After all of the years that we have had together, John is still full of surprises.

John decided to surprise us with our next day-hike destination.  He gave us no hints at all as he piled all of us into the Jeep that Sunday morning, June 12.  In fact, he would keep us guessing all the way to the trailhead.

With all of our hiking gear loaded in the Jeep, John drove the Jeep through Scottsdale and Fountain Hills, then north on SR 87.  That, of course, narrowed our hiking destinations down to the Mogollon Rim region.  As we passed through Payson, the Pine and Strawberry, I knew then that we were going onto the northern part of the Rim, but I still didn't have a clue as to where we were going. 

Finally, John pulled off onto a side road, off of SR 87, just past the junction with SR 260.  About 100 feet from the highway, there was a trail sign...for the Pine Creek Trail - the trail that we had once committed to hike, but never did.

"Do you remember this trail?" John asked, with a big smile on his face. 

How could I forget?  It was on October 17, 1998: a day that will live in infamy in the Verley house, because it was the day that I said yes.  We were camping on the Mogollon Rim, at a campsite overlooking Milk Ranch Point. We had just survived a very cold night, during which the winds howled well into the morning hours.  We had drank a whole bottle of Corbett Canyon Chardonnay while huddled next to the fire for warmth, and that morning, I was feeling it.  I was so miserable that I just wanted to crawl under a rock and die. 

Since it was such a miserable morning, John decided to cancel the hike that we had planned to do that day.  We were going to hike the Pine Creek Trail from the Pine Trailhead to SR 87, as a two-car shuttle.  (We had brought two cars with us on that camping trip.)  Instead, we spent the morning looking at the autumn leaves on the Rim, tearing down our campsite to get out of Dodge, and...well, getting engaged, too...for that was the day that John had asked me to marry him.

So now there we were, six and a half years later, ready to hike that trail, from the top down (instead of the other way around), with Mary in tow.  It was going to be an interesting day! (Of course, we weren't going to do the entire length of the trail - after all, it was eight miles one way.  We only hoped to make it to Pine Creek - two miles in - before hiking back out again.)

We began hiking the Pine Creek Trail around 9:00 in the morning.  The trail began on an old jeep road that descended about a hundred feet almost immediately; it then flattened out and turned into a rather pleasant jaunt, as that part of the hike was very easy. 

The road soon led us to the edge of the Mogollon Rim, to a stunning view of Milk Ranch Point.  As I took in the scenery, John helped me get my bearings by pointing out where it was along the Rim that he had proposed to me, and where we had seen the line of red leaves. 

At that point, the trail left the road and became a single track.  That was also when the trail began its descent into the canyon.  The descent was very gentle at first - it was nothing more than a simple stroll among shrubs with pink flowers that were humming with bees.  Then, we entered the canyon...and that was when I started thinking, "What are we getting ourselves into?"

After all, what comes down, must go back up again...

The Pine Creek Trail began a series of switchbacks that descended about 600 feet into Pine Creek Canyon.  Although there were a few obstacles along the way, for the most part the trail was easy-going - not too steep, not too slippery.  It was, however, very exposed; there weren't many trees along the trail for "shade breaks", so for most of the day, we hiked in the hot sun.

Naturally, without all the trees in the way, we did have some stunning views of the Rim.  In fact, I would have to say that it was the view that made this trail worthwhile, for the Mogollon Rim is definitely a beautiful place to visit.

Our hike into the canyon went very well, with one exception: while stepping off of a large rock back onto the trail, I managed to twist my knee.  It ached for a while and stiffened up every time we stopped for a break.  (It still aches every now and then, even weeks later.)  It did not, however, keep us from finishing our hike.

It took us about an hour and a half to make it to the bottom of the canyon, and once we were there, we found ourselves back in the ponderosa pines, where we could enjoy the cool shade.  We did not, however, make it to Pine Creek (which was still about a quarter of a mile away), because John and I were both concerned about how we were going to get Mary to hike back out of that canyon!  She was going to struggle; that was for sure.  So rather than make her hike further into the canyon, we decided that it was best to get started on our return hike as soon as possible.

We did, however, take a long break while we were down in the canyon, because it was so nice and cool in the shade.  We sat down on logs and ate snacks while several pairs of hikers passed us by.  (I guess the trail was more popular than we thought!)  Then, once we were fully rested, we set off to conquer the hill.

To do our return hike, John devised a plan, in hopes that he could minimize the trauma to all of us.  He proposed that we take a break at every switchback; that would give Mary a goal to shoot for while hiking.  When we ran the idea past Mary, she seemed to be okay with it, so we decided to give it a try.

The first switchback, however, was a long way away.  Once the trail deposited us in the canyon, it kept going downhill on a gentler slope; unfortunately, it meant that we were faced with one very long climb before our first break.  It was there that Mary became the most frustrated, because it was a bit difficult for her little legs.  Again, John devised a solution for the problem; he had Mary hold onto his hiking stick, so that he could help pull her up the hill.  The plan worked very well, and she soon made it to the first switchback, where she could take her first break.

After that, the hike was easy, for we stopped at every single switchback, just long enough for Mary to catch her breath and drink some water before going onto the next one.  It became like a game to her, and she soon forgot that it was a difficult hike.

During one of our switchback breaks, we decided that it was time to have lunch.  We found a little patch of shade from a juniper tree and sat down in the trail to eat our sandwiches.  Although Mary didn't want to eat hers, we insisted that she do so anyway, so that she would have enough energy to finish the trail.

Amazingly, even with all of the breaks, it took us about the same amount of time to hike out of the canyon as it did to hike down into it.  Around 1:00 p.m., we found ourselves back at the vista of Milk Ranch Point, at the junction with the old jeep road.  From there, we were only about a half an hour from the trailhead. 

Fortunately, most of the trail was flat...except for the last little jaunt, in which we would have to climb about 100 feet back to the trailhead.  After climbing all the way back out of the canyon, Mary was now frustrated to learn that she still had one more big climb.  So, to conquer that problem, John and I each took one of her hands, and we "swung" her up the hill!  That made her giggle.

As we crested the hill, we could see the trailhead finally, and Mary took off running to be the first one back at the Jeep.  Unfortunately, she tripped and fell flat on her face!  She still won the race, but she had a skinned knee to show for it.

Having finished our hike, we got back into the Jeep and drove away.  On the way back to the road, John announced that he was going to have to buy Mary a special treat for having hiked so well that day.  I knew immediately what he had in mind, too, because there was an artisan's market going on in Strawberry that afternoon...and they had homemade ice cream!

That was exactly what John had had in mind that day.  When we arrived in Strawberry, we parked next to the general store (which, surprisingly, was closed permanently!) and walked over to the merchants' tents to browse the various arts and crafts that were on display.  Then, on our way back to the Jeep, we stopped at the stand that sold homemade ice cream and ordered three servings - one for each of us.  We took our ice cream back to the Jeep with us, so that we could eat it on the way home.

Full of ice cream and completely worn out, Mary slept almost all the way back to Phoenix.  For us, another day's adventure was over...

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