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Baldy Peak:
Distance: 7 miles one way, 14 miles RT.
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 9200 to 11,400 feet.
Special Attractions: Views of the White mtns.
About the Hoyer campground: It's in the Greer Lakes
Recreation Area among Ponderosa pines. The campground is
dedicated to a Forest Service employee who was killed in a
forest fire in 1967. Programs are held Saturday evenings,
Memorial Day thru Labor Day, in the ampitheatre. There is a
guided nature trail walks. Firewood, ice, and battery
charging are available. Some water sports will be available
across from the campground in the access to Greer Lakes.
Grilles and tables are available at each site. Fresh water,
flush toilets, and hot showers are available.
This forest community is called krummholz, from the
German word meaning 'crooked wood' as the spruce and
alpine-fir trees are stunted and twisted just below the
timberline.
The trail begins along the right bank of the West Fork of
the Little Colorado River and climbs through wonderful blue
spruce forest and alpine meadows where in summer aster,
fleabane, penstemon, cinquefoil, and iris bloom. There is
evidence of past glacial activity - glacial erratics, large
boulders deposited by ice, lie along the canyon floor.
West Fork contains brook, rainbow, and cutthroat trout
but the trail is only close to the stream near the
trailhead. About 3 miles from the trailhead, the trail
crosses a tributary to West Fork. The first 3 miles are
through open meadows along the creek. Sylvia Prast spotted
pack llamas tethered along the trail in 1997. At this point,
we'll enter the forest and shade.
In another 2 miles, it reaches the ridge leading to Baldy
Peak. Then a mile from the summit, the East Fork Trail joins
our route.
As you near the summit, you are treated to spectacular
vistas of the White Mtn. Region including recent
clear-cutting scars on the Apache Reservation and their new
downhill ski development.
Within .3 miles from the top, you reach the Apache
Reservation boundary - the Apaches have closed the last
section of trail to the top, so this boundary must serve as
the turnaround point for most hikers. You might be able to
secure a permit by writing to the Apaches. It's not worth
'sneaking' to the summit, however, since several hikers have
been caught and their packs confiscated. NOTE: We are
attempting to secure a permit for the club!!
Most of the trail is a gradual uphill, but didn't get
steep until the last mile or two. Hikers have many points
along the way at which to turn around. Big trees, lots of
wildflowers, open meadow, and a comfortable trail.
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