Philomena Spring in the S.F. Peaks

[joebartels]

david_allen_3 came across this 2010 article and is interested if anyone has a route
Looks interesting for a trip

At 11,500 feet, Philomena Spring is the highest year-round water source on the Peaks. The wooden tanks and pipeline down Whitehorse Canyon were built in the 1930s by workers for the Espil sheepherding family, which had grazing rights to most of the Peaks.
But given the steepness of the slope at the upper spring, it's amazing the...


Read more: http://azdailysun.com/lifestyles/recrea ... z1R4VlPbuv

[Jim]

I thought I put that info in this thread last night, but I saw this morning that I put it into the hiking thread. I didn't include lat-long coordinates in the report. Using the aerial image, it is actually a little higher than the contour on the USGS map, maybe 11,700'. This mapping error comes as no surprise, Fremont and Doyle Saddles are switched on the USGS map, and 11,600' appears twice as a contour interval.

[Paintninaz]

Found Philomena with great ease, mostly aided by the metal pipe leading nearly to it. The spring is mapped in the wrong area. It is actually one basin south at:
35.345931, -111.683774

Satellite imagery isn't working so I had to use aerial photos. They're not as good, so this is about as accurate as I could get it to be.

@Paintninaz
I did Humphrey on the 23rd via the trail and saw several adult men, a boy, and at least one dog coming up from a basin which at the time didn't make a lot of sense, but now I know they had gone to Philomena. I didn't give them much thought until yesterday. Interestingly, if they followed the maps and that news paper article, they were headed for what they probably thought was Humphrey, but ended up being the last false summit.

Glad you found it! Was it still running?

I don't know if the group you saw on the 23rd was coming from the spring or not, the 2 gals I know that went there never mentioned seeing anyone else along the trail, but they went up from the Hart Prairie side (and went one drainage too far and had to backtrack to find the pipe) so it may just be they weren't on the same path as everyone else might be.

[Jim]

Yes, and it was all males, so not the same people.

[Jim]

Anyone thinking of visiting the spring? I'm curious about the flow, since the rain has come.

[Jim]

Bump. Anyone considering a visit? I bet flow is great right now, though cold. Should you travel above the spring, be careful of the tundra veg.