fall colors backpacking

[JoelHazelton]

So... because I'm lucky and I work for a local high school district, I get all of the same breaks as the students. Therefore, I will not be working from October 6 through October 14 because of fall break (yeah, the district started to do it I think 3 years ago, it's ridiculous but I'm not complaining). My roommate and I will be going on a 3 night backpack trip October 6-9 to observe fall colors and work on my photography. I'm not completely sure of our itinerary though...

What I've been most leaning towards is a trek through the kachina peaks wilderness... Weatherford trail looks good, inner basin trail, anywhere around there.

Any suggestions of 3 day backpacking trips with fall foliage in early October? Of course, I'm not restricting myself to just the flagstaff area- I'm open to any suggestions. Actually, although Flagstaff area is closer, I wouldn't mind having some creeks to work with when composing pictures. I know the white mountains and pinaleno mountains boast some nice colors around that same time.

Thanks for any help!

-Joel

[chumley]

My best recommendation: Look at some HAZ photosets for hikes you are interested in doing. Find photos in the date range you are going and see how the colors look.

I believe that the 2nd week in October is usually a week past the peak color for Aspens at the higher elevations such as Kachina Peaks. It is likely a bit too early for peak color for some of the oak in lower elevation canyons and creeks.

This summer's monsoon has been fairly productive in the higher elevations, so hopefully the colors will be nice this year. It's been an unseasonably warm September thusfar, but apparently the dates of color change is more closely related to the amount of daylight than to the actual temperature.

If you can wait to make final plans, the Coconino NF does a fairly good job of updating fall colors. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recrea ... lors.shtml

[JoelHazelton]

Well, it looks from the pictures like, although they won't be at peak colors, the higher elevation areas like kachina peaks or white mountains will be my best bet for those dates. I think what I'm looking for is something in the vicinity of 20 miles or so. Anybody have any ideas?

[hikeaz]

Aspens will provide you with all colors of gold/yellow, but I might look to find some hardwood trees for the oranges and crimsons as well as golds/yellows.
Maybe the Pinal Peak area, the North Rim area, The Pinalano's or the Santa Rita's.

[JoelHazelton]

Just for verification: I will be backpacking October 6- October 9, not to be confused with the "October 14th" date that I threw in there, which is simply the end of my fall break. I was kind of counting on the trees that change in early October still being colorful, although past peak colors, and the mid-October trees will not have changed colors yet. October 6-9 just seems closer to early than mid October, although I guess "early" and "mid" are all relative and slightly subjective, so not worth debating.

Does that seem kind of right? I'll admit that in past hiking excursions I never gave a hoot about fall colors and just ignored the whole idea, so I've never actually paid attention to these dates before. I have explored the "fall foliage" section of HAZ, which is what I based all of my potential itineraries off of, but what I was hoping for were some concrete suggestions of connecting routes with fall foliage that could get me away from my car, to a couple campspots, and back to my car a couple days later.

Didn't really think of the Pinal Mountains or the North Rim. North Rim is actually somewhere I've considered visiting for quite a while, so maybe I should look into that.

[Crzy4AZ]

What about in the Alpine area? I was in there October 8/9 a few years ago along Terry Flat road and Escudilla Mountain. Beautiful fir/spruce mixed with orange/yellow aspen with meadows and the 3rd highest peak in the state. Not sure about the creeks you are looking for or if it's enough to occupy you for 3 days of backpacking. We saw no one all day and really enjoyed the quiet solitude unlike many popular/crowded foliage hikes. And the vibe in Alpine is low-key -- stock up at the store with ice/beer/ammo/worms on the sign.

These are photos (nothing amazing just gives a jist of the area) from that weekend- click on view slideshow at the top.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=3fu ... 0&y=d9c2da

[PrestonSands]

Are you wanting to camp at a new location every night? Or hike in to one spot and spend 3 nights there?

Oct. 6-9 would be a couple of weeks too early to catch fall colors in the Pinals. The Pinaleno aspens should be changing by your trip date. At least they were last year...

[JoelHazelton]

These are photos (nothing amazing just gives a jist of the area) from that weekend- click on view slideshow at the top.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=3fu ... 0&y=d9c2da

Wow, those were some really beautiful photos. Actually, that area would be a really good idea. A couple weekends ago I went camping out there for a couple of nights, but I didn't really see what I had hoped for. Wanted to do Baldy, but the road to the West trailhead was closed and I didn't know how to get to the east th.

[JoelHazelton]

Are you wanting to camp at a new location every night? Or hike in to one spot and spend 3 nights there?

I'm not actually entirely sure... I was originally counting on 3 nights at separate spots, but it really does not matter. If I get out to an area with some serious exploration to be done, I might rather just set up a base camp and do day hikes. Actually, come to think of it, I'd likely rather do that.