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| Hiking | 12.31 Miles |
2,601 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.31 Miles | | | |
| 2,601 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I was on my way to Flagstaff and decided to hike to a couple of peaks that I had been on before:
1) Mahan Mountain
2) Merriam Crater, aka Merriam Mountain
Mahan
Mahan Mountain (elevation of 8,270 feet and prominence of 410 feet) is off of Lake Mary Road, not too far from Happy Jack. My main reason for wanting to hike this one is that it is the site of a former fire lookout tower.
I could have legally driven to within about a mile of the tower, but I decided to make a legitimate hike out of it.
I did an out-and-back hike from the Gooseberry Springs TH. I took the AZT for a couple of miles, then some forest roads for a couple of miles, then an old service road up to the summit. I came up with this route by modifying a loop hike that @joebartels and @The_Eagle did a while back.
The fire tower atop Mahan Mountain was dismantled some time ago, but the footings for the tower are still there, along with an old cistern and a foundation for some sort of building. There are lots of trees at the summit, so views are limited. In spite of the lack of views, I enjoyed being atop the mountain.
This was AZ fire tower #95 (out of 120) for me.
The fire lookout tower that was on Mahan Mountain was 30 feet tall and was erected in 1922 to replace a cabin built in 1916. The Mahan lookout was replaced in 1936 with a lookout tower on Hutch Mountain. Below are some anecdotes about the Mahan fire lookout tower.
May 1916: "As soon as Carpenter Fisher completes the Blue Ridge Cabin he will come to Mahan Mt. and build a cabin for the lookout, similar to the cabin he built in 1915 at Baker's Butte." (The Ranger)
July 13, 1922: "We are working on the new Mahan tower at the present time, and it is going to cost more than we figured to complete it. We should build a new cabin, similar to the one just completed on Woody Mountain for the lookout. We should, likewise, build a cement cistern. It will cost $350-375 to build this type of cabin that we want, and it will take the balance of the $600 to build the cistern and complete the tower. I would, therefore, like to have your permission to abandon the Mormon Lake lookout project for this year, with the understanding that the funds will be transferred and used on the completion of the Mahan tower and for the construction of a cabin and cistern on top of Mahan Mountain." (O-Improvement - Letter to the District Forester)
August 15, 1922: "The tower we purchased this year for the Mahan Lookout was secured from the Aermotor Company at a cost of $240; this is a 30-foot tower and is very satisfactory, meeting our needs in every way." (To the District Forester from the Forest Supervisor)
September 25, 1935: "I have looked into the matter of new towers for Bakers Butte and Hutch Mountain and found that the 30-ft. structure at either place would be ample to cover the fire country. I am sure that a 30-ft. tower on Hutch Mountain will cover all of the country now covered by Mahan as well as a direct view into the Sawmill Springs Unit, and a great deal of the north end of the Forest which is now blind from Mahan.
I also made a preliminary location for a truck trail to the top of Hutch Mountain. This is all easy construction and will be about 2 1/2 or 3 miles of truck trail. However, the Region plan dies not at present provide for a truck trail to this point. It would be appreciated if we could secure approval to add this spur to project No. 135 to the top of Hutch Mountain. If such an approval, is granted, I would plan to do at least a part of this clearing for this truck trail before winter." (Memorandum for Regional Forester from Forest Supervisor, Coconino N.F.)
Merriam
Merriam Crater, aka Merriam Mountain, has an elevation of 6,813 feet and prominence of 1,153 feet. It is the highest and most prominent of a group of cinder cones on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, east of Flagstaff.
There is a road going to the top of Merriam Crater, but it is so steep that I would not want to drive all the way to the top. I did not drive very far up the road, but my stock 4WD vehicle could easily have made it another half mile or up the road to an area where at least 20 cars could park. I believe that this area is used by hang gliding groups. Beyond that point the road is very, very steep -- almost Thompson Peak steep.
It wasn't that far of a hike so I did not mind walking up the steep road. It was very windy, but the wind was coming from the SW and I was hiking up from the east, so the mountain blocked the wind on the way up. When I got to the top the wind was crazy -- I felt like a weatherman that you see on tv covering a hurricane. I had to lean into the wind in order to stand up. I walked around a bit but did not stay too long due to the wind. There is a crater on the south side of the mountain that I would have explored had it not been so windy.
There was a lot of smoke around from the Tunnel Fire, which greatly limited the visibility. I did not see any smoke plumes or really any sign of fire actively burning.
Synopsis
I enjoyed both of these hikes. The views atop Mahan were limited, but it was still enjoyable being on top of the mountain. I would like to go back and hike Merriam again sometime when the wind and smoke conditions are more favorable. There is lots of sun exposure though, and I would not want to hike Merriam on a warm sunny day.
Both summits supposedly have benchmarks, but I did locate either one.
Mileage and elevation gain for these 2 hikes are below. Stats above are the sum of the two.
Mahan: 9.34 miles with 1,285 feet of AEG
Merriam: 2.97 miles with 1,316 feet of AEG |
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Wildflowers Observation None
There were no wildflowers blooming on either hike. |
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Lane Tank |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | Lane Tank was full | | _____________________
| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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