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| Kendrick - Pumpkin - Bull, AZ | |
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| | Kendrick - Pumpkin - Bull, AZ | | | |
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Kendrick - Pumpkin - Bull, AZ
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| Hiking | 17.01 Miles |
5,398 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.01 Miles | 10 Hrs 4 Mns | | 1.88 mph |
| 5,398 ft AEG | 1 Hour 1 Min Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I'm on a 3-month sabbatical and recently got back from spending 10 weeks in Europe. Did some amazing hiking and hope to post triplogs here. On our return, we wanted to hit up Humphreys from the inner basin. During final planning though, we realized that, while the trail is open, the approach road to Lockett Meadow is closed to vehicular traffic.
So, we recalculated and decided to head over to Kendrick instead. We made an overnighter of it, driving up Thursday evening and camping along the FS road. The night was very calm and peaceful, with the outline of Kendrick framed against the night sky to the west of us.
Since we arrived at our camp spot late and didn't settle in till 10:30, we weren't in any hurry to get up in the morning. That said, we were still up and on the road to the remaining 3 miles or so to the TH. We were a little surprised that there were already 5 other cars in the parking lot on a Friday morning.
No worries. We hit the trail and only saw one or two people on the climb to the summit. After some of the rocky trails we traversed in Europe, the summit trail here was as smooth as the newly paved road in the movie Cars. :-)
We stopped at the cabin and at the fire-lookout (no one there), and observed a small plume of smoke off to the SW between Kendrick and Bill Williams. It remained smoky throughout our hike but never expanded. Perhaps a small controlled burn?
After the summit, we entered new territory for us--heading down Pumpkin, and then around and back up via the Bull Basin trail. This part of the trail is like hiking through a giant game of Pick-Up Stix. Also the trail was faint in many places, and with the deadfall-prompted detours, staying on track was a bit of a challenge. Getting from Pumpkin to Bull Basin, we "followed" a track that was identified on an app I was using. But there was very little evidence of a trail on the ground. We just generally followed the GPS. In a few places, there was some faint evidence of what might have been a trail, but we mostly just made it up as we went along. Luckily, the area was fairly clear for what I'd call a modified bushwhack.
Once we connected with Bull Basin, there were large stacked cairns, but despite their size, many are obscured by trees, tall grass, etc. More route finding and pick-up stix were encountered on the ascent, though there is a section through the aspen regrowth that was mercifully, fairly clear.
By the time we reached the cabin again, we were hot and tired, but grateful to be back on smooth trail and with only the descent left. Luckily, we had a ton of wild strawberries along the trail to keep our spirits up!
We didn't see a soul on Pumpkin or Bull, and only passed one backpacker heading up the summit trail on our way down.
This hike packs a very solid workout, but with the fire damage, the scenery/views are not that great. I'll probably do the peak again, but not sure I will put the Pumpkin-Bull loop on the repeat list. |
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