Wanted to take a drive and get some scenery in while escaping the heat. Decided on Ferndell. It's changed since the fire a couple years ago and with all the rain we had over the spring, there was lots of growth. At the end of the trail, went to the big boulder and climbed up for the view. On the way back, we took FR651 back to the Sixshooter and made a loop back to the car. I wish I knew the history of the area. You can tell there were a couple of settlements back in the day with power/water lines. Almost appears as there was major cattle herding back in the day. Great day to be out.

My hiking pals Gallydoll and Dan decided to join me on this loop I put together to beat the PHX heat. Drove out to Globe and then up to Pioneer Pass, the trailhead location. We passed through the NF campground en route and it was over flowing with tents and trucks. With all the people nearby, I was thinking we might not have the solitude I was expecting, but we saw no one on the trail.

We started up Pioneer Trail (signed as Squaw Spring #196) about 7:30am. Very pleasant ascent passing through thick manzanita groves and tall pines. Checked out a fenced off spring near the top of the trail. After reaching the end of trail #196, we worked our way over to Ferndale Trail #204. Standing at the trail sign, Ferndale didn't look too promising, but once we were on it, we were rewarded with a nice stroll through more tall pines. Just before reaching the intersection of Six Shooter and the end of Ferndale, we spied a whitetail deer tracking our movements along the trail.

We turned left onto Six Shooter trail #197 for a short jaunt up to the road and then followed the road out to Signal Peak. I was very disappointed to find that the Fire Lookout Tower is closed to visitors.

We took in the views and returned on the road to Pipeline Trail #193. Pipeline was easy enough to follow, but starting to grow in here and there. After climbing over to a ridgeline, the trail looked like it passed through an engineered break in the fenceline, however, a faint trail, which turned out to be Middle Trail #202, headed east which was more in the direction I was interested in going. Well, faint was the best this trail got. We passed the terminus of Six Shooter and climbed over a bunch of fallen trees to get out to the road.

We followed the road up to Pinal Peak proper, enjoyed the views for a bit and returned the way we came back down Squaw Spring trail. Temps were probably in the 70s on the top, and just over 80 at the trailhead. Sure beats 100+ back in Phoenix. Welcome to summer!

Met up with Kyle and Chumley and headed out in search of fall colors. We decided to head up into the Pinals. The weather would be cooler and the drive is not too bad. We started hiking on the Sixshooter Trail and headed up. We noticed right away a lot of burn from the fire earlier this year. There will be patchy burn for our entire hike. We continued up and saw some sporadic color as we neared the summit. Once up top we detoured to the east where there’s a ladder for climbing up to a viewpoint. After that we stopped by the peak and then headed over the west side where we took our lunch and enjoyed the views. From there we headed down Icehouse. The going was fairly easy as we enjoyed more sporadic color. We felt we were a week or two early. Temps rose as we neared the bottom and the final mile or two is a chore as you follow an old road that has greatly deteriorated. Once back to the TH we loaded up and headed over to Lost Dutchman State Park for Tibberfest! It was a nice day on the trails.

I have no idea what kind of people think that the [ Pinal Mountains 4X Super Loop ] would be fun. That's just crazy talk!

Looking at photos from previous years I thought colors would be pretty nice in the Pinals on this weekend, but we were definitely a little early. There was some color above 7000 feet, and even some pockets you might consider to be "prime" at the top, but there was a ton of green even high up and no sign of maples even starting to turn at their lower locations.

So next weekend should be pretty damn good, and two weeks should also be good, though the top will have certainly be past prime by then.

The fire damage was minimal on Sixshooter. Healthy burn with some dead trees surrounded by plenty that look healthy. There was some erosion along the trail but nothing that proved difficult to get by. A little maintenance next year would be good though.

Icehouse was an autumn wonderland up top, but turned green in the lower stretches and farther down entered the severe burn zone. The road at the bottom was a steep, rocky, miserable mess with absoutely no redeeming qualities. Despite the burn, I looked over and saw the singletrack trail cut of the lower Telephone trail and wondered if it wouldn't be a better option to take that trail down from the Doghouse Spring area instead of the Icehouse road. The mileage difference is only 1/10th a mile.

It was a nice day. Good to get back into the Pinals and happy to see the fire didn't get too crazy up in the higher elevation sweet spots.

Foliage
Above 7000 feet it was great, but between 5000-7000 there was so much green that it will be better in a week, and probably still nice in two weeks. By then the higher elevations will be past prime though. This is the 2nd weekend in October. I think the 3rd weekend would be best here based on this year's conditions.

We decided to check out the Pinals today to see what the effects from the fire. We headed over to Icehouse Canyon and up. A lot of the manzanita burned on the lower parts--fine by me, I hate manzanita--but there was still generally a lot more green than black or brown. All the deadfall on Icehouse has been cleared, and the trail was in good shape. The higher we climbed, the less we saw evidence of fire, and the upper half of Icehouse looked almost completely normal. Very green right now, and last night's downpour on the mountain made for very nice conditions. We saw one other hiker on the way up, and when he told us what his planned hike was for the day, I almost too happily told him that he was not on the trail he thought he was on. His car was not at the trailhead when we finished, so he must have survived the day.

At the top of Icehouse, we headed over to Signal Peak. The views were hazy in all directions, but we had a quick snack break then headed over towards Ferndell. I forgot how green Ferndell is, and it was a pleasant walk up to Pinal Peak. I turned up the wrong road to the summit, so it was a short, but very overgrown, bushwhack up to where we wanted to be. Then we headed to the boulders at the east end of the peak and climbed the ladder up to the top rock and enjoyed the views for a few minutes, then headed back down for a lunch break.

