After several days where I couldn’t get out I left at 6am for my favorite hike, the Cibola-Jordan-Soldiers Pass-Brins Mesa loop. Big decision: clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Clockwise is gentler with an uphill bias until reaching the highest point – 5138 feet – after 4.5 miles. Counter-clockwise gets the bulk of the vertical done in the first 1.7 miles.

Which would you prefer?

This view from the Brins Mesa trail on the Mormon Canyon rim is looking southeast down the canyon. The haze is due some small fires on the Mogollon rim and the morning angle of the sun.

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