Trip Report, Escudilla off-trail/Government Trail

[azbackpackr]

It's fun to climb Escudilla with someone who lives nearby. My friend lives next to and knows the mountain, and likes to climb up the scree. We started somewhere along the dirt road to Terry Flat. We had passed the regular Government Trail TH. There was an old road, barely visible that we followed for some time, which led us to the Government Trail. We then hiked up the Govt Tr. to another seemingly-random spot, where my friend turned off to the left and we bushwhacked for a few minutes. This put us at the very base of a big scree slope he called "The Phoenix" because from his house in Nutrioso it looks like a bird with outstretched wings. The idea of climbing these scree slopes is to see if you can do it without touching the rocks with your hands. Since we had several teens with us we made a game of it.

At the top of the scree we got to the Govt Tr again, taking it to the main trail, waiting out a thunderstorm for a few minutes, then on to the tower.

Incidentally, if you are a real peakbagger, you won't stop at the tower. It is not on the summit. The summit is another mile or so to the north. Having a map and compass is essential to finding it. There is a big summit cairn, a hiker's register, but no view--it's in thick woods in a flat area.

More photos in gallery. This one is looking down "the Phoenix" toward the west, after having climbed up it part of the way: