coldfoot wrote:Do you mean the FS roads to access trailheads that are south of Sierra Vista? Carr Canyon road is drivable in a passenger car when dry. It could be spicy or impassable if there was snow or ice.
Belated thanks! Hopefully my camry can make it up.
Leaving at the end of the week. Currently planning on doing as many of the following peaks as possible: Taylor (NM), Pastora, Humphreys, Hualapai, Lemmon, Miller, Chiricahua, Graham, and possibly Guadalupe's in TX (Big Hatchet unfortunately is out since I don't have 4WD).
Humphreys obviously will be very much snowed over. Guadalupe's and Hualapai I'm not too worried about. Lemmon has a road to the top. Of the rest, has anyone know how they are faring in terms of snow coverage?
I know Taylor will probably be snowed over; plan on walking the FR and XC'ing it through the woods to the top. Called Cibola Ranger Station, they insisted that no one EVER goes up Taylor in winter. I'll call BS on that one). Will have snowshoes for that and Pastora in AZ: not much tree cover so I'm hoping it's not to difficult to walk/snowshoe along the dirt road to the top. From the Humphreys thread I know that Northern AZ has been hit pretty heavily by snow, but ironically it's the southern AZ peaks I'm more concerned about, since they're more densely wooded.
Called the Forest Service, 366 (Swift Trail) is open up to the gate at the Shannon Campground. Looking at satellite pictures the road seems to cut a pretty thick swathe through the woods so I'm hoping even if it's snowed over it'll be an easy snowshoe hike?
Chiricahua I'm leaning towards Crest/Rustler Park. DayHiker, did you go that route or Turkey Park when you went in winter? Just from Google Earthing it it looks like Crest could have better views? As for Miller, would Montezuma Pass be a better route this time of year since it's south facing?
Thanks, will appreciate any advice/help I can get.
Also, as an FYI for anyone heading that way, since one of my backup plans is a quick hike down into the Grand Canyon and back I called up the NPS. They said despite some current snow storms all the trails are melting pretty fast, and are only a little icy in the quarter mile near the top; crampons are still recommended though. The one exception is Bright Angel, which is currently a mess of snow, ice, and wet sloggy mud.