White Mountains Summiting Extravaganza

[Dirt4dinner]

Extravaganza got your attention huh?

I was poking around on PeakBaggers today out of bordom, and decided that I want to cruise over to the white mountains for a long weekend and summit some of the 10,000 footers that are sitting in that range. It looks like Profanity Ridge and Escudilla Mountain are neighbors, so they might be doable on the same weekend. I have a feeling there are others to. Start brainstorming, and then start packing because I need others to join me.

[Crocodile Ryan]

Id be interested in anything that comes up

I love the White Mtns

[azbackpackr]

I live in the White Mountains. Many of the roads are closed at this time. It is still winter up here. You can't get to Mt. Baldy or Escudilla--at least, not very easily. You can't even get to Big Lake! Profanity Ridge is not a true "peak" but it is pretty darned good exercise to climb Escudilla via that route! The actual summit of Escudilla is not at the firetower where most people stop, but through the woods, past the firetower. There is a summit cairn with sign-in log on the high point, hard to find w/out GPS or map and compass, as it is in the thick woods on flat ground.

Just BTW, Escudilla is pronounced "Escu DEE uh" and means "bowl" in archaeic Spanish. It is not a volcano. I used to think it was, but according to a geology book I have it is more complicated than that, although it has volcanic rock. If you really want a challenge, climb its north face on snowshoes. To get there, go south from Springerville on 191 to just past Nelson Reservoir, but before you get to Nutrioso, turn left (east) onto a wide gravel road that goes up to a housing development called Escudilla Mesa. Follow this road past the subdivision and into the NF, and pretty soon you'll be right under the snow-covered north slopes of Escudilla.

Mt. Baldy, 11,500+, is also very hard to reach right now--as I said, you can't even go to Big Lake right now. All the roads are closed. Snow... It's a pretty long hike or snowshoe trek from any of the closed gates, specifically the one on 273, two miles from Sunrise General Store. And when the roads do open, it's likely that only the East Baldy Trail (not the main West Baldy trail) will be open at first. The West Baldy Trail is covered in deadfall and has had no crews clear it out for a couple of years. For this reason the loop hike is not recommended, even after the snow clears out. The snow will not be completely gone until July, most likely. Contact the Springerville RD, ask them when the crews are going to clear out the West Baldy trail. They need to hear this from the public, because, since 273 has mostly been closed for more than two years now due to a paving project, the powers that be did not see fit to send crews to work the trail, even though people were still trying to hike it via the Cutover Trail. Phone number is 928-333-4301.

Right now the snow is melting and running down into the Salt River and the other rivers. Forget hiking! Right now is the time to get in a boat on the river. You have only just a short season on the Salt, and this is the best year in a long time for boating on the Salt, Verde, San Francisco and Gila Rivers. Life is short, and Arizona rivers are ephemeral and very seldom have as much water in them as they do now. The mountains will always be there to hike, though.

This is not a good time to go to the White Mtns., (except for the prairie grasslands part of it,) if you want to hike very much, although I have regularly been hiking up Flat Top near Eagar, which is, at last, not so snowy and muddy as it was a few weeks ago. But just a mile away from there, the 21-mile-long Overland Trail is very muddy and snowy still. Grasslands peaks, such as Antelope Mtn. on 260 and Cerro Montoso on 60 are pretty much snow-free, at least on their south-facing slopes. Cerro Montoso is right next to the highway between Show Low and Springerville. It has a HUGE crater in the top of it! Use Cerro Hueco ("Waco") map. Cerro Hueco is worth a visit also. Enormous crater--really enormous. I heard it has a geocache in it now. You can find it easily if you have that topo map. About 4 1/2 miles of very bad dirt road to get to it--very nice mtn. bike ride.

[Dirt4dinner]

I was thinking of planning now and hiking sometime in Mid to late May, possibly early June. I figured winter would be pretty cleared up by then.

[Hoffmaster]

Hey Dirt!

Have you ever been to the White Mtns? I have this feeling that you are imagining majestic 10,000 - 11,000 foot mountains rising from the earth similar to the Tetons in Wyoming. If that's the case, you're going to be disappointed. The entire White Mtn area sits at a relatively high elevation. The mountains there are little more than large hills rising 2000 - 3000 feet above the rest of the land.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go. The area is awesome, especially Mt. Baldy. I'd save Escudilla for the autumn when the aspens are changing.

[Dirt4dinner]

I think I am have the image right, I have seen lots of photos. I am just looking for something to do, and decide the Peak Baggers list was a nice guideline. Those White Mountain summits should be the easiest since there is very little prominence.

[Hoffmaster]

Ok. Just making sure. Remember though, there is no such thing as "easy" at those elevations for low-landers like us.
I'll be sure to keep you in mind the next time I head up to that area.

[te_wa]

outside of the White Mtns, keep Kendrick on the must-do list as its one I have yet to climb and there are plenty of hammock options. The three amigos shall ride again!
Kendrick may be scarce for hikers unlike the sometimes overcrowded neighbor Humphreys.

[Hoffmaster]

keep Kendrick on the must-do list as its one I have yet to climb and there are plenty of hammock options. The three amigos shall ride again!
Kendrick may be scarce for hikers unlike the sometimes overcrowded neighbor Humphreys.

Indeed! Liz and I love Kendrick's Peak! We would be willing to do a trip there again for sure.

[JimmyLyding]

Kendrick Peak is a great hike for Valley dwellers. I've only done Humphrey's once (w/ Wally Farak and Ron Davis), and it was on July 4th so I wasn't surprised at the large # of people we shared the trail with. I don't know if it's typically crowded during the good season, but I saw only about a dozen people when I did Kendrick around Labor Day.

[Dirt4dinner]

For those of you interested, I would like to get this thing planned for June or July. I would love to see a small group go out and do some of these hikes. I don't know if it would be day hiking with car camping, or actual backpacking or possibly a combo. But I am thinking of leaving on a Wen. after work, and hiking thur. fri. sat. and sun. and then back Sunday night. I figure we could make a nice little dent in the 10,000+ foot peaks this fine state has to offer!