Four adventurous Trailblazers headed out from the East Valley bright and early in a gear-packed minivan. Although we encountered both road construction and some light showers on the way to Globe, we made good time into Show Low and arrived in time for lunch at What’s Cooking Kitchen and Bakery. Cool and crisp winds greeted us as we emerged from the van, reminding us that we weren’t in the valley any more. Hiked 4.7 miles, 538' elevation gain to 7,597'.

Zowie, a map! [photo by Bill]

We jaunted up the hill to the Pat Mullin scenic vista to get our first taste of hiking at a higher elevation. 4.7 miles and 2 hours later, we arrived back at the car to continue our journey to Greer.

Our large and well appointed cabin in Greer awaited us and we unpacked, had a variety of snacks and took a walk to explore the historic Molly Butler Lodge down the road a bit. We returned for a elegant meal prepared by Mimi-roasted chicken breasts, Mandarin orange rice, and a hearty kale salad courtesy of Carol, and cake from Bill.

We rose with first light and prepared to head out for our all day Mount Baldy adventure. Apparently the old minivan’s back hatches get stuck and don’t open when the temperature dips below freezing. We hit the 94 West Baldy Trailhead at 7:30 in 32° weather. The hike starts with 3.5 miles of relatively flat and very beautiful hiking through meadows and forests and by the banks of a bubbling and bending Little Colorado River. We then entered a wooded area and began to climb a little. At about 4.5 miles in, we had a few larger river crossings and then the long switchbacks began. We had trained and tested everyone on radio communication prior to leaving, and as we split into groups of two, this was quite helpful.

The trail was not at all crowded. We saw 4 groups on the way up and 4 on the way down. We made our way up at slower pace (breathing is a little more difficult at 10000+ feet), crawling under logs, marveling at an area of burned trees, and going up and up. At about this time Mimi, who was a bit behind us with Carol, informed us that she was experiencing some altitude sickness symptoms and she turned back toward the trailhead (she already had the van key), while Carol kept going up and up. At around 11:30, Bill and I hit the saddle. It was a bit of a letdown, with no view. We did find patches of ice up there, to our surprise. Although we knew we were not supposed to ascend to the true summit as it is sacred land and forbidden, there was no sign there stating that fact. The only evidence that we had arrived at the end of the West Baldy Trail was the signage for the East Baldy Trail.
Hiked 14.7 miles, 2000' elevation gain to 11,141'.

We awoke early and enjoyed a breakfast of eggs and toast and packed up the van (darn hatch stuck again). Yes, I had to get out the little used in Arizona ice scraper to defrost the van at 32°! Packed and ready to go ahead of schedule at 7:45, we headed out past Eagar to Alpine. We pulled off the highway 5 miles from Alpine at Forest Road 8056 and ascended to the Escuilla Trailhead, 5 miles up a windy dirt road. At 10, 850 feet, Escudilla is one of the highest peaks in Arizona.
Hiked 6.3 miles, 1479' elevation gain to 10,850'.

We set off hiking at 8:45 and immediately enjoyed a canopy of color-changing aspens over and around us and a green carpet of grass under us. We were the only car at the trailhead and had the entire mountain to ourselves almost the whole day. We marched up the first 1.5 miles, gaining 600 feet of elevation, to a nice clearing with views out to the Wallow Fire-burned hillsides. At this point, Bill decided to take an extended break, as he was still bothered by the remnants of his injuries from the day before. The other three of us plodded on through burned forests (a little 200 foot downhill welcomed at that point), across a large meadow, through more partially burned areas, and finally up through a narrow path between scratchy bushes to the summit at 11:00 AM.

The lookout tower is still intact after the Wallow Fire, but fenced off, unmanned, and not climbable. There are great views from the top, even from the ground.