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 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, Thompson's geranium, penstemon, columbine, shrubby cinquefoil and monument flowers as tall as a person!
The Lewis flax here are almost purple.
Thompson's geranium
Bee look-alike
Unusual deep orange western wallflower
Arizona columbine
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