The school term had just ended and Beth and I were eager to head up to Flagstaff for a few days of camping and exploring amid the cool ponderosa high country. The emphasis for this short trip was not necessarily big peaks, but an assortment of hikes. We generally had “no plan”, although we had one hike lined up: Red Mountain. As we often do, we just drove up, headed into the forests northwest of Flagstaff, and drove until we found a nice place to camp. The weather in the Phoenix area was warm, but not yet very hot. Even so, we looked forward to a few days of temperatures in the 70s, and cool, brisk nights.

Saddle Mountain is one of the many anonymous piles of cinder and tuff that were formed from long-ago volcanism atop the San Francisco Volcanic Field. I had known about this little peak for awhile now, and thought this may be a good place to camp and explore. From Flagstaff, we went up US-180 about 30 miles to Forest Road 523 on our right. We went in and noted the ugly devastation caused by a recent burn: large tracts of down, burnt trees, and other sections of standing snags. Very grim. We drove in about 3 miles to FR-550, where the forest seemed healthier and less burned. FR-550 leads up to a small pass just east of Saddle Mountain and with a jaw-dropping view of mighty Humphreys Peak. This, of course, was the main reason for coming this way. Wow!

We drove up the spur road toward the summit, but parked at 8,150 feet on a small flat knoll near the ridge. It was about 2 p.m. and we spent some time just relaxing. The weather was superb, with warm temperatures, clear skies and a gentle, sometimes gusty, breeze. At around 3, I decided to make the short hike to the summit of Saddle, just 700 feet higher and less than a mile distant. The climbing route was just a straight-shot up the east ridge, mostly open at first, then some forest cover near the top. I made the climb in about 25 minutes, stopping for photos along the way. The top itself is nothing to get excited about. It has a small building and communications towers, plus a buzzing generator. The views were stunning: Humphreys, of course, but also Kendrick Peak to the west, hundreds of other cinder peaks, and the flat Coconino Plateau leading up to the Grand Canyon. While I couldn’t see the canyon, I did note the land just seemed to “end” abruptly up that way. Looking east I had some views into the distant Navajo Nation and its unique pinkish-orange mesa country.

For the hike down I followed the service road, which meanders and takes about 2 miles to make the descent. I ascended another hilltop bump, elevation 8,864 feet, then just had a leisurely stroll back to the car, where Beth was happily just watching the scenery. I was gone for about 90 minutes. I joined her in the front seats and we took a short impromptu nap.

Around 6, I got up and went to the back to get our dinner started. As I was opening a packet of cheese with a knife, I gave myself a severe three-quarter inch laceration on my left index finger. It was a clean cut. It didn’t hurt at first but it bled like a son-of-a-bitch, and I knew this would need stitches. Crap! We were able to stanch the bleeding by wads of tissue paper, a rolled up newspaper and one of Beth’s hair scrunchies that kept everything in place. It actually worked well since it applied positive pressure the whole time. We broke camp and drove back into Flagstaff to the Emergency Room at the local hospital. I ended up with just 4 sutures, and we were in and out of the ER in less than three hours. Actually, it all went very well, despite the circumstances. It was after 9 p.m. when I was released and too late to go back finding a place to camp, so we took a hotel room in town, staying at one of the many neat old budget places that date from the 40s.

The remainder of the trip went well, and my finger proved not to be much of a burden. I just had to keep an eye on it. The next day we did a loop drive along with Red Mountain, eventually passing through Valle, Williams and camping in the forest about 15 miles south of Williams along the Perkinsville Road.