Burger Peak / Forsythe Canyon July 2000

Burger Peak via Forsythe Canyon 2000?

I took off on a summer day with my friend from Kayenta, Warner Paige. Warner lived in my Wisteria Way house before we moved in, so I got to know him. He moved into a fabulous house at the top part of Kayenta, compared to my lowly house at the lowest and oldest part of Kayenta. But once you’re in the mountains and the trees, the size of ones house or pocketbook doesn’t mean a whole lot. Warner is a nice guy, about 10 years older than I. He had not stayed in as good of shape as he used to, so he was a tad out of shape. But he loved backpacking and getting out, so he agreed to go. And I told him of one of one of my favorite trails not too far away in Pine Valley Mountains.

I discovered this trail the 1st summer in Kayenta, looking at a map of the wilderness area. Chris and I and our families went up 2 or 3 miles that first day; and it became one of my favorite little getaways. If you really wanted to get a great workout, you could make to Burger Peak or beyond, on the top of the mountain. Burger and Signal Peak are the highest points of the mountain, 10,340 ft. But it was a tough climb of over 3500 feet.

So off we went, Warner, me and Cinnamon. The first 2 miles were uneventful, but once we started making the climb it became evident that Warner was having troubles with the climb and his pack due to the higher elevation. As we got over 7000 feet and really started our climb, he was getting dizzy and had an upset stomach. It looked like we were going to have to turn back. I asked him if I was to carry his pack, would he be able to make it. He said he needed to rest, and after about 20 minutes of sitting down he said he’d give it a try.

I don’t know what he had in his pack, but it was heavy. With my pack on my back and his pack facing against my chest, I ended up carrying both bags. I should have made Cinnamon carry something, but she was too busy running through the mountains chasing birds, squirrels, deer or whatever else she saw out there. All I saw was this pack in front of my face. But we made it past the usual creek crossings of the Forsythe Creek and a few minor swithchbacks. We cut our hike a little short that first day and pitched our tents along a dry section of the creek about 2 or 3 miles short of Burger Peak. But I realized that was the furthest Warner could make it, and he was content in not going any further. So we put up our tents and called it a day.

The next day, Warner said he was OK just hanging out at our campsite and told me to go ahead and hike to top of the mountain. So off Cinnamon and I went, up to Burger Peak. The couple of miles went steadily up, under aspens and Pines, until you finally made it to the trail junction of the Summit Trail going left and up to Burger; and to the right was the Blake-Gubler Trail that went down to the southeast corner of Pine Mts. I’ve gone down that trail since, but today I went up for the final 1 ½ mile push to Burger Peak. This is where you really have to suck for all the extra oxygen you can get. It’s steadily up and it’s at the 10,000 foot elevation as you climb. But when you get to Burger Peak, you sit on a big rock outcropping with a view to beat all views for about 240 degrees. To the east and southeast you can see out to the Arizona Strip all the way to Mt. Trumbell and Mt. Logan, which sit just north of the Grand Canyon in the Toroweap area. There have been real clear days when Dave Nally and I claim we can see Mt. Humphry all the way near Flagstaff, AZ. To the south and west you can see Red Mountain and Snow Canyon State Park, which sit just north of my home in Kayenta. To the west, you can see out towards Beaver Dam and Beaver Dam Mts and Bull Mts, the rugged area to the northwest of Kayenta. And there are clear days when I swear you can barely see the peaks of Mt. Charlston, which is 30 miles north of Las Vegas and some 100-120 miles from where I stood.

On most days this is where I turn back down the trail – quite tired. But today, since I started so far up the mountain, I continued along the Summit Trail. I skirted the area of Signal Peak, which is about 40 feet higher than Burger, but up there you are surrounded by Pine trees and so you really don’t have the greatest of views. So I didn’t bother going up there, but continued on the Summit trail to a little meadow called First Water. This is a real nice meadow with a tiny bit of water, which allowed Cinnamon a much needed drink. And this is where I turned back.

If I would have continued, the Summit Trail would have taken you about 2 more miles to the junction of Brown Trail and the Oak Grove Campground Trail. The latter is a rugged 3 mile hike that goes from 10,000 to 7,000 feet, quite steep and with incredible views all the way down. Brown Trail does the same but the other direction back to the side of the mountain in which I came. It’s 4 miles and also a difference of 3,000 feet. One time I hiked up from Brown to the junction of the Summit Trail, in late spring. There was lots of melting snow up there and cold water. My feet got soaked and quite cold, and I was afraid I could get some frostbite in my toes, but luckily found a nice sunny spot where I climbed a rock and took my wet boots and socks off and soaked in the sun. From this junction, it was about 8 more miles to Whipple Valley, 3 miles to Browse Point and it’s great view, then 3 more to Mill Flat.

From First Water, I just turned back and went back to Warner who was still reading in his tent. The great news, Warner agreed to cook me a nice dinner at home and invited Andrea. This was a reward for taking his backpack off of him and carrying it for him (I was his Sherpa for the day). And he is one heck of a cook, he made Andrea and I the greatest dinner you could ever have, better than the fanciest restaurant around.