Notes
Had a bit of a late start this morning, but the air was still crisp. Fall is here in Northern Arizona. I decided to run south on the Arizona Trail. Having been unsuccessful the first time I tried this, I was a bit unsure of how much fun this would be. The first part of the route involves a long stoplight, going under the interstate and crossing some railroad tracks and last time I had failed to find where the trail led out of town. The answer is that the Arizona leads out of Flagstaff on Babbitt Drive, which is the absolute last place you would expect. There's a big "Dead End" sign, and the most impressive landmarks are a Taco Bell and Sam's Club. If you take go to the end of the drive you see a concrete path to the right that looks like it's a maintenance road. That path is the gateway to Mexico. I'm not sure if it would be more or less poetic for the trail to emerge from the Taco Bell drive through, but it was roughly the same feeling.
It doesn't take long for the trail to become beautiful, and there was absolutely no one on this beautiful morning. At times the trail was as runnable as trails can be. At others, it was more like Rocky Road in Decorah, but it was never all that difficult. I will definitely be back fairly often, especially when I feel like getting away from everything.
As for the run, I felt pretty tired for the last half. Probably still feeling the aftereffects of Sunday, as well as a couple nights of less than stellar sleep and long days.