Gooseberry Springs is located south of Mormon Lake near Flagstaff. Pondersoda pine, Douglas fir and Gambel's oak dominate the landscape.

I had quite a scare when my two dogs, Barkley and Louie, decided to chase a large herd of elk that came near my camp. I was screwing around with something not paying attention when I heard the mewing of a female elk. I thought to myself, "that sounds like an elk..." only to look up in horror to see both dogs running at full speed toward the herd. I took off running after them but by the time I got to where they had had been, there was no sign of any animal, dog or elk.

I walked about a mile further into the forest constantly calling for them. I had visions of them running for miles with the herd into the wilderness never to be seen again. I finally circled back to camp where the dogs were waiting for me. Louie even had the audacity to bark at me. I was so happy and pissed all at the same time. But mostly I was mad at myself.

The funny thing is, I was just thinking I might need to tie up the dogs since this was a perfect place to see elk. Needless to say, they were tied up the rest of the trip.

A portion of the Arizona Trail is found in this meadow near Gooseberry Springs. This non-motorized hiking trail is nearly 800 miles long starting in Coronado National Monument on the Mexican border and finishing at the Utah border. Here's a great link to the Arizona Trail: http://www.aztrail.org/at_about.htm