Some time ago, John and I tried to hike the Ben Avery Trail...but we got lost looking for the trailhead.  A year later, we tried again...and we got lost along the trail.  Months later, we tried again...and we FINALLY found our way.

So why on earth would we be coming back to the Ben Avery Trail five years later?  Were we hungry for adventure...or gluttons for punishment?  I guess that I would have to say, a little from column A and a little from column B. 

While trying to figure out which hike we should do that Saturday morning, John started researching the Eagletail Wilderness again.  The Ben Avery Trail - 10.2 miles in length one way - is the main trail that traverses the wilderness area, starting at the Courthouse Rock Trailhead and ending at an unnamed trailhead off of Arlington-Clanton Well Road.  (There were two trailheads, actually: one at Double Eagle Peak, and the other at Nottbusch Butte.  This is because the trail branches off into two different directions halfway in - the main trail continues on to Nottbusch, and the eight-mile spur trail goes to Double Eagle Peak.)

Upon completing his research, John announced that he would like to try to find the other trailhead, so that we could hike the end of the Ben Avery Trail.  Remembering just how easy to top part of the trail was, I thought it was a good idea, so we decided to make it happen.

On Saturday morning, bright an early, we left the house and took I-10 west to Salome Road.  From there, we took Harquahala Road to Courthouse Rock Road, then turned onto Arlington-Clanton Well Road, which followed the western edge of the wilderness area. 

Now, although we had a topo map, an atlas, and the GPS, we still managed to get lost (do you see a pattern?).  We must have passed the turnoff for Nottbusch Butte two or three times before we finally found it.  Then, after we did find it, we weren't even sure if it was the right road or not.  We took our chances, though, and continued along that road for several miles.

And when it finally dead-ended, at the Eagletail Wilderness boundary, we knew that we were in the right place after all!

It was nearly 10:00 a.m. when we arrived, but it was almost 10:30 before we started hiking, because John and Mary were having fun playing Frisbee at the trailhead.  We decided to take the Frisbee with us on our hike, to make the hike more fun for Mary.

When we geared up for the hike, we had a new piece of equipment to take along with us: Mary's new Camelbak Skeeter, which she had just received from Santa Claus for Christmas.  The Camelbak Skeeter is a kid-sized Camelbak that holds about 35 ounces of water - just perfect for our little hiker....that is, when she actually carried it herself!

After passing through the gate at the end of the road, we started hiking the very flat Ben Avery Trail.  For the first quarter or half mile, the trail followed an old Jeep road, though the pristine desert that makes up the Eagletail Wilderness area.  The trail then leaves the Jeep road and begins to follow the washes; here, we had to follow the cairns to make sure that we stayed on the right track.

We hiked about one mile along the trail, at a very slow pace - after all, we were hiking at the pace of a three year-old.  (It took an hour to go one mile.)  At the end of that mile, we decided that we had gone far enough, so we stopped to eat lunch before starting back towards the trailhead.

During our break, Mary had a chance to practice the fine art of squatting behind a bush to pee.  This was something that she had not yet mastered; she was just not tall enough to squat down to pee without getting some on her pants.  This time, she didn't get any on herself; usually, she's not so lucky.

Once we were rested and refreshed, we started hiking back towards the trailhead.  Since it was getting so late in the day, Mary was growing tired, so we kept her motivated by tossing the Frisbee about for her.  Every time we tossed the Frisbee, she giggled with glee and ran after it at full speed.  It was a nice trick to get some distance out of her; otherwise, she would be dragging her feet.

When we finally arrived back at the Jeep, we put Mary back into her car seat, where she promptly fell asleep.  While she slept, we drove back to Phoenix, taking a scenic route through Harquahala Ranch and onto Baseline Road.  Rather than return the way we came on Harquahala Road, though, we continued on Baseline Road, through the farmland.  That took us through to Wintersburg Road, and we took that north back to the I-10.

The weekend adventure was not over yet; the next day, we went from the desert all the way up to the mountains, so that we could do a snow play day in Flagstaff.

It was fast becoming a yearly tradition for us to take a trip to Flagstaff for a snow play day.  Last year, we went in early March and ended up in white-out conditions on I-17 approaching Flagstaff, making it quite the adventure for us. 

Once again, adventure was waiting for us in Flagstaff.  Just as we entered Munds Park, we found ourselves in white-out conditions as the storm front passed through the area.  We drove at a top speed of forty miles an hour and were thankful to have a four wheel drive vehicle.

It was a very brisk thirty-two degrees in Flagstaff when we arrived at the Wal-Mart to buy Mary a pair of mittens and snowpants.  By that time, the storm front had passed and the sun had broken briefly through the clouds.  As soon as we left the city and started north on US 180, however, the sun was gone again, and the flurries had returned.  When we arrived at the Wing Mountain Snow Play Area, the temperature had dropped to a chilly twenty-two degrees...but with the wind chill, it was more like fourteen degrees!  (Just a little nippy!)

Bundled up in multiple layers of clothing and heavy jackets, the three of us went over to the sledding area, our sled in tow, so that we could play in the snow.  Mary had absolutely no interest in sledding, but she had a marvelous time shoveling snow into a bucket that she had brought along.  John, on the other hand, took the sled down the hill several times.  I went down only once myself, but when John caught me on videotape wiping out, I was done with that!

Once we were done sledding, it was time for a snowball fight.  John and Mary tossed snowballs at each other until Mary's jacket was covered with snow.  She giggled and giggled until she started coughing from laughing so hard. 

We stayed at Wing Mountain for about an hour and a half.  Then, when Mary started coughing and she started developing little white patches on her rosy red cheeks, we knew that it was time for us to get her out of the cold air.  With that, we loaded her into the sled and pulled her through the snow towards the Jeep.

It was lunchtime by the time we pulled into Flagstaff again, so we stopped at Buster's Restaurant for a bite to eat.  That was when Mary tried hot chocolate for the first time.  We thought that it would be a perfect way to warm her up, but instead it burned her tongue!  Once it cooled down, she drank most of it, but she was still apprehensive every time she took a sip.

The snow continued to come down while we were in Buster's, and it was still snowing as we left the city that afternoon.  Mary soon fell asleep in her car seat and slept almost all the way back to Phoenix - she had to be exhausted, after all of the activities we had done that weekend.

But the important thing was that she had had fun...and so did we.

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