Promises, promises. The Coconino National Forest website description of the Kachina Trail, one of Flagstaff’s iconic paths carved into the San Francisco Peaks’ southern flanks, promises (or cautions?) that you might see black bears on the trail.
Specifically, it states that, about a mile and a half from the trailhead at the Snow Bowl parking lot, along the steep, narrow slopes, you turn a corner and encounter a cave burrowed into a large outcropping of lava rock.
Sounds like a bear luxury condo, so the forest service folks warn against journeying into the cave’s inner recesses, which actually aren’t that inner. But better safe than, well, you know …
I have never encountered a bear on the Kachina Trail, by the way. (In fact, in five years of dutiful trail running in Flagstaff, I have only encountered a bear once; on the Upper Oldham Trail on a Sunday morning.)
But every time I reach that point on the Kachina Trail, the macabre part of me almost – almost! – wishes a bear were lurking to take me out of my misery.
Now, I don’t want to say the first two miles of the Kachina Trail are hard – and, by hard, I mean so technical as to render running pert near impossible in spots, reducing one to near-quadruped status – but the mind seeks relief from the rock hopping, the aspen root dodging, the high stepping over boulders and downed trunks and branches that dominates that part.
You seek relief.
And, thank goodness, it comes after the two-mile mark.
Things smooth out considerably. You weave through aspens and prance through thigh-high ferns that, dew-soaked on an early morning clean your legs like car-wash shammies. You flow through a grassy valley with views of the peaks to your north and civilization to your south. You can breathe again.
You can look around and enjoy the sights, the reason why all the guidebooks tout the Kachina Trail. The Aspens, of course, are plentiful and, really, unavoidable.
Not to be a contrarian, but the aspens rate only third, at best, on my list of highlights of the Kachina Trail, a 10-plus-mile out-and-back jaunt that begins at the Snowbowl parking lot and traverses varied terrain and flora to its end at the intersection with the Weatherford Trail.
We really shouldn’t be craning our necks up to admire the trees at all on this trail. Rather, look down — or straight ahead. For about half the trail, runners are greeted by carpets of bracken ferns, leaves like fingers spread wide, tugging on your sleeves as you pass on singletrack.
A late July trip to Kachina showed the ferns in full bloom, their fronds outstretched in welcome. They are wondrous, but many just consider them the Pips to the aspens’ Gladys Knight.
The big advantage of ferns, over trees, on Kachina is that you feel closer to nature. Sure, the trail, at times, weaves between the white-trunked aspens (stop it with the carving of initials; not cool, people) but it’s not a tactile pleasure as is communing with the ferns, which massage your arms and torso and legs with the thoroughness of a TSA agents wielding wands.
One caution about the ferns: They risk overgrowing the trail, which can make footing tricky, given there are roots and rocks scattered along the singletrack that might not be visible. But, certainly, it’s not as bad of footing as the first two miles – and because it’s an out-and-back, also the last two miles.
Another highlight of Kachina comes in the first (and last) mile. Set off by itself and rimmed by boulders, stands a hulking, looming Douglas fir, bulging with burls at the base. Peering up, its branches extend well over the trail, as if to show the few aspens poking out from ferns who’s the boss here.
Unless you are a Jim Walmsley type, don’t expect to go fast on the Kachina Trail. But that’s OK. It gives you more time to enjoy the scenery. And you won’t be so fatigued that you couldn’t throw in a fartlek session in the unlikely event that a bear does decide to inhabit that cave.
Kachina Trail
Distance: 10.5 miles total, out-and-back, from the Snow Bowl parking Lot to the intersection with the Weatherford Trail.
Driving Directions: From Flagstaff, head west on Highway 180 to Snow Bowl Road, turn north and follow the road 7 miles to its end. Park in the auxiliary parking lot on the right (eastern) side.
Elevation Gain: 1,367 feet
Maximum Elevation: 9,334 feet
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