Happy Trails To You: Arizona Trail Day 4
We drove two vehicles, leaving one across from Lakeview Campground. We parked the second car near Perkins Telescope Observatory by Marshal Lake Campground. We could see the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff behind us and views of Lake Mary to the west, but most of our views were of the non-ending Anderson Mesa. By including the broader plateau, the mesa extends for about twenty-five miles and covers 261 square miles (167,509 acres).[1] Tomorrow we will hike the last few miles of this flat feature on the AZT.
Mesa means table in Spanish. Today we were served the wonder of sixteen wildflower varieties, five birds, a huge jackrabbit, and three separate herds of pronghorn antelope that make this mesa their home. Also making its home here was a juniper titmouse, a small gray bird that feasts on juniper berries from the pinyon-juniper trees. Not wanting the titmouse to eat alone, we sampled a wild onion that grew in the grasslands where dozens of cattle watched every step we took.
Their presence motivated us to watch our feet. And inspired haikus for both of us.
Near the end of the hike, on the descending switchbacks to Lakeview Campground, we met three college-aged hikers who were out for a morning stroll. We stopped briefly on the trail, the way hikers do, and asked the regular questions: “Where are you from?” and “How far are you hiking?” and “Oh, are you hiking the AZT?”
As we parted ways, one of the guys called out after us, “Happy trails!”
It was the first time I heard the farewell on the AZT.
The song, “Happy Trails,” was the theme song for a 1950s television show hosted by Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans. Each show ended with the cowboy couple singing the line, “Happy trails to you, until we meet again.” The phrase continues to be used as a way of saying “Goodbye” or “Safe travels.” It was a fitting phrase for this section of the AZT, a wide-open mesa with cattle on the range, an iconic Western scene.
Happy trails.
I plan to use the phrase in the future, as I serve the words, like a blessing, to other hikers I meet. But I also want to serve words of blessing in my other spheres of influence away from the trail.
With so much angst in the world, I want to be one who speaks with the expectation of hope.
Until we meet again.
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Hiking Stats
Day 4: July 8, 2026. 5:35 – 7:30 am
Part of Section 30, Perkins Telescope at Marshal Lake, south to Lakeview Campground.
Sunny. 58 – 73 degrees. Waning Crescent Moon
4 miles, plus 1.4 to car. 10,600 steps.
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[1]Anderson Mesa IBA ☼ - Arizona Important Bird Areas Program
