Kettle Crest South, Kettle Crest Trail, White Mountain via Kettle Crest Trail South, Barnaby Buttes & Sherman Peak Loop — Friday, Jun. 24, 2022

Not a lot of trip reports out here yet, so here goes!

Cliff notes up front:

• Snow - Just a couple patches north of White Mtn and a few locations near the summits.
• Bugs - Pretty bad whenever stopped during the day.  Went away when it cooled down. 
• Water - Plenty of water flowing at just about every spring and crossing marked on the map, which is every few miles.
• Trail Conditions - Around a dozen larger logs down between Baldy and White/Barnaby, but the rest is clear to bike. Just a couple muddy sections.  
• Traffic - VERY quiet! Just a couple other parties the whole time. No footprints, so I think I'm the first to complete the south segment this season. 
• Wildlife - Saw deer.  Saw bear and moose scat.
• Road - Great shape and clear.  Could do it in a Prius. 

Last Friday 6/24 through Sautrday 6/25 I did an overnight backpack trip from White Mountain trailhead to Sherman Pass with a gravel bike ride back to White Mountain along NFD-2020.

Day 1: Started at 9:02 pm and made it to the saddle on the SE ridge of White Mountain (1 mile, +1,100 ft) by dark.  Saw deer. One small tree down on the way up. Only one other truck at the parking lot. Water at the spring below the ridge. 

Day 2: Hiked from the saddle off trail summit of White mountain, trail to summit of Barnaby Butte, then to Sherman Pass - a total of about 13 miles and +3,200 ft I think. Between White Mountain and Bald Mountain I cleared around a dozen 2-5" trees and a handful of 5-10" ones.  I limbed all of the 9 or so 10"+ ones I couldn't remove so at least they're easy to step or climb over without getting scratched up or losing an eye. Most of those were between Barnaby and Bald. Beautiful, warm day, but the bugs were bad and actually chased me off of a couple of downed trees I was almost done sawing through! Loved the shade that the ~20 year post-burn pine forest provides, but it's a bit of a bland green corridor between White and Bald. Still nice sweeping views at each of the mountains. I didn't see another human until 2pm on Saturday.  A family of 4 biked by around Mount Sherman and I nearly jumped out of my skin as I was filling up on water when dad biked through.  Another friendly family hiked by after.

When I got to Sherman Pass, I got on the mountain bike I had stashed and pedaled back to the White Mtn trailhead on NFD-2020. 18ish miles and +2,400 ft. Wish I had brought a gravel bike, as the road was in great shape, and it would have been much more efficient. Again, just one friendly family on 4-wheelers and a dirt bike.

The White Mountain trailhead needs permits and/or a register.