Cathedral Rock - Hutch's Pool Traverse

[joebartels]

If anybody is interested I plan to hit Jeff MacE's Cathedral Rock - Hutch's Pool Traverse on Sunday Feb 15th in an effort to train for a bigger upcoming hike. If anybody wants a ride I'll be leaving central Phoenix at 3am. I'd be happy to transport up to 3 others as I get free gas through work. I'll be moving at a decent clip of 2.5mph hoping to knock this out in under ten hours.

[Vaporman]

Hmm, I was thinking of hiking that soon as well but I was looking at this weekend until a storm was forecasted...

[fricknaley]

i'm on call, or i'd do this in a minute

[Jeffshadows]

Dagh!! I might be out of town that morning, if not I'd love to go!!

[Davis2001r6]

Good luck! It took me 12 hours just to do Cathedral, but that including some bad trail finding along the way.

[Jeffshadows]

The only section of this that is tricky at all is the minor spur trail over to Cathedral. If you turn in the wrong spot, you'll end up wandering around in that tree-lined basin for a long time before you figure out the way over to the formation. You have to continue on to Cathedral Rock Saddle, which is heralded by a leveling of the Cathedral Rock Trail in a small clearing and then an almost immediate descent into the junction with the West Fork trail. When you reach the Saddle and its clearing, turn left here and head along the well-worn route to Cathedral Rock. The last time I went through there were cairns in place. Basically, just follow the ridge as it climbs its way into Cathedral. After leaving Cathedral it's all down hill. I think I still have the GPS file from the trip, so I'll post it up if I can dig it out in time...

[rushthezeppelin]

Geez is this really 24 miles? Man I might have to pass on this one.....most I've ever done was about 16.....is there just not much elevation gain on this route? Hmmm well your right that you only need to be going 2 1/2 miles an hour. I guess if it's on level ground mostly I could pull it off....I know I can last for that long especially with only a daypack load.

[JoelHazelton]

RTZ- The accumulated elevation gian for this route is only 7,964 feet, so it's relatively flat ;)

[Jeffshadows]

5,253' of total gain.

[dysfunction]

There's quite a bit of gain on this route..

[rally_toad]

Well if you can do this one then you'll probably have no problem on Mt. Lemmon, I'm considering joining you, but we'll see.

[Jeffshadows]

Who's doing what to Mt. Lemmon, now?

[joebartels]

I picked this because according to TrailDEX it's the third most AEG posted on site at 7,964 ft. Tag in 24 miles and I was hooked!

The majority hike 1.9 to 2.1 mph. If you're hiking alone it would seem tougher to bump it up. When your hiking with somebody else's pace it's unlikely you'll even notice the extra 0.5 mph. Will definitely need to be munching on snacks throughout this hike to keep the energy level sustained.

Hopefully Jeff can find the GPS Route otherwise I'll see what I can piece together and we can find out the AEG. It sounds like a great hike seeing Bridal Veil Falls, Cathedral Rock, and Hutch’s Pool!

[Jeffshadows]

The amazing thing about this is how exciting it is the entire way through. First you're excited to get to the falls, then Cathedral, then Hutch's, then you can't wait for the great view of Sabino that's coming up...it really keeps you interested.

[Vaporman]

I'm definitely interested... This rain storm is mixing up my plans a bit. Less chance of rain down in Tucson than PHX area, but I don't want to be hitting a 24 mile loop on a potentially miserable day when next weekend looks clear so far. So maybe I'll just grab a rain jacked and hit the Supes this weekend and hike in Tucson with ya next weekend. I'll probably drive down Saturday morning for a hike and meet you the next day at the Sabino Parking lot.

[Vaporman]

Looking at you recent triplogs, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep up with you. If I don't make the sidetrips to Cathedral or Hutch's Pool and take the tramway down, it's only 21 miles and I've hiked that loop before. Looks like better weather next weekend, only a slight chance of rain... If I'm slowing you down, just leave me on the climb up and I'll take a nap at Cathedral saddle while you bag the 'peak'. Maybe I'll have to triple bag Squaw Peak midweek to train up for this.

[joebartels]

Cool, I should be at the trailhead 5:15-5:30am. I really only have wind on the ascents and the most I've ever done is about 19 miles

MacE please post the route

[Jeffshadows]

I'm digging as we speak...

[Jeffshadows]

I found it...Now I know why I didn't post it the first time around. I need to edit out the 20-some-odd miles of me driving home from Sabino with the GPS still on and tracking then I'll post it up. ;)

[Vaporman]

Umm, 40% chance of rain next Friday thru Sunday...