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| Hiking | 16.85 Miles |
2,784 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.85 Miles | 11 Hrs 20 Mns | | 1.58 mph |
| 2,784 ft AEG | 41 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This hike has long been on my radar. My crazy buddy Jackson asked me if I would be interested in doing a single day trip up the White Mountains to knock this one. Super Early start, 16+ miles hiking in 11k+ elevations, then a long drive back to Phoenix?? That sounds like a great idea!
We met at Fountain Hills at 2am and off we went. The drive was nice with no other traffic. We made it to Route 273 a little after sunrise and saw tons-o-critters – elk, deer, cows, horses, aardvarks, and a few pangolins before arriving to the East Baldy Trailhead.
Jackson had done this hike 6 years earlier with his recently departed wife. It was another of his “tribute” hikes. We opted to hike the loop clockwise – up the East Baldy and down the West Baldy and take the Crossover back to the TH.
The hike up was steady through a lovely, shaded canopy of pines, aspen and fir. A couple of miles in we hit a series of switchbacks up to the beautiful view area. Awesome rock formations and view. Probably my favorite part of the entire hike.
The slow and steady climb starts up afterwards. Just below Mount Thomas the remains of a giant fire became the main feature. Not sure if this was from the Wallow Fire or an earlier fire, but it surely roasted the area below Baldy and Thomas. Tree fall was everywhere. Signs of trail work were covered with new tree falls across the trail. It was a log hopping (or scurrying under) all the way to junction. Lots of wild (and thorny) raspberry and other after fire growth was plentiful.
We made it to junction and for a second thought about going to the summit of Baldy, but we didn’t want to end up at Whiteriver Tribal Lockup or a worse fate. Next time for sure (with proper permissions, of course).
The hike down West Baldy was more treefall hell, but there was considerable regrowth of fir and pine. After a little down, we hit the switchbacks that took us down to the next phase, beautiful alpine meadows. The Little Colorado River makes an appearance, and we were thinking what a lovely day, we are almost back to the trailhead!
For some reason, I had a vision of the Crossover Trail as some pleasant little jaunt that would take us back to the truck. Although it’s only 3 miles and only 600 ft of aeg, our legs were feeling every step. It seemed to take forever. But, we survived and made it back.
I really enjoyed this hike. It was as beautiful as advertised. I learned some valuable lessons too. One, acclimate next time. I was literally dizzy and a little nauseous at the top of hike. I could feel the 11k elevation. Two, we were dummies for doing this hike as a day hike. This is a “Go Up to The White Mountains For a Week” hike. Three, the Crossover Trail was a “parting gift”. I’ve done the loop now, next time, I will just hike up the East Trail, hit the summits and hike back down the same way.
As I arrived back home at 1030pm (After leaving the house at 130am), my wife gave me that “I told you so” look and offered little sympathy for my pathetic and tired looking appearance. |
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"Jobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul."
instagram: @andydilling |
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