It’s already the 2nd really hot weekend here in Scottsdale with temperatures in the triple digits again (38 to 40 Celsius).

So we decide that it would be nice to go on a day trip to higher elevations where we hope to find some cooler temperatures. Remembering our previous trips to the Mogollon Rim a few years back (last time we were here was in 2010) we decide to head out there for the day with our friend Flavia.

Scottsdale is at an elevation of about 1200 feet and we rise up to over 7500 feet. The temperature is as low as 62 Fahrenheit (about 16 Celsius) mid morning and it is very windy. We very much enjoy the sight of the pine trees and having so much ‘green’ and water around us – it is such a welcome change.

We stop here and there and take a few pictures of the gorgeous view. From up here you can see how vast Arizona is and it’s hard to believe that only 2 hours away is a huge city like Phoenix with an agglomeration of 4.5 million people.

We see a lot of burned and even more broken trees. These are still the remains of the big wildfire they had back in 2002. The grounds are all green again and the young trees maybe 5 feet tall, but it shows how long it takes for nature to recover after such a devastating fire.

Towards lunch time we head left following the sign to Knoll Lake hoping for a little less wind so we could have our sandwiches.

The lake is still as beautiful as we remember it, hardly any people though and still too windy to comfortably sit and enjoy our little lunch. We drive a bit further into the forrest where we soon find a good spot. We sit on some fallen tree and unpack our picnic.

Early afternoon we slowly but surely reach the other end of the 45-mile gravel road. We are actually pleasantly surprised how easy the drive was. Either they improved the road or our Jeep is really a master of gravel roads (with Marco in the driver seat).

When we arrive back home at around 4pm the thermometer shows 95 Fahrenheit (35 Celsius). Welcome back to the desert!