large near deaf coyote my dog and I spooked taking an early morning sip along the shore.

---JD Cabin and Grave resides in an idyllic mountain meadow with a large corral and seasonal prominent drainage that runs alongside.
It is said that James Douglas used to be the original homeowner who settled there in the 1870's and his body is supposedly buried nearby.

---Paradise Forks is always a pleasant sight and and I feel grateful that it's been running steady for nearly 5 months now which of course the flow is already on its decline but it certainly had an impressive run!
I walked there from Willow so seeing it from directly above and along the western edge was a complete different perspective than my previous two visits along the east side of the official trail (east is still best for views, hands down).

Great end to a leisurely much needed mini vacation up north!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Big Spring Canyon Bill Williams Mountain Sunflower Flat

	Big Spring Canyon	Light flow	Light flow
	Consistent flow still going on on the east side of "Paradise Forks"

	Willow Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Flowing steady with a beautiful large pool right at its exact location on the topo.

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