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| Hiking | 12.80 Miles |
4,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.80 Miles | | | |
| 4,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Easy to follow, tough to do -- that's the Ventana Canyon Trail to The Window and Window Peak. The trail starts along a metal fence that shields condo and apartment dwellers from the rabble and soon enters the canyon, making 23 crossings of drainages as it makes its rocky way to the top of the canyon. I believe one triplog mentioned that the trail ascends "relentlessly" . . . . or was that "inexorably" or "mercilessly" or "insufferably"? Well, no matter, it gets you there
Maggie, Jimmie and I hiked the trail to The Window (6 miles and 4000 feet gain) in 4 hours, then another half hour to the summit of Window Peak (another third of a mile and 400 feet more elevation). Lots of playtime at both places. Then 3-1/4 hours down.
We were lucky to hit a calm day. No strong winds rocked us as we sat at the edge of the precipice at the base of The Window, this big open arch in a multicolored rock wall. The short trail from The Window to Window Peak is easy to follow. After reaching the broad saddle east of the spires that constitute the summit, we left the trail and climbed due west, following the rough climbers' track up to the short hands-on rock scramble.
Up this mellow scramble, we found the tree that is supposed