Hiking as the sun rises over the Rim

We’re up at 3 am and out hiking just as the sun is rising.  And we have been amply rewarded for being early risers!

Here is our view of the moon setting over Strawberry Mountain in the west as the sun rises above the Mogollon Rim to our east…..

Note the little house in the center of the above photo.  Someone very cleverly carved it using the top portion of the tree trunk.  Here is a close-up of this magical little home.

And here is the sun rising over the trees on the Rim….

Every morning as we enter the forest the birds are just awakening.  After their long night sleep they are hungry and awfully talkative.  As we trek through the pine forests, we are surrounded by birds flitting from branch to branch and singing and calling to each other.  This is one of the most beautiful songs in the world.

Mother cows with their new babies are up early too.  They greet us on the trail…and at time, are VERY unwilling to  give us the right of way.

Another reward for getting out on the trail bright and early, is that the Coues deer are out and about enjoying the cool morning air too.

Here is one of these miniature deer who moved moved off trail as we approached.  She blends in with the forest background so well that it is near impossible to see here in the first photo.

She’s in the center of this photo.

We always thought that the trails were made for people, but now we wonder as we see more tracks of cow, deer, elk, coyote, bobcat, and even bear and mountain lion, than human footprints.   We’ve decided that our friends, the wild animals, are pretty darn smart….a trail is much easier to traverse than the steep hillsides and ravines.  

One of our favorite views is from the edge of the Mogollon Rim.  We have discovered numerous trails that wind through the pine and oak forests to the edge of the Rim, where suddenly, the magnificent world to the south is spread out for miles and miles before us…..

Here is our little mountain town of Pine, 1500 feet below us, as seen from the top of  the Rim!

Surprisingly, we see no one else. We are together all alone, loving each other, in this mountain magical land, as the early morning sun brings light to our lovely world.