Driving to Pinetop, Az through the Salt River Canyon, it was an amazing drive!!!
Stopping to get a few pics of the River, you can go rafting on this river, tours are available.
Arriving in the COOL Pines!!!After a 3-4 hour drive we made it!!!This is my friend Dawn's cabin!!Dawn and I went to high school together and after finding each other on facebook, we have reunited again and it is like we never missed a beat for those absent 34 years!!!
Her cabin is awesome, it sleeps 12 so it is quite large!!!!We spent HOURS out on that front porch!!!!Days and well into the night, laughing(Sometimes til we cried)telling stories of our past, catching up on all of our busy lives!!We were up there for 5 days and only went out to dinner one night and NEVER went to town to shop!!!
Everyday we would wake up and go for a hike in the woods near her cabin or we would drive to some fun destination and hike a Mountain!!!This stream is near her place. This is my friend Chris and I. All 5 of us girls all graduated the same year!!!
Hiking through the forest!!
The trees and the sky was amazing!!!And almost like clock work the clouds would build up around noon and bring us RAIN!!!!
One day we decided to drive up to Greer, AZ. I have lived in AZ my entire life(well 4 months short of that) and I have never been to Greer. THIS is a MUST See place, oh my goodness, this town is, well I cannot even describe how beautiful it is. We stopped off first at the Lodge, it is a Hotel(up north they are called Lodges) they also have some pretty spectacular cabins(some sleep 10) and a restaurant/bar. We went in for a drink and a light snack.
the meadow by the lodge
BERRIES!!!
The little Colorado river runs right through town
I could have sat there all day!!!
The stocked lakes, you can also Kayak on this lake, all of these activities are free as guests of the lodge/cabins.
Dawn and I
walking trails take you back through the woods and over the riverWe made a stop at the NEON MOON bar/restaurant too!!the owner used to be a Manager for Brooks and Dunn!!!!How cool is that!!!we stopped here as my good friends Dad has a summer place in Greer and she said her Dad could be found here everyday, so she said go in and yell is EDDIE in here!!!So we did!!!
Here is Eddie and his wife Sue!!You should have seen his face when 5 ladies walk into a bar and yell is Eddie in here!!
Then it started POURING and we ended up staying for dinner!!!
Early the next morning we headed here to hike up and down this mountain, 1.5 miles UP and 1.5 miles down!!!!Going UP was quite hard, the elevation in town is about 7500-8000 feet so it got harder and harder as we climbed!!!I just kept Praying, "Lord do not let anyone have a heart attack"!!!
Anna and Chris
Dawn told us this a mountain lion footprint!!!Thus the reason for the big stick!!!Now I was clapping and Praying as we walked that we did not get eaten by a mountain lion!!!
.5 to go!!Yeah I am still alive!!!!Oh that last 1/2 mile was HARD!!!
5 ladies trying to take a pic of ourselves!!!!
The view was spectacular!!!!
Today we are taking the Ski lift at Sunrise Mountain to the top and hiking down!!!The top is at 11,500 feet!!!it was nippy at the bottom, so you can imagine how cool it was at the top!!!Like 54 degrees!!!!IN August!!!
jackets off for now!!!
GOING UP!!!!
Hiking down!!!
Look at those clouds!!!
the view and the scenery was Amazing!!!!
little baby Christmas trees!!!
Saw lots of these!!!Mushrooms, little ones and big ones!!!I think I spotted some fairies under some of them!!!!
hiking down, almost to the bottom, it took us about 2 hours to do it, you wind around and around!!!
the last little bit was the hardest part, all jagged and rocks were everywhere!!!
The hills are alive with the Sound of Music!!!So happy to be at the bottom!!!
I Made it!!!
Our drive this day included a stop here at Hannagan's Meadow, it is a real town in AZ!!!!In the winter 3 people live here and keep the lodge going!!!!The roads are some times closed due to such heavy snowfall!!!!Hannagan's Meadow is about 20 miles UP from ALPINE, AZ. This place nearly took my breath away, it is so perfect I can barely contain my excitement, I KNOW I WILL BE GOING BACK HERE!!!!I have to bring my family to this special place!!!!
This is the lodge/restaurant/, ummm the entire town!!!They have cabins for rent as well!!!
The lobby in the lodge.
The meadow
bambi in the meadow!!!
driving back to Alpine, we spotted ELK!!!!LOTS OF ELK!!!!This is just one herd we spotted, we saw LOTS and LOTS of elk!!!
Alpine, AZ is named this as it looks like the ALPS in Europe!!!
imagine SNOW covered mountains!!!
the river --I think it is the White or Black river, I do not care what colorful name it is it was so beautiful to see!!!
A log church in Alpine, AZ
A storm coming through!!!
we got stuck for about 1 hour as they cleaned up a Mudslide, very common in this area, we were told!!!
more elk!!!
there eyes glow green at night!!!Glad they stayed off the highway on our drive home that night!!!
We stopped here at the Red Onion in Heber/Overgard on our drive home to Phoenix.
got caught in our last rain and fog!!!
Back in the Valley and the desert!!5 glorious day with 5 great friends!!We had so MUCH fun!!!!!
Thanks Dawn for being the BEST hostess ever!!!
7 comments:
Hi Jamie,
Wow, I haven't been up there during the summer in years. We were just up there last Christmas as we gave skiing lessons to our youngest for a present. Before that, though, we camped there one summer during a bad drought and it certainly didn't look that lovely then. You were definately lucky to see it like that. Thank you for all the images, they are lovely and it's making it hard not to give in and go up there.
Hugs,
Meri
Oh Jamie Sweetie...
Thank you for taking me hiking. I so love this visit. Everything is so green and beautiful.
I love the fog and the clouds, even the rain looked so awesome. The elk are beautiful. My gosh did you ever get some phenomenal photographs. I am so thrilled you shared them with me today.
Dawns cabin is so beautiful, and how sweet to go into the little place hollering to see if Eddie is there. I bet it tickled him pink and he will be smiling today if you went back in there. You ladies made his day. I think that is precious.
Thank you for sharing sweet friend. I have so missed you.
Have a beautiful day. Many hugs and much love, Sherry
Ok so how much fun was that trip?! I love it! I have to ask...how much did you love that rain? I know how you love the rain, and that was more than just rain. It looks so green and peaceful up there.
Hi,
Looks like so much fun! And oh so beautiful. Glad you five had a good five days.
Hugs,
Reda
Thanks for the tour and the hike - that way I didn't have to walk on my hurt knee. Beautiful.
sandie
Coming from Wyoming, we immediately searched for an area similar in vegetation when we moved to AZ. We found Greer. Lovely. It is our favorite spot and generally we head up that way at least once each summer. Wonderful hiking and fishing. Glad you had a wonderful time.
What a beautiful area Jamie! Even the pic with the rain and fog looks lovely! So much fun catching up and seeing what you've been doing!
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