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Well I got a friend. She is going backpacking on the San Francisco Mtns some time soon. She is going to be off trail most of the time. She was wondering where will she be able to get water. Springs, streams, lakes, anything. Thanks

anyone?

The San Francisco Mountains? The ones in New Mexico? Or the San Francisco Peaks/Kachina Peaks Wilderness, by Flagstaff? If I'm not mistaken, due to geology, there is not a lot of surface water in the Peaks area, it percolates down and reappears in Oak Creek, etc. Probably your friend should buy a hiking guidebook to the area, and the topo maps, and talk to the rangers before planning her trip.

If you're talking about New Mexico, that's a whole 'nother ballpark. Very remote, wild area.

azbackpackr wrote:Probably your friend should buy a hiking guidebook to the area, and the topo maps, and talk to the rangers before planning her trip.

^^Yup. I'm also curious about the off-trail route she would choose and why.

yeh i am talking about the peaks. sry for the confusion. the ranger actually told her alot of springs and he said most of them would be running. He named Big Leroux Springs, Snowslide or something like that, bear paw springs and others. He said he bets there is more on the north side of the peaks also. He also named Shultz Tank and a few other small tanks. The route my friend is taking is from Lockett Meadow then south over Doyle or Fremont peak then down around the south side of the mountain and loop around the mountain range back to Lockett Meadow. She said she is not sure yet and wants to make sure it is legal and what not. The forest service also told her there would be alot of deadfall and if she gets injured on the north or west side of the peaks its doubtful she would get found. I will tell more when she contacts me again

Some areas, like the White Mountains, are conducive to off-trail travel. They have a lot of open country and gentle slopes. But it strikes me that the San Francisco Peaks are not very good for bushwhacking, comparatively. True I haven't hiked a whole lot up there, maybe 10 hikes, but that's what I observed while I was hiking there.

And as for deadfall, negotiating it just gets old very fast. You start to wonder what you are doing out there.

But my friend has been to the peaks so much she wants to get off the beaten path. Thats why she wants to go out and just explore. She is very athletic too and finds the forest here very beautiful.

Well, if she does know the Peaks that changes the equation a lot!

well she usually hikes Humphreys once a week but thats about it. Humphreys shows alot of the area but she wants to see more.

she plans to do this hike sometime in the next couple of weeks.

The springs in the Inner Basin are the best bet. Snowmelt provides the best source, so the are running lower and lower as the summer progresses (most are now more seeps than springs). Most surface water found within the Inner Basin will be at 11,000 feet or lower. Surface water on Agassiz and Fremont's south slopes, Agassiz and Humphrey's west slopes, or Humphrey's north slope seems to be much less reliable than within the Inner Basin.

I thought hitting any peaks besides Humphries was prohibited?

well the only peak i know that is prohibited is Agazzis or Agassiz. She actually just went this past weekend. She was just tramping around and didn't get fined for anything so idk. She found a few springs so water was good. The only peaks she went on any were doyle and fremont which im 99 % sure are allowed. The rest of the trip my friend went around offtrail mainly.

Sounds fun, anyway, I'll bet she enjoyed it.

Agassiz is illegal unless there is at least 1 foot of snow on the ground. But, as with anything, it's only illegal if you get caught. Fremont and Doyle are legal year round.