We set out to hike the Inner Basin trail that begins in Lockett Meadow in the heart of the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, to where it intersects the Weatherford Trail on the north side of Fremont Peak. Several factors kept us from carrying out our plan. First, when we got to Flagstaff the peaks were socked in with cloud cover down to the bottom. As we contemplated what to do, the clouds parted over Elden (the southwest peak very visible from Flagstaff) so we decided to hike Eldon. But, before we began our march up that peak we decided to go ahead and drive into Lockett Meadow just to see if it was too uncomfortable to hike. To our surprise, we found that the 3-mile Lockett Meadow road was still closed since the Shultz fire last year. A sign at the gate blocking the road said that wheeled vehicles were not permitted on the road. Taking that as meaning that you could hike the road, that is what we decided to do. So these pictures are of the hike along the road and in Lockett Meadow to the Inner Basin Trailhead. It began to rain shortly after we left the car and we put on our raingear. In no time the rain stopped and we had a dry hike the rest of the way in and out. This shot is from the road out to the northeast. The hills in the background (they are on the east side of US 89 to Page) are mostly obscurred by clouds.
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