| when | Trip Report : October 3, 2015 | ||
| where | Flagstaff | ||
| the hike |
I do not believe the club has done this hike before.
It appears to overlap portions of the Lockett Meadow Loop and the Inner Basin hikes.
I have done the Lockett Meadow Loop before.
It should be a great fall color hike! The hike description is largely taken from
Hiking Northern Arizona by Bruce Grubbs.
We will start at the Lockett Meadow trailhead (elevation 8565') and proceed up the Lockett Meadow trail for 1.5 miles and 800 feet elevation gain. Pass through a forest of aspens, ponderosa pines and occasional limber pine. When the trail reaches the watershed cabins (AKA Jack Smith Spring) there is a junction of several trails (old roads). Continue on the Inner Basin Trail for 100 yards to a fork, we take the right fork to Flagstaff Spring and Bear Paw. Continue for 0.8 miles and go right at the next fork to continue to Flagstaff Spring (note: on our way back we take the other path, which will now be on our right). Continue for another 0.8 miles to Flagstaff Spring. There was a major snow avalanche here in 1973 so there will be many fallen trees and hopefully evidence of forest recovery. We will stop for lunch here. Retrace the last 0.8 miles and then take the fork to the right for a short loop. This little side trip takes us through a great aspen grove and then to a meadow near a Flagstaff pump station. Great views of the peaks are offered with Doyle, Fremont (pyramid shape), Agassiz, and Humphreys (weather permitting). Turn left at the junction in the meadow to return to the watershed cabins. At that point hikers can return via the trail we came up (1.5 miles) or bear right onto FR 146, which traverses beautiful aspen groves. On FR 146 we hike 1.3 miles to a gate. Follow this trail about a mile to where it turns left into a saddle next to Sugarloaf, a large cinder cone. Lockett Meadow is visible below. Continue through the saddle for 0.2 miles to the Lockett Meadow loop road and follow it back to the trailhead. Adding this part of the Lockett Meadow Loop hike increases the total mileage from 6.7 miles to about 8 miles |
||
| distance | 6.7 or 8 miles | ||
| time | 5-6 hours | ||
| EC | +-1500' elevation change | ||
| starting at |
|
||
| on trail | 100% | ||
| rating | "B-" Rate yourself as a hiker. | ||
| dogs allowed | no | ||
| cost | Sharing gas expenses with the driver. The club also allows voluntary contributions of $5 per non-member. |
||
| weather | Flagstaff | ||
| meet | 6:30 AM in the Fry’s parking lot on the SW corner of I-17 & Bell Road. Park behind Denny’s, near the entrance to the Deer Valley Park & Ride. | ||
| drive |
• Travel north on I-17 to I-40. • Go east on I-40 to US 89. • Go north 17 miles to the Sunset Crater exit. • Turn left onto Shultz Pass Road (FR 520). • Drive 0.4 miles and turn right at a T intersection. • Continue 0.8 miles to another T intersection; turn left. • Go about 0.6 miles, and turn right just before a gate at a cinder pit onto Lockett Meadow Road. • Continue 2.8 miles to the trailhead, at the southwest corner of the loop road around Lockett Meadow. |
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| updated October 8, 2015 | © Copyright 2015, Arizona Trailblazers. All rights reserved. |