WIT STOP

of the month Climbing Sitgreaves Mountain WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF A TRAIL Yields Sky-high VIEWS and SOLITUDE

THE KEY TO REACHING the forested top of 9,389-foot Sitgreaves Mountain in the Kaibab National Forest without the benefit of a trail is to just keep climbing until you're surrounded by sky. But trying to find your car again in the thick oak-pine-aspen forest at the bottom of the hill will make you glad that you packed detailed topographical maps and a global positioning system (GPS) device. Sitgreaves Mountain rises about 17 miles west of Flagstaff just north of Interstate 40, about 10 miles up Forest Service Road 141, or as excuses to catch your breath and note where you are. On a good day, you can see for 100 miles in every direction and imagine yourself as Lt. Lorenzo Sitgreaves leading a topographic expedition back in 1851, when even a 9,000-foot mountain hadn't been sited firmly on the map. The peak has a discouraging 9,249-foot false summit when approached from the FR 141 side. This provokes a groan and a stagger as you gaze upward at the true peak, just 150 feet higher, but requiring a descent onto a saddle to reach it. Odds are, after toiling upward for roughly two hours, you'll be stopping every few hundred feet by the time you reach the true summit. The climb yields a reward of deepening solitude and lengthening vistas. The snowcovered 12,643-foot height of Humphreys Peak dominates the horizon to the east, while the tilted Colorado Plateau slants off into the misty distance to the west and south, punctuated by the distant Bill Williams Mountain. Sitgreaves itself is speckled with groves of aspens, whose smooth, slender trunks thrust whitely upward in the shady woods. At the top, the view makes you more light-headed than the elevation, although you have to peer through the trees to see it. Retracing your steps on the descent, you will discover that it's easy to fall into giant, bounding strides and lose track of which ridge you're bounding down. Fortunately, even if you miss your car for lack of a trail to backtrack, you will inevitably hit 141, which you can follow back to Forest Service Road 104. Over a hot steak and a cold drink somewhere in Flagstaff, you can recap the day's adventure, imbued with a whole new respect for good old Lt. Lorenzo Sitgreaves. After all, he had to draw the map before he could consult it, and even then he found himself located hundreds of miles from the nearest cold drink.

LOCATION: 17 miles west of Flagstaff just north of Interstate 40; 165 miles north of Phoenix. GETTING THERE: From Interstate 40, take the Parks exit and head north to the T intersection with Route 66. Turn left and travel west approximately a half-mile to Forest Service Road 141, just past Parks General Store. Turn right and travel approximately 10 miles north. The paved road turns to dirt after several miles. Just past a ranch bordered by a white fence, turn left onto Forest Service Road 76 and go about 1.5 miles past the cattle guard. Turn onto Forest Service Road 104, a faint, rutted dirt road that quickly ends at a fence with a gate. A cross-country ski trail starts there and ends in about a mile, after which you can climb a ridge to the peak. TRAVEL ADVISORY: There is no trail or even one route-marking cairn, so hikers should have good route-finding skills, a compass, a topographical map and a GPS device (and know how to use it). Always carry plenty of water. Try to record your route on a notepad or mark it on a map to follow when returning to your car. WARNING: Let someone know where you're going and when to expect your return. If you pick a good ridge route, you should make the roughly 4-mile round-trip in three or four hours. The hike is short but very steep and unmarked, so don't attempt it unless you are in good physical shape and experienced in off-trail hiking and orienteering. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Kaibab National Forest, Williams/Chalender Ranger District, (928) 635-5600. Spring Valley Road, which you pick up at the Parks exit on 1-40. Once you leave the car, you're largely on your own in deciding which of several ridgelines to follow, as there's no marked trail. You may have to cross a ridge or two before you get to the main ridge leading to the peak.

The demanding 2-mile climb up the steep, lightly visited, beautifully forested mountain proves an adventure, especially in the fall when the aspens flame gold and the elk trumpet in the predawn chill. As you huff and puff up the mountain, use the frequent stunning vistas