We then headed back down Ferndell and then down Sixshooter. Again, the upper part of Sixshooter showed little fire evidence, but increased as we descended. There's one small section that has a few washouts. Most are easy to get across, but one was difficult for me. Other than that one spot, the rest of the trail is pretty much fine. I've never cared much for the lower half of Sixshooter, but I still like it more than Telephone. The last mile or two went by quickly, but it was finally warming up by the time we finished. Great weather today, cloudy and cool almost the entire time. And we only saw the one other hiker near the beginning of the hike. Nice day, and it was good to see that the fire damage really isn't that bad. Fall colors on Icehouse won't be affected by the fire at all.

hit up denny and john for a fall color hike in the pinals
the only problem was that there wasn't much fall color
either a week or so too early or just a down year
got going about 7:15
up icehouse, signal peak, the lower road to ferndell spring and down sixshooter
chilly but fine in t-shirt and shorts while going uphill
icehouse is a solid ascent the entire way, and a very pretty trail above dog house spring
a few spots of reds and oranges
the aspen make for a nice mix
at the top of icehouse, john spotted a coatimundi, then we saw nine more crossing the road but no pics
we went up to signal peak, which is much nicer than pinal peak in my opinion
fewer antennae and a fire tower
back down the lower road to ferndell
some color around the spring area
saw a group working on sixshooter nearby
just a little bit of red or orange in sixshooter canyon, including down low
i've hiked these trails the same weekend four of the past five years, and this year's show came in fourth
still a nice hike in pine trees and fresh air and a peak with good company
had lunch at guayo's el rey in Miami - always a favorite
thanks for the hike guys, and denny, thanks for driving

left work early this morning so had plenty of time to hit the pinals
had three things in mind: two peaks, some fall color and a longer hike with some elevation
started up sixshooter at 7:45
good color in the upper reaches, but as joe mentioned, maybe a week away
hit pinal peak, then took the upper road to signal peak
as i started down icehouse, heard a gunshot echoing up the canyon
that was a little disconcerting, but i never saw or heard man nor beast
in fact, i didn't see anyone on the trails all morning
my gps died on top of signal peak, but i have a decent estimate on mileage from some other tracks
the upper half mile or so of icehouse was stunning with reds and golds and a carpet of fallen leaves - still not prime, though
wish i had not taken the upper road, but had dropped down to ferndell
thought about backtracking, but didn't feel like it at that point
returned to my truck at 12:45
next time i would go up telephone and upper icehouse, hit only signal peak, then head for ferndell and take sixshooter down
it would be worth the trip to drive up and just hike some of the upper trails within the the week or so

nice of joe to post this hike on a sunday
did it with joe and johnlp two years ago, but missed out last year
started earlier this time on a perfect fall day
had to park lower as the gate wasn't open yet
up telephone ridge to the road - some steep areas on this trail, and part of it was torn up because of work on the cable system
hit signal and pinal peaks
my first time on signal, which has a tower and the best views
down sixshooter canyon
good color in certain areas and deep in the canyon
lower down, the sycamore leaves were bright yellow
lunched at the trucks, then moved to the ccc area as the nice new host said he would wait for us before closing the gate
had a note from randy on my windshield, letting us know that he was on the mountain and would see us on the road at the top
joe had one from chumley with his plan for the icehouse/kellner loop
said goodbye to kathy and karl, then headed up telephone (again - we all missed a turn) to the intersection with icehouse
didn't miss much as the lower part of icehouse isn't all that interesting
upper icehouse was stunning in places with canyon walls nicely colored, the forest floor carpeted and a good breeze swirling freshly fallen leaves
topped out on 651 to find randy and chumley waiting for us and after a few minutes chatting, we headed down the road to kellner canyon
not as much to photograph so we just kept moving
might have been motivated by randy's suggestion of mexican food
chumley took off and we found randy at the trailhead
nice dinner at guayo's el rey with the gang
dave outdid himself - i was impressed with the volume of food he consumed
nice to meet chumley, see randy again, hike with kathy and karl again, and meet and hike with larryayala
this was my longest hike and most aeg in one day
was concerned about making it as late as friday due to some nagging aches and pains, but everything seemed fine
beautiful day, great company and mexican food after? pretty nice

Foliage
sixshooter and icehouse were the show
a little past prime, but plenty to admire

Decided I wasn't up for a 4X super, so planned on a 2x wimpy. Tried to align it so I would hike with the hard-core folks, but apparently was there too early. I got to the top of Icehouse after really fighting the grade. Once past the spring, it was an autumn wonderland and made the grueling climb much more pleasant. Met up with storm at the top, and we hiked up to Signal Peak while waiting for the others.

I had to be back at 7 for an on campus lecture that my department was sponsoring, and as I was about to bail, the voices of the 4X monsters came into range. I decided to hike down with them which was fun. Good to meet trekkin and Larry.

I set a pretty good pace down the hill, which those who were over 20-miles on the day were not necessarily happy with (since I was only pushing 10 miles at that point myself!) Eventually I realized getting back to the lecture would be a challenge and I took off ahead of the others. Got back to the car and stopped by to tell storm the others would be there in a few minutes. A good mexican food dinner woulda been nice though!

Great to see everybody and good to get a little exercise in on an otherwise lazy weekend on the couch.

2:20 up Icehouse
0:30 across the road
2:00 down Kellner

(Edit to link Pineline Trail. No way I'm hiking over 3000-feet and not getting a peak out of it!)

Foliage
Just past the peak. But plenty of color. The aspens are mostly done. The upper part of Icehouse had an amazing carpet of color on the ground, but still a fair amount in the trees. Kellner was almost completely bare already, at least a week past time.