Beth and I were looking for a weekend camping outing with a hike, preferably something easier than the long grinds we'd subjected ourselves to in the past month (most recently, the hot hike up Miller Peak near the Mexican border). Escudilla Mountain fit the bill on all accounts - a big peak at just under 11,000 feet elevation but with a relatively tame hike needed to attain its summit, and located in the White Mountains in Eastern Arizona, where daytime temperatures would be a good ten degrees below our nighttime temperatures we'd been dealing with in the Phoenix area. The monsoon was late this year. It usually comes in in early July but as of mid-July it was still hanging out on the fringes and generally staying away from the deserts. Without the monsoon to come in and moderate the temperatures, we'd been experiencing one of the hottest stretches of heat I can recall in my 13 years of living in the Phoenix area. Daytime highs were regularly exceeding 112, and getting as high as 117-118 in Chandler (where we actually live), with nighttime lows in the low to mid 90s. In other words, heat that never lets up once - stifling, wearisome, endless heat. Even we have our limits! So a weekend in the pine country was eagerly awaited.

We left town on Friday afternoon after I got home from teaching, and hit the road at about 2:30 p.m., heading up the Beeline Highway (AZ-87) toward Payson. Traffic was moderately thick, I'm sure mostly fellow Phoenicians desperately attempting to escape the furnace. We had no trouble other than our Subaru running a bit hot on the uphill sections. After a stop in Payson to let the car cool, we journeyed eastward through Show Low and Springerville, and on to our campsite at the Alpine Divide campground about 20 miles south of Springerville along US-191. We arrived at about 8 p.m. in the dark, and drove through one stretch of rain. Here's the monsoon! It's all hanging out in the White Mountains and not much elsewhere. The rain was a welcome sight. We set up out tent and had a nice meal. The clouds cleared out and both Beth and I had an excellent night's sleep in the cool temperatures. We awoke early Saturday morning, disassembled camp and made a detour into Alpine to get some coffee and grub, before driving up to the Escudilla Mountain trailhead. It's relatively close to the main highway, just five miles off of US-191 along Forest Road 56 along excellent gravel roads, not far from Alpine. We arrived at about 8 a.m., relaxed a bit, checked out the area, got into battle dress and went in.

Escudilla Mountain is often considered the third highest mountain in Arizona, after Humphreys Peak and the nearby Baldy Peaks. Technically, Escudilla Mountain is part of the White Mountains, which include Baldy, but it is sufficiently far enough from other big peaks to be considered a true summit in its own right, not a subsidiary peak of a nearby larger neighbor. It even ranks number 46 on the Arizona Finest 50 (by prominence) list. The peak is well known for its large, active lookout tower built on its southern, slightly lower rise. This tower can be seen from way far below on the drive up! A pleasurably moderate trail leads to the tower, just 3 miles one way (3.3 says the literature) along wide trail and old roads, with stands of pine and aspen intermixed with beautiful, wide-open meadows. Net gain is just over 1,300 feet. The true summit is another half-mile walk north along a ridge to a broad tree-covered top, marked by a large 4-foot tall cairn. Including a couple of ups and downs, our gross gain is closer to 1,600 feet. Aside from a couple steep bits at the start, the grades are extremely gentle and non-tiring. With all of these positive aspects, it's an extremely popular hike and is even on the Register of National Trails (or something like that).

The trail enters into a thick aspen stand and switchbacks gently up the southern slopes of the mountain, with just one or two steep bits involving loose rock. Otherwise the grades were always very easy and consistent, and we made tremendous progress. Closer to the first ridge the trail opens up and crosses high above an open bowl, mostly treeless but covered in grasses and shrub. Views to the south and west were unobstructed, allowing us to see ranges easily 50-60 miles away. Soon, the trail tops out onto a ridge (the top of 'Profanity Ridge'). It re-enters into pine forest, and here we took a break. We'd covered maybe a mile and a half and gained about 900 feet in just under an hour. After our break we continued north on the trail as it descended about 100 feet to come out into a broad open meadow, probably the prettiest of them all (see photo at left). Clouds were starting to amass but nothing to be concerned about at this point. We continued to go at a good, reasonable pace and make great time. The trail climbs gently up the far side of the meadow, re-enters the trees, drops again about 60 feet, then starts a short and moderate uphill section to come out to the lower summit and lookout tower, set amid an open section where views down onto the valleys below were tremendous.

The tower stands about 45 feet tall and is active; we could hear what sounded like a radio coming from above, as well as seeing some laundry being hung to dry. We opted to continue on to the north summit first, then return and maybe relax at the tower. The trail stays to the right of the tower and goes for about another 150 feet before turning right and descending on what appears to be a very old, long unused road. However, we did not follow this road. At the bend we continued on a NNW bearing, entering into the forest cover at a downed tree on which someone had placed a rock. The north summit is about a half-mile to the north-northwest, at roughly a 340-degree bearing. Only a couple of times did I need to use my compass; the ridge narrows up a bit after a short hike and it's relatively easy to stay on the ridge crest. We found occasional cairns and occasional paths, but in many instances we simply made our way through the trees, zig-zagging as needed. We dropped about 80 feet then started up a long, very gentle grade to gain about 120 feet. Finally the trail leveled and after a very short bit of searching, we found the substantial cairn at (or very near) the summit. The summit is very broad and rounded, heavily forested and offers no views down below, but it is a very nice place nevertheless. We signed in the register and took a short food and drink break. The weather in our immediate area was pretty nice but we could hear distant booms of thunder, coming mainly from the west. We weren't too concerned (yet) since the mountain-spawned thunderheads tended to drift west, so we figured this cell was moving away from us. Nevertheless we started back toward the tower and once back there, where we had better views, we could see quite a cell hanging out over the mountains to our west - probably right over the Baldy Peaks. We stayed a while at the tower area to chat with another couple as well as a foursome that came up on their horses. We opted not to climb up the tower.

Our hike out went quickly. We took a short break about half-way but otherwise made good, steady time downhill. The weather was steadily getting more active, with bigger clouds and thunderheads forming above us but so far, not much direct activity except off to the south and west. Just the same we were glad to be heading downhill, off the high ridges and back down to the relative safety of the lower elevations. We egressed about 1 p.m., making for about a 4-hour hike at a very leisurely pace. After changing into drier clothes, we drove on down the hill and back into Show Low, where we stayed at a cheapy hotel and rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner at Licano's Mexican Food Steakhouse on the south end of town. The next day we drove on back home into the thermal muck of Phoenix. Another great weekend hike and another sweltering Phoenix afternoon.