Anne, Neil, David M, Heather, Bob the dog, David B, Susan B, Tony, Sabrina, Mark and Jennifer, Randi, Joel, and Aaron set out to enjoy a romp on the Arizona Trail. It was nearly a repeat of last year's run (the pictures above are from last year's run) as the first winter storm of the year brewed to the west. The winds slammed us heading down the trail, and we hoped this would help propel us back up the hill.
David and Neil led the runners on a tour of the petroglyphs and restored natural channel along the Rio De Flag. Although many of the runners were long time Flagstaff residents, few had ever seen Picture Canyon and all were amazed at the waterfalls, restored channel, and ancient petroglyphs of this hidden canyon in their backyards.
The plan was to run a bit longer at this point, however, the bridge across the Rio had been removed since the restoration of the natural channel. As David M tried to guide us across on the wooden boards, he fell knee deep into the cold stream and we decided it would be better to take a longer tour of the canyon.
It was a little more than 5 years ago that NATRA helped sponsor "Make a Difference Day" when 60 volunteers cleaned up the trash filled canyon. Thanks to the efforts of many partners, this jewel of Flagstaff will hopefully be preserved for generations to come. The runners, helped along by the tail wind returned to the Seasoned Kitchen and enjoyed Tony's agave sweetened cafe lates.
