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| Hiking | 12.26 Miles |
3,816 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.26 Miles | 5 Hrs 3 Mns | | 2.66 mph |
| 3,816 ft AEG | 26 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | For the final hike of the trip, I decided to venture into the Pipeline burn scar and hit Schultz and Doyle on a counter-clockwise loop, returning down Weatherford Trail. I originally planned to include Fremont in the loop, but having tacked that onto yesterday's hike, I scratched that and shortened today's. I started just after 6AM from the Schultz Tank parking lot and walked a short distance east on Schultz Pass Road, then cut to the NE to start the steep climb up to Schultz. It didn't take long to get into the burn scar and start gaining elevation, picking up 1,600'+ between 0.5 miles and 1.5 miles.
There aren't any major obstacles on the way up--lots of mullein has grown in among the deadfall and the stumps--but the steepness combined with the elevation made the hill feel like more of an effort than it appears from the bottom. At ~9,800' the ridge levels off considerably, so it was easy hiking over to Schultz Peak, though calling it a peak is a stretch--it's hard to tell what the high point is in that general area.
[ youtube video ]
The route up to Doyle is obvious from there, following a ridge to the northwest to 11,045' on the map, then a straight shot west. I took a short break at Schultz before starting up that ridge, which wasn't quite as steep as the earlier climb, but travel was slow because of deadfall and rocks hidden among thick, shoulder-high aspen growth...at least it's soft brush that's painless to push through. Once I was up to 11045, the views opened up to the N/NE toward the other SF Peaks.
[ youtube video ]
From there, it was just under a half mile and ~400' of gain up to Doyle. Again, steepness and elevation made it feel tougher than it should've been, and that area had some of the thickest deadfall of the day, so that slowed things down again. I didn't find a register on Doyle and saw no remains of the cabin that used to be up there, but I took a longer food break on top and enjoyed the uncharred views to the north.
[ youtube video ]
Dropping down the west side of the peak to Freemont Saddle through more scorched terrain was a little sketchy on the steep slope with lots of loose dirt/rock, reminiscent of the drop off the ridge near Abineau to Beard Canyon two days prior. I had to be careful not to dislodge rocks down onto myself on the descent, then I emptied a bunch of dirt out of my boots at Freemont Saddle before starting down Weatherford.
I wasn't sure what to expect about the trail conditions--not surprisingly, there aren't many triplogs for that part of Weatherford after the fire since it reopened in August 2024. The upper portions had some deadfall, with plenty of rocky tread. I crossed a few washed-out areas with obvious signs of trail reinforcement work. With long, gently sloping switchbacks, I was able to keep a good pace going down, and a few areas had a lot of new aspen growth similar to the ridge between Schultz and Doyle. It was a relief to finally see some living pine trees along the trail at ~9,200'. Not far beyond that, around 9,000', the trail had been rerouted around a major washout.
I saw a total of three people on the way down--the first I'd seen all day--and got back to the trailhead just after 11AM and checked out Schultz Tank before I started the drive back to Phoenix. It was almost 90° when I drove through Flagstaff, and after an uneventful drive on I-17, the thermometer hit 115° just before I got home, which made me appreciate the long weekend away that much more.
Hiking through the burn scar today wasn't the most scenic conclusion to the trip, but it was nice to hit a few more peaks/new areas and see the other SF Peaks from a different vantage point. Overall, great trip--the weather was perfect, I completed all the hikes I'd planned, covering just under 70 miles with ~22,000' AEG, including Kendrick, Newman/East Newman, Rees, Abineau, Humphreys, Fremont, Schultz, Doyle, the Abineau-Bear Jaw Loop, and two plane crash sites. Still need to get to Agassiz, so I have a reason to return  . |
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The shade is mostly gone. Still do have pretty ferns. This outing is a continuous uphill at altitude. No overly difficult sections tho. 
](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
There were 3 other cars parked at the gate. I could have easily made the drive, but I can see how the roadbed is too unstable to reopen without some extensive culvert reconstruction and erosion prevention. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses.
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at Snowbowl in the morning. It was a little bit jarring to my mental psyche exactly how many vehicles were already at the trailhead at this somewhat early hour! This is exactly the feces this planned route was supposed to avoid! 
