June in the White Mountains
June 15-24,2026
West Baldy
We chose the right day for West Baldy. It was clear with a few puffy clouds all day, with a temperature in the low 80s and a cool breeze to compensate. This is a very popular trail, with good reason. Miss Bea Haven got the last spot her size in the parking lot.
Starting up the trail, these well-worn Gila hikers were amazed by the gentle grade and the cushy tread of packed earth and pine straw. The forest is dark and dense — mostly tightly packed Doug firs — with an impossible number of downed logs just off the trail. Someone is doing some earnest trail maintenance — with hand tools since this is a wilderness area!
The tea-colored West Fork Little Colorado River is never far from the trail.
Time and again, the forest yields to breathtaking alpine meadows. Summer wildflowers carpet the slopes: Lewis flax, yarrow, Richardson's geranium, penstemon, columbine, shrubby cinquefoil and monument flowers as tall as a person!
Higher up, the firs give way to perky Engelmann spruce, so dense that you have to weave your way between them.
Crossing the creek: two different techniques!
Buoyed by the spectacular views and the easy tread, we logged 8½ miles, turning back just below 10,000 feet.
A Lesser Lake Alpine Meadows