Monday, July 9, 2012

Arizona Summer Hikes

As an Arizona-based hiker, I often get asked where to hike in the state. Usually I'm asked by summer visitors. While summer is the prime hiking and backpacking season on most parts of the United States, it is NOT the best season in Arizona- unless you like hiking in a kiln. We're talking about desert temperatures of 115 F and 2% humidity.

Fall and spring- and even winter in the desert- are the best times to hike in Arizona, But since we can't control the seasons, what to do?

One caution- this post is not a hiking guide to specific trails. I've already written plenty of those- see my booklist. Instead, I'm going to point you to state regions and activities that make sense in the summer.

Actually, Arizona is not all desert, contrary to the Hollywood-TV image. Elevations ranges from 70 feet to 12,633 feet. And there is a lot of Arizona above 8,000 feet, where the highest summer temperatures rarely reach 90 F and high 70's are common. The four major high elevations of the state are the Kaibab Plateau, the San Francisco Peaks, the White Mountains, and the sky island mountain ranges in southeast Arizona.

Forming the highest portion of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Kaibab Plateau rises to just under 10,000 feet and is covered with a beautiful mixed forest of ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, blue spruce, and quaking aspen, broken by alpine meadows. The Kaibab National Forest contains about 75% of the plateau and features plenty of hiking trails, the most famous of which is the 800-mile Arizona Trail. The south end of the Plateau is in Grand Canyon National Park and has some especially scenic hiking trails.

The San Francisco Peaks has the highest summit in the state and rises about 1,000 feet above timberline. An extensive network of trails covers the mountain and its nearby satellite mountains- see my book Hiking Northern Arizona for plenty of suggestions.

Eastern Arizona's White Mountains is the states second highest mountain area, topping out at the 11420-foot summit of Mount Baldy Mountain creeks tumble down from the rounded summits, forming the headwaters of most of Arizona's rivers. Much of the area lies above 9,000 feet and never gets really hot. There are many hiking trails, including two trails to the summit of Mount Baldy. To the east of the White Mountains, the Blue Range Primitive Area straddles the Arizona-New Mexico state line and offers some superb wilderness backpacking at elevations from 5,000 to 9,000 feet.

The basin and range country of southern Arizona reaches its culmination in the isolated sky island mountain ranges in the Tucson area and to the south and east. Several ranges reach above 9,000 feet and offer a network of high elevation trails. The summit area of the Santa Catalina Mountains is reachable by paved road, as the the high ridge of the Pinaleno Mountains. Both ranges have plenty of trails and backcountry wilderness. The Chiricahua Mountains are a bit more remote, though a good dirt road leads to a high elevation trailhead at Rustler Park at the north edge of the wilderness.

For hikes in the White Mountains and southeast sky islands, have a look at my state-wide hiking guide, Hiking Arizona.

Another great summer activity is canyoneering, the sport of descending desert canyons. Because most canyon descents in Arizona involve a lot of wading and swimming, they are best done during the summer when the water is a tolerable temperature and the warm air temperatures make it fun to get wet. Although some canyons require technical means such as rappelling to traverse, others require just swimming and floating your pack. See Todd Martin's book,  Arizona Technical Canyoneering, for descriptions of some of Arizona's classic canyons.

Late summer, July through September, is the monsoon season in Arizona, when tropical moisture moves in from the Gulf of Mexico and sets off almost daily afternoon thunderstorms over the mountains. When the monsoon is active, plan your hikes for the morning hours and get off exposed ridges and summits  before the clouds start to build. Temperatures can drop 50 F during a thundershower, and heavy rain can cause canyons and drainages to flood. Avoid camping in dry streambeds and stay out of slot canyons during the monsoon.

With this post I'm introducing a new subject- where to hike in Arizona by season. Although my published books break out hikes by season, I'm going to offer a few specific suggestions here.