I’ll be in northern AZ, based out of Cottonwood, with 7 days to do some activations of new summits. I’d love company for any of them. I’m very flexible on the which and when. I will try to do 2 each day. Elevations of these should give some relief from the hottest temperatures. On my list of summits to do over those days:
W7A/CS-010 Government Hill
W7A/CS-012 Government Mt.
W7A/CS-015 RS Hill
W7A/CS-022 Little Squaw Mt.
W7A/CS-088 KA Hill
W7A/CS-049 Moore B.M.
W7A/CS-031 Sunset Summit
W7A/CS-017 Pine Mt.
W7A/CS-021 Jones Mt.
W7A/CS-055 Apache Maid
W7A/CS-089 Munds Mt.
May try the 4 summits closest to Cottonwood first: CS-017, 021, 055, 089. Then the 6 west of Flagstaff: CS-088, 049, 022,015, 010, 012.
I’ll be driving my camper van, but have a mountain bike when the approach roads get too knarly, and if they aren’t too distant.
nm5s@yahoo.com
The US Forest service has just announced that the Coconino National forest will be closed starting June 23rd.
The other Arizona Forests may follow this lead due to the extreme fire danger and the current number of fires.
73
Burke, KF7NP
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/kaibab/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD924930
Kaibab National Forest is also closing.
Dave, AE9Q
How ironic now for me to say “that’s raining on my parade”. What bad timing I’ve got!
I hope the Kaibab NF can be open at least.
Perhaps any suggestions?
I SUSPECT THEY WILL ALL BE CLOSED VERY SOON.
The Kaibab Forests will be closed on the 23rd at 8AM…so tomorrow is the last day they are open. So all CN, CS, AW, and AE peaks in those forests will be off limits.
So far the White Mtns in eastern Arizona are still open, but not likely for much longer.
Pete
WA7JTM
Now I’m hoping the Prescott and Tonto NFs remain open for my trip. I’ll be in for some longer drives
Tonto is closed as well (closes 6/25) - official order will be released today. Some areas may be open - “Some lakes, roads and recreation areas will remain accessible”. Four of the six national forests in Arizona have announced their closures. I suspect Prescott & Coronado will announce soon.
I need to double check, but a couple of options outside forest boundaries may be Glassford Hill (W7A/YV-045) in Prescott, and, I believe, a couple of the craters in the area of SP Crater (W7A/CS-067) are outside the Coconino forest boundaries. I’m sure we’ll find a few other options for you as we are ALL looking for something!
I would have loved to get a complete on Munds Mountain!
Sorry to hear that Tonto closed too.
The summits that were on my more recent list: AW-013 Spruce Mt., YV-081 Round B.M., YV-026 Squaw Pk., YV-050 Bald Hill, YV-001 Mt. Tritle. With the maps I’ve been marking up its a bit hard to determine which are located inside the various National Forest boundaries.
I’ve done Glassford recently. S P Crater looks possible, thanks for that idea. I see I haven’t tried any of those in that area. That would keep me busy!
If you’d like to join me for any of these, contact me at nm5s@yahoo.com or 505-469-2131. I just looked you up on QRZ and see you are in Phoenix, so quite a long haul for Flag summits.
Any Flagstaff area activators?
Prescott Natl Forest just announced it’s closure beginning 6/25. So, Spruce, Tritle, Squaw, Bald will be out. It looks to me that Round BM is okay.
I’m using Google Earth to determine if the summit is in a forest. I have downloaded the summit db & forest boundaries from usda - https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/gis/alp/AdministrativeForest.kmz
Why are these sites being closed in your area?
73 de Geoff vk3sq
Currently there are 24 active wildfires in Arizona and we are in a drought so everything is dry as a tinderbox. Campers and recreationers are accidentally starting some of the fires. Due to the extreme fire danger, the National Forests are closed to prevent further destruction caused by man-made fires.
Dont forget to check to see if a peak is on State Trust land…as they are also closed down…many YV and Desert peaks are on State Trust Lands.
Pete
WA7JTM
After looking at the State Trust map it looks like TONS of peaks all over the state will be affected…even in northern arizona…
Pete/JTM
Last summer in California, parks were closed because of fire danger, but also because park personnel were diverted to fire duty. Maybe not on the fire line, but other support operations.
wunder
SP Crater appears to be on State Trust land by the way…
Pete/JTM
Go to “gis.azland.gov” to see all of the AZ State Trust Land which is now off limits.
Open the map layers…any land that is shaded in any color other than white is state trust land. TONS of desert peaks including many around Phoenix are apparently now off limits. However it looks like most of the Mtn Preserve Peaks in Phx are OK to hike.
So be sure to check the maps so u are legal for SOTA and the closure orders.
Pete
WA7JTM
Just a slight clarification on the state trust land closure. Not that it helps MUCH, but lands inside incorporated municipalities are not closed … by the ASLD order, anyway. Of course, they could be closed by the county or the municipality. I don’t think that has happened YET.
All State Trust lands outside incorporated municipalities.
All State Parks outside incorporated municipalities – State Parks remain open with fire restrictions in place
So, for instance, Glassford Hill MIGHT be accessible, since it lies within the town of Prescott Valley. But, I’m not willing to go out on a limb and say ANYTHING is accessible at this point!
Thanks for that link Pete. Nice little tool! And, yes, you were correct on S P Crater (and other nearby summits). Both the summit and pretty much any approach is blocked by closed lands.
For, the moment, we still have the Coronado National Forest in southern Arizona…
Ugh…
–Chris K7TAB