Snowbowl to Schultz Tank via Humphreys and Weatherford Trails

On Saturday, 13 August 2011, four hikers from Cottonwood and Sedona, along with a visitor from Japan, stowed raingear in our packs and headed out to hike from the Snowbowl to Schultz Tank. We were hoping for the best even though the weather report gave a 50% chance of thundershowers. We had previously hiked Humphreys Trail from Snowbowl to the Peak and Weatherford Trail from Schultz Tank to Doyle Saddle and were anxious to do the entire route from Snowbowl to Schultz Tank.

Kwi Johnson, Gordon Bice and I left the Safeway parking lot in Cottonwood at 0500 and drove to Flagstaff where we met George Everman and Akemi Tomioka (our very welcome visitor from Japan) at Denny’s. Traveling in two vehicles we continued on into Flagstaff, took US-180 W and followed it about 3.2 miles before turning right on Schultz Pass Road. We followed Schultz Pass Road (being careful to turn left about 0.3 miles from US 180) approximately 5.2 miles to the trailhead parking lot at Schultz Tank. The turnoff to the parking lot is on the right (south) side of the road about 0.2 miles past the sign for Schultz Pass. A toilet is provided at the parking lot. Parking one vehicle there, we all returned to US 180 in the other vehicle and followed it for another 3.8 miles before turning right onto Snowbowl Road. After another 6.2 miles on this road we arrived at the parking lot for Humphreys Trail at the Snowbowl.

The trail leads across a meadow and enters the Coconino National Forest about half a mile ahead. Soon after entering the forest the trail begins to climb sharply. Just about a mile from the trailhead, we entered the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. We stopped there for a short rest before continuing on our way. I had decided that we would stop for a rest at one-mile intervals during the steep (2540 foot ascent), winding, 3.8-mile climb from Snowbowl to Humphreys-Agassiz Saddleⁱ (otherwise known, at least to Humphreys Hikers, as the “first gap”). We spotted several great looking mushrooms along the trail (two pictures by George below).

Mushroom – photo by George

Mushrooms – photo by George

Refreshed by the occasional break we were soon approaching the treeline. The sign says the elevation here is 11400 feet and prohibits off trail hiking beyond this point.

From front to rear: Ellis Price, Gordon Bice, Kwi Johnson and George 

Everman – photograph by Akemi Tomioka

When we reached Humphreys-Agassiz Saddle, having already climbed 2540 feet from Snowbowl, we still had 300 feet to go feet to go before to reach the high point of our hike. It was very windy in the saddle and being damp with perspiration we were quite chilly. We had, anyway, traveled a bit less than a mile since our last break, so we pushed on, stopping for our fourth break on the southwest slope of the ridge between Agassiz and Humphreys. From there we had great views of the ski area on the slope of Agassiz, Bill Williams Mountain to the southwest and Sitgreaves Mountain to the west. We were just a few feet below the high point of our hike where we would again be exposed to the wind as we crossed a high ridge on the north slope of Agassiz at an elevation of 12000 feet. From there we would begin the long, almost 4000 foot, descent to Schultz Tank, hiking down the eastern slope of Agassiz and across the north slope of Fremont, passing through Doyle Saddle and continuing down the winding mountain trail to our destination.

After a short time to rest and enjoy the view from our sheltered spot on the slope of Agassiz, we again braved the wind and climbed the few remaining feet to cross over the ridge and begin our descent. From here, except for a short easy climb to cross through Doyle Saddle, the way would all be downhill along an old roadway used by motorists in the early part of the last century to access the peaks.

We crossed the ridge quickly to get out of the cold wind on top and started down the eastern slope. Along the way we had great views down into the Inner Basin. And we saw some gorgeous flowers growing in the fractures of rock ledges alongside the trail, which George lagged behind to photograph for his collection. (left).  George identified the flowers for me as yellow coralbells or Heuchera.

Just after we started down the slope along Agassiz, Akemi climbed up on a rock formation for an even better view down into the inner basin. In the below photograph she is shown scrambling back down to the trail.

Akemi Tomioka descending from a rock formation alongside 

Weatherford Trail at the head of the Inner Basin

Someone asked how the Inner Basin was formed. The quick answer is, of course, by volcanic action. However, the US Forest Service provides a more informative, but still very brief, narrative in the Coconino National Forest trail guide for the Inner Basin Trail #29. The following excerpt from that guide is provided for general information:

The San Francisco Peaks are actually the remains of an extinct volcano. Millions of years ago this great mountain was shattered by an explosion similar to the one that devastated Washington's Mt. Saint Helens in 1980. Inside the now quiet caldera a lush alpine environment has blurred evidence of that cataclysmic event.

