Beth and I planned a weekend camping and relaxing up in the Pinaleno Range near Safford. We’ve been up here a couple of times but it had been five years since our last visit. On that visit we drove to the end of the Swift Trail Parkway to Riggs Lake, commenting we’d like to come back some day to camp up here. We didn’t know it would be five years! The primary intention was to camp and relax, and get out of the desert heat for a couple days. I lined up a couple of easy hikes to do while up there: Ladybug and Webb Peaks. Neither are big hikes but together they made for a nice workout and fun hiking.

We didn’t leave the Phoenix area until almost 6 p.m. on Friday, so it was well after dark when we arrived into the Safford Area. We finally rolled into the Arcadia campground at about 10 p.m., and grabbed one of the remaining spots. At 6,500 feet, we had very nice, moderate temperatures for the overnight. The next morning we got moving around 9 a.m. From here to the range crest was about 5 miles and 2,000 feet of gain, so it wasn’t far to this point. There’s a nice big pull-out here, with incredible views down into the valleys southwest of the range. With the skies clear and humidities in the single per-cents, we had crystal-clear views to the farthest horizons.

Ladybug Peak is the southeasternmost summit bump of the Pinalenos, and from here the slopes go down I pretty fast to the deserts below. The hike up Ladybug follows a trail for about one-half a mile amid ponderosa forest to the rocky top. True to its name there were ladybugs up here, but not in any great numbers. The views south were outstanding. I noted a register in a strong box, and signed in. Judging by the quantity of trinkets in this box, I surmised this is a popular geocache.

The return hike went quickly and I was only gone for maybe 40 minutes. Beth was relaxing back at the truck, in the very nice weather. I piled in and we drove up the rest of the Swift Trail Parkway to Riggs Lake, looking for a spot to camp, but given it was a weekend we weren’t surprised to find it filled to capacity. No problem, we backtracked to the Soldier Creek campground about 4 miles back, and grabbed a spot near some big rocks. It was about noon and we had the afternoon to relax. Some Japanese women came by, picking wild edibles, and showed us one such green, something they call “endochin”. It was very tasty! I was happy to know that if I ever got stuck in the wild, I could find this edible plant and survive very well, as long as my truck with drinks and clothes was nearby.

The problem was the campground … the crowd camped there. Boatloads of kids, and all the spots on top of one another. After some debating, we broke camp and drove up the main road about a half-mile to a very bad road marked as an “undeveloped” camping area. I drove us in and we had a great camp all to ourselves, with amazing views of Webb Peak just across the way! And it was very quiet and peaceful. I had Webb planned as one of my hikes but frankly, enjoyed the lazing around with my wife too much to do it today. We didn’t do much the rest of the day but hang out together. The night was very cool, not surprising as we were about 9,300 feet elevation. We both slept well.

The following morning we broke camp and drove out, turning off onto the spur road (FR-88) that leads up Webb Peak. The road is gated but hiking is welcome. I started up around 8 a.m. up the road, following it for 1.5 miles to the top, a gain of 620 feet. At this elevation there were lots of aspen and spruce, and some flowing streams, too. The top features an old lookout tower that still stands, and an abandoned residence. The views are blocked by trees, but I climbed up two of the tower’s ladders, gaining me about 30 feet, so that I could get some shots of nearby Hawk and Graham Peaks. I have to admit feeling a bit afraid—the metalwork all seems solid but the wood planks at the landings seemed a little loose. I downclimbed top the ground and made the hike out, a round-trip of 70 minutes. Together, the Webb and Ladybug hikes covered about 4 miles round trip and 1,000 feet of gain. A nice workout.

From here we made the long drive down the mountain, my truck never leaving second gear until we were on the desert flats below. In Safford we got gas and drinks and made the 180-mile drive back home. The trip went exactly as planned, and we had a lot of fun.