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LLAMA TRAIL Sedona Madonna and Two Nuns as seen from Llama Trail Some of Arizona's most beautiful hiking trails reside miles beyond the vestiges of civilization along impossibly convoluted, tire-eating backroads. For those with a vehicle robust enough for the journey, the payoff is a kind of solitude unique to Arizona's remote regions. If you're driving a compact sedan, your destination options are more limited, but there are places where its possible to park at a groomed trailhead off a paved byway and still unplug from the masses. Once such destination departs from the heavily used Little Horse trailhead in Sedona. Cathedral Rock on horizon A quick assessment of the crowded parking lot might lead you to doubt the claim that peace and quite lie beyond the throngs of camera totting tourists and scampering kids. However, in less than a mile, the Llama Trail veers away from the mobs of hikers who mostly stick to the main routes leading to Chicken Point and Bell Rock. Origin...

[Episode 105] Today's Social Work Podcast is about Recovery High Schools. I spoke with Dr. Lori Holleran Steiker, Distinguished Professor at the University of Texas at Austin�s School of Social Work, and author of the 2016 book,  Youth and Substance Use:  Prevention, Intervention and Recovery .  We talk about risk factors for addiction, adolescent brain development, how to think about addiction from a biopsychosocial-spiritual perspective, why recovery or sober high schools fit an essential gap in the continuum of care for youth struggling with drugs and alcohol and how you can help to bring one to your community. We end our conversation with Lori making an impassioned plea to join the fight against adolescent addiction. Download MP3 [50:48] Bio Lori K. Holleran Steiker, Ph.D., ACSW, an addictions therapist turned educator/scholar, is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. She graduated from Duke University, got...

EAST FORK TRAIL #95 Pasture at the base of Mount Baldy If you drive down State Route 373/Main Street, through the town of Greer to near road's end, you'll find yourself at the banks of the West Fork of the Little Colorado River and the trailhead for the East Fork Trail #95. Yup, the East Fork Trail begins at the West Fork and this woodsy stream side spot is the most popular place to begin the hike that rambles through alpine meadows sprawled out between two creeks that originate on the slopes of Mount Baldy. Although the drive through town is scenic, it's often crowded and parking can sometimes be a challenge. Couple that with the fact that accessing trail #95 here requires an immediate creek crossing that might cause unprepared hikers to turn back before even starting. Mooooont Baldy cows.  There's a work around, though. If you start the hike from the Gabaldon Horse Campground at the edge of Mount Baldy Wilderness, you'll avoid the traffic and parking headaches. Ea...

RANGER LED EVENTS AT MARICOPA COUNTY REGIONAL PARKS Ranger led hikes exercise both body and brain It's common knowledge that there are many benefits associated with hiking. The exercise is good for your body and the rhythmic pounding of boots on earth and the sweat-fueled endorphin bliss afford a respite from the hassles of everyday life. Hiking just might be  the sweetest, most satisfying form of self-healing known to human kind. But the perks don't end with the physical gains. There are brain-fortifying learning opportunities right along the beaten path---if you know where to look for them. A geologist describes Go John diorite Abundant mental stimulation is within easy reach at Maricopa County Regional Parks. With close to town sites located near lakes, streams, mountains and sprawling valleys, the park system is sort of a microcosm of desert life. Although solo hiking within the parks provides a good workout with a side of grand scenery, it just skims the surface in terms...

BEALE WAGON ROAD HISTORIC TRAIL Kaibab National Forest Laws Spring Way back in the mid-1800s a hardy battalion of 4-legged "ships of the desert" helped to blaze a passage through the Southwestern wilderness. It was Lt. Edward F. Beale who bestowed the noble title upon 22 camels imported from the Middle East to help survey the unforgiving landscape for a highway into the newly acquired Western territory. The Beale expedition team of 1857-59 had high hopes for the humped beasts that were hailed for their strength and tenacity. Although their work ethic did pan out as advertised, they didn't win any popularity contests among workers because of their smell, spitting habits and cranky temperaments. Hence, they were retired from government service after the project was completed. Camel motif on Beale Wagon Road trail post Although short-lived, the work of the lanky creatures is memorialized on wooden posts bearing their image along the original rough cut, 10-foot-wide trail ...

JOHNS TANK TRAIL #94 Prescott National Forest View of Lynx Lake from Johns Tank Trail The eagle has not landed. Sadly, the bald eagles that nest near Prescott's Lynx Lake did not produce offspring this year. Since they first appeared in the winter of 2002, breeding pairs of the quintessential American raptors have commandeered lakeside osprey nests to raise their chicks. In years when the eagles are on the nest, Johns Tank Trail #94-- the hiking trail that traverses their breeding territory-- is closed to human travel from February through June to give the hatchlings their best chance to thrive. The trail explores a bird friendly environment of Ponderosa pine forests swaying over trout-rich waters while tethering two loop routes in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. Ponderosa pines on Johns Tank Trail There's no dedicated trailhead for Johns Tank, so it must be accessed by either Lakeshore Trail #311 to its west or Salida Gulch Trail #95 to the north. To take the lake ac...