Arizona Backpackers Club (ABC)

Overview:
Join us for a super fun weekend at Knoll Lake. We will have some of the trip leaders in attendance. This is a great opportunity for you to come meet and talk to us. In case you've been hesitating on going out for one of our backpacking trips because you're not sure you have all the right gear, or you're not sure about these weirdos from the internet, option 2 below will be an easy way for you to get your feet wet without fully committing to being out in the middle of nowhere with us for days.

We will have a group cookout. I hope "Sonoran Hotdogs" sounds enticing (Stephanie and Kim will coordinate).

Also I may have been born right around this date a few years back.

Getting There:
This is a choose your own adventure type event. You have three ways of getting to the lake:

1. Meet me at the Hatchery TH (https://maps.app.goo.gl/Z6gArP5avDLpgsTs9) and hike the Babe Haught Trail 4 ish miles (1500 ish feet of AEG) to the lake and campsite. This is the most difficult option. Go for this if you want a good workout and are fairly confident in your backpacking game.
2. Meet where the trail intersects FR 300 (Rim Rd) about 0.8 miles East of FR 752 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/L1vFp8tNTc3otjmJ6). Hike in 1.8 ish miles (-200 feet AEG). This is the easiest hiking option. Great way to try out gear and still be close enough to the car to bail any time in case you're not having a good time.
3. Drive to the campgrounds on the other side of the lake (https://maps.app.goo.gl/vGSd4rMkTtApBiAV6) and boat/kayak/paddle to our campsite. This option doesn't involve hiking, but you still have to be able to transport all your camping gear to the campsite. Also it will be fun for people to borrow your craft and go try that out for a spell.

GPS:
Option 1 and 2:
https://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=815

Logistics:
Oh boy, if this pops off like i think it will there will be a ton of people signing up and dropping from the trip. Please post which option you're taking.

Stephanie and Kim volunteered to manage for "Sonoran Hotdog" cookout, so let's be nice to them. If you sign up and commit to bringing a key ingredient, please try to give us enough notice to secure a replacement if you decide to drop off.

We'll have at least one trip leader lead the hike from FR 300/752 junction.

I'm hoping another leader will volunteer to lead the amphibious option.

Carpools:
I live in Cottonwood. Most of you will be coming from Phoenix metro. Please reach out to others and arrange carpools on your own based on your chosen access option.

Disclaimer:
Being alive is dangerous. It ends in death 100% of the time. You have significant impact on how quickly that death comes. I will show you where to go and will work to get you there, but at the end of the day you're all adults and are responsible for your own actions.

We usually post this trip in June but this year due to a meager snow season I'm posting it early. This trip will be close to a full moon and since the sky is so big on this peak, its going to be a bright night 🌝😎 The view up on the peak is big, you can see the north rim of the Grand Canyon and for many miles in most directions. This is my all-time favorite Flagstaff area backpack and gets us spending the night above 10000'! It's going to be chilly up here overnight so be prepared for it 🥶

This is a hard trip but its not as bad as it sounds. The hike is on a well built and maintained trail with a grade that isn't very steep. The Kendrick Peak trail #22 climbs over 2400' in a little over 4.5 miles to the summit which has a fire lookout (10423'). Not far below the fire lookout and along the way to it is a cabin located in a meadow where we'll probably camp 🏕️ Although this wilderness area is heavily scared from fire, its still a nice place to camp as this trail goes through the surviving forested part of the mountain.

What makes this trip hard is that you'll have to carry your water up the mountain 😟 There is a spring kind of near the cabin but the times that I've seen it, its been a muddy bog. The plan is to meet in the Flagstaff area at 1PM on Saturday. I plan on camping near Flagstaff on Friday night, let me know if you'd like to join. After meeting we'll then drive to the trail head (TH) on forest roads (FR). These roads are usually in good shape and I've been able to drive them in a small passenger car 🚗 with no problems. Since we'll have to haul our water, we'll have a late start so we can hydrate prior to the trip. This will lower the amount of water that you'll need to carry.

Once at the cabin, we'll drop our packs and then go visit the fire lookout. In years past when the lookout was staffed, a food or alcoholic beverage gift could get you invited up into the lookout. Its been a number of years since its been staffed so we'll have to settle for the view from the adjacent helicopter pad which is an unforgetable place to camp when the conditions are right. To me this is the best place 🏆 in Arizona to watch the sunset and look at the night stars (understatement).

We'll head back to camp afterwards and relax for the rest of the evening. It'll be chilly, unless there are high winds, we'll have a fire 🔥 In the morning we'll pack up and hike down the mountain no later than 9AM.

I'm not a professional guide but have spent hundreds of nights out on backpacking trips. I like to lead trips not for financial gain but instead to bring backpackers together and create some lasting friendships. Most of the places that I venture to are remote with help being many hours and sometimes days away. When you attend my trips you must realize that you are responsible for yourself and bad things can happen. I intend on using good judgement when leading but will not be with you at all times. In an event that something bad happens, I will attempt to get help and/or give help as soon as its safely possible. I expect the same in return, we all watch out for each another.