The trail into the heart of the ancient volcano begins in beautiful Lockett Meadow. From this island of emerald ringed with aspens and high peaks it follows a primitive road into the mountain's now quiet Inner Basin and then connects to the Weatherford trail. Here, extensive stands of aspens cover the steep slopes of the old caldera coloring them solid gold in early fall. In spring and summer, wildflowers add a sprinkling of blue, red and yellow. From the basin's rims, avalanche tracks streak down the talus slopes and remnants of old lava flows bear witness to the mountain's cataclysmic heritage.¹

We lingered along the trail for the views and I distracted Gordon from looking down into the basin long enough to snap the following shot.

Gordon Bice with the Inner Basin in the background

We continued down the slope of Agassiz to Fremont Saddle.ⁱⁱ Labeled as Doyle Saddle on some maps, it is located 1.6 miles along Weatherford Trail from Humphreys-Agassiz Saddle, just about equidistant between Agassiz and Fremont peaks. We continued on past the saddle to cross along the north slope of Fremont on our way to Doyle Saddleⁱⁱⁱ (labeled as Fremont Saddle on some maps). About 0.9 miles further along the trail (some 2.5 miles from Humphreys-Agassiz Saddle) we passed the junction with the Inner Basin Trail. The trail along here passes through a heavily forested area and the hiking is pleasant, mostly level with just a slight upslope as one approaches Doyle Saddle. It was close to 1330 when we arrived at Doyle Saddle and we had been on the trail since 0805. It was certainly time to stop for lunch and this was an excellent spot, about midway between Fremont and Doyle peaks, still with a view of the Inner Basin from one side of the saddle and a view on down the mountain toward Flagstaff from the other.

After a quick lunch, Gordon and I took a nap while the others just rested and admired the view. Then we picked up our packs and headed on down the mountain toward Schultz Tank; we still had something like 6.5 miles (trail signs indicate 6 miles, but I am not convinced) to go.

Lunch at Doyle Saddle – Left to right: Gordon Bice, Ellis Price (sleeping), 

Akemi Tomioka, George Everman and Kwi Johnson 

– by George Everman with time delay

Shortly after leaving the saddle we stopped to look at the wreck of an old yellow car that had tumbled down the mountain from the road. The wreck, still bright yellow, shows little evidence of rust or damage from the elements. However, it must have been there for some time as the road appears to have been closed to motorized vehicles for several years.

Old wrecked vehicle just below Doyle Saddle – by George Everman

The flowers alongside the trail in this area were spectacular. Some of these are shown in the following photograph taken by George.

Flowers alongside the trail below Doyle Saddle – by George Everman

My favorite spot along this trail is Aspen Spring, located around four miles below the saddle, and I was determined to make that our next rest stop. We were heading downhill now and the “one-mile between rest stops” rule was long forgotten, so we wound our way down the heavily forested mountain slope at a good pace until we reached the lush, aspen-bordered meadow signaling our arrival at Aspen Spring.

We took a good long break at the edge of the aspen forest with a great view across the open grassy meadow spread out below the trail. We then had George take a group photograph using the aspens for a background before continuing our hike.

Left to right: George Everman, Akemi Tomioka, Ellis Price, Kwi Johnson 

and Gordon Bice – by George Everman with time delay

Somewhat reluctantly leaving our peaceful rest area, we gathered ourselves up and began the last two miles of our hike. About 0.3 miles from Aspen Spring we left the Kachina Peaks Wilderness and then after another 0.2 miles passed Dead Elk Fork (so called because we once found a dead elk there) where Kachina Trail leads off to the west, ending after five miles at the Snowbowl where we started. Our trail, however, continued on down the mountain to end at Schultz Tank, about 1.6 miles away and we pressed on.

We arrived at Schultz Tank at about 1725, having hiked around 13.9 miles, climbed 2735 feet and descended 3985 feet since leaving Snowbowl at 0805.

Below are shown a couple of miscellaneous photographs taken along the way.

The author – near 12000 feet elevation on Weatherford Trail 

overlooking the Inner Basin – by Akemi with my camera

Akemi Tomioka - near 12000 feet elevation on Weatherford Trail 

overlooking the Inner Basin

The one-way distance for this hike was 14.6 miles. The highest elevation was 12023 feet, the total ascent was 3209 feet and the total descent was 4023 feet.

Our GPS track is shown on the included map (below).

1 From: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/peaks/inner-basin-tr.shtml

i This saddle apparently does not have an official name. Hikers on Humphreys Trail just refer to it as the “first gap” because it is the first gap on the way to Humphreys Peak.

ii Fremont Saddle, according to a USFS map published in 2000, is located between Fremont Peak and Agassiz Peak. Be aware, however, that on the USGS overlay map for Google Earth, Fremont Saddle is labeled as Doyle Saddle. Likewise, Doyle Saddle, located on the USFS map between Fremont Peak and Doyle Peak, is labeled as Fremont Saddle on the USGS map.

iii Ibid