Mt Wrightson - 9/27/03

[sam_hikes]

Heard alot of talk about this one and figured I give it a shot.

1st See http://www.arizonahikers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=662&highlight=

And http://www.arizonahikers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=661

Got a late start and temps + humidity were already warm and I was a little mad after the extra 1.5+ mile detour which changed my mind about doing the entire Super Trail.

Instead I took the Old Baldy Trail to the Peak and saw less than 20 people all day which was nice.

In my view the 4,000+ climb in 4.5+ miles up Old Baldy is probably the best dayhiking trail for Grand Canyon training near Phx. Not too many dayhikes near town where you can find the steep elevation gain and altitude training plus be home for dinner. (peak is almost 9,500 feet)

I suggest skipping the Super Trail up Wrightson completely unless its winter time and you think the snow will be a problem. I didn't do my homework and found out the hard way that the 3.5 mile section between Josephine Saddle and Baldy Saddle is full sun, very arid, and one of the only places you can reach 8,000+ ft with little to no snow in the heart of winter.

The Super Trail on the upper section between Baldy & Josephines Saddles is also very overgrown and suspect it gets very little use until winter.

Needless to say I was pretty fried after 3.5 miles of full sun since it was very warm yesterday and I could of completed the section in 1.5 miles of shaded trail by going the way I came.

The rest of the trail was uneventful and I was spent but I did notice not a single person from almost the top to the trailhead--suspect that was because I got a late start and it would be dark soon.