The bucolic pastures and quiet backwoods of Vernon, Arizona — population 122 — is the last place you’d expect to be the scene of a vile triple homicide. I didn’t even know about this story until after our ride when I took to the internet to see if I could find out about the cabin ruins we came across.
Our mountain bike ride started over on the Pinetop side at a trail called Four Springs. Starting off FR3 and Dipping Vat Spring Road we caught the trail heading north. Trailforks shows this as black diamond but that seems overrated to me. There are some steep switchbacks on some loose rocks but we didn’t find it difficult riding. If you aren’t used to the elevation this will be a hard day for you as all the riding takes place above 7400′.
Fall colors of yellow, orange and red have solidly set in and were on full display. We stopped several times to take pictures. After a few miles we came to the Land of the Pioneers loop and rode that clockwise. It starts in a recent burn and climbs the side of a cindercone before descending down to the Vernon, AZ side. We were pleasantly surprised when the trail turned and headed along the edge of rocky box canyon with steep drop offs. This section was pretty rocky and the hardest of the loop I’d say. But about those murders…
Pioneers began settling the rural community in the eastern White Mountains in the 1890s, making a living on the surrounding lumber-rich forests. Legend has it that among the early pioneers were three women who lived in a log cabin just south of town. The women built the log cabin nestled between a hillside and a then semi-perennial creek. They built rock surrounds for their animals and rock storage buildings, planted an apple orchard and also created a lilac bordered front yard with a sitting bench embedded into the oak trees near the house. Chatter about the women hiding a large amount of money on their property eventually reached the ears of criminals. The women were murdered and their homestead ransacked. No riches were found (that anyone knows of). Today, all that remains of the tragic scene are crumbling stone foundations and piles of rusty-nail planks.
After some long sections of trail that reminded us a lot of the riding when we lived in Bend, we completed the loop and rode back along the Four Springs Trail to the start. This trail actually keeps going and connects to Lake Mountain where we rode a few days ago. So, if you wanted an even bigger loop, you could add on Los Burros. What a grate fall day in the forest!
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