Happy Hiking: Granite Mountain

After a lovely night on Thumb Butte Road, the following morning Annie and I drove to Granite Mountain Trail about half an hour north.  Along with Thumb Butte Road, Granite Mountain Trail is located in the Prescott National Forest.  Granite Basin Lake is nearby, so there are a variety of parking areas for the beaches and boat launching. There is also a parking area with bathrooms at the trailhead as indicated by AllTrails.

Granite Mountain Trail

The trail begins in forest which was appealing to me.  I prefer evergreens over cactus and scrub.  Annie enjoyed it too, once again running around like crazy.  Sometimes I wonder how she can have so much energy.  She exhausts me while I attempt to exhaust her!

HAPPY HIKING!
sunrise from my campsite on Thumb Butte Road

Happy Hiking: Thumb Butte

After my visit to Sedona and Camp Verde, I traveled south to Prescott.  I swung through briefly ten years ago on my year long road trip around the USA, and wanted to revisit.  Thanks to a National Geographic guide I met on a Mongolia trip, I had insider’s information on where to camp.

Camping on Thumb Butte Road

Liam, who went to college in Prescott, suggested I camp anywhere on Thumb Butte Road.  It is just outside of Prescott and was a great suggestion!  Small, designated pullouts lined the potholed dirt road.  And it was just steep and rutty enough to keep the big rigs out.

HAPPY HIKING!