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| | | Lost Burrito - Jedi Loop, AZ | | | |
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Lost Burrito - Jedi Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 8.80 Miles |
1,340 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.80 Miles | 4 Hrs 54 Mns | | 2.22 mph |
| 1,340 ft AEG | 56 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Sometimes it pays to be snoopy when someone is on the same trail as you but arrived from a totally different direction. Two weeks ago I encountered some hikers that I saw near the intersection of Brookbank and Little Gnarly Trails and I asked them where they came from. The Lost Burrito she says. The "what"? So the next day I started googling "Lost Burrito Trail", in particular, a gps track. To find that turn off of Rocky Ridge, you need that track.
I was glad Kelly was willing to give this and the other route I found, The Jedi Trail, a shot. I prefer to do new discoveries of unmarked trails with others; altho my track following skills are much better... provided I've been given the right track. Saturday afternoon's hike got us nice and acclimated for the 1100 elevation gain we would have to do in what I thot was 1.66 miles but fortunately it was over 1.9 miles except that the last 1/2 mile was almost all of Shaw Butte  .
Anyway, it was a nice morning and we headed out from the Schultz Creek TH up the Rocky Ridge Trail. In about 10 minutes I pulled out HAZel (the HAZtraks narrator now has a name) so that we wouldn't miss the turn. And it's easily missable. The Lost Burrito Trail (one of Flagstaff's oldest bike mountain biking trails) is definitely a trail once you make the turn. It does start to go up right away but not bad and there are several flatter areas to catch your breath. We were delightfully surprised at how nice the trail was through this bottom section. There was only one spot where we ran into a route discussion as the the track (from 2011) we were following wanted to go up a drainage but you could see where the trodden trail kept going straight (though it split for just a moment). So KEEP ON THE MAIN TRAIL and you'll be fine.
You go thru this little boulder area that is pretty cool as you meander your way up switching directions from time to time. It's hard to believe they ran sheep through here. It is mostly shaded which is nice and as you get up a little higher you get momentary views of varying vistas though I'm not sure what we were looking at so maybe you will be able to tell by the pictures I post. One thing we could see was one of the telescope observatories; not sure if that's the one that saw Pluto first.
Well I'm thinking, this climb is not too bad but then again, we had only made it to the first little summit. NOW the real work would begin  . It was a doozy getting up one section of that last 1/2 mile; plus it was slippery. I'm sure that's why the hiker I met two weeks ago on the trail said NOT to go down it. Up, up, up we went with an occasional breather to check out the expanding views and take a picture of course. The last bit I did the TibberShuffle where I would hike a few steps, breathe, breathe, hike a few more, breathe, breathe but I felt good and knew the top was near. We had a breeze too for this last section so that always helps.
The top area is pretty with some wildflowers scattered about and a nice long log to have a seat and re-energize. There were some beetles there too. They were checking out my track on Kemosabe. After re-fueling it was on with our adventure as we walked thru the woods looking for the first dry lake. And it opened up beautifully to a graceful grass meadow surrounded by the forest. We walked along the north side of it and then up and over a knoll where we found an additional trail that seems to run north/south.
We saw a bike rider over on the other side but were unsure as to where he was going. I thot this might go to the trail Jake had done in 2010 that he called (Little Gnarly to Lost Burrito). So whether or not the Lost Burrito also goes on the south side of that western Dry Lake is a question. However, my track said we were on the Lost Burrito. Also at this intersection of trails is a nice grove of aspen. Little did we know we would get treated with more of this later today.
Anyway, you come to the next open meadow where there are lots of slash piles. Two weeks ago I saw these from the far side on the Brookbank Trail. The Brookbank Meadow is just lovely as we continued to the eastern side of the Dry Lake where there is a pond full of water right now. We checked that out and then headed back to the intersection with the Lost Burrito, Brookbank and Jedi and headed on the Jedi Trail. Off to the west is another pretty grove of aspen. We pulled over for a snack on a rock and in the shade of some fir trees.
Next it was to the kitchen sink but not before a father and son went through on their bikes. I had seen the kitchen sink on my hike here two weeks ago when I, for some reason, decided I was going the wrong way. It's a great hike through here as well but then you get teased with some more aspen only to walk a bit further to a small grassy meadow with aspen spread before you  . It was breath-taking (the good kind!). We took picture after picture here. We were so pleased; mostly because it was so unexpected.
The trail continues through the aspens and then the forest as it contours down around the hillside. You will encounter a couple very short slippery sections and some interesting bike jumps/bridges as you make your way to the Little Gnarly. We had two bike riders pass us by on this section. You get occasional views of the SF Peaks too. From the Little Gnarly it's just a hop, skip and jump to the Schultz Creek Trail. It was starting to get a bit more overcast now. It's still very green here and there were spots of various flora including Columbine and Arizona Rose (LOVE the smell, clove-like).
The bike traffic was significant and not quite as polite as I had two weeks ago. Kelly kept us going as I tried to remember what was coming up. I mostly remember that last 1/2 mile before you get to the intersection with the Fort Valley trail. It's quite impressive that big re-route they did about a mile from the TH. The trail is in great shape but you do have to be mindful of the bike traffic.
A great day of discovery and we lucked out because the scenery was great. Thanks Kelly for helping me check it out. There are lots of loop possibilities out there. And who knew bike routes could actually be fun to hike.
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
some columbine, lupine and purple loco along with some ground daisies |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
. I did encounter a trail runner coming up the trail. It does have a couple tight switchback sections that one needs to be a bit careful on. Then I hooked up with a connector trail that takes you up to Sunset or down to Schultz Creek so I headed down Schultz Creek Trail as I decided to take that back to the TH as I hadn't been on it before. It is close to the road in parts so I hoped the traffic noise wouldn't be too bad and it wasn't. There was even a tad of water in the creek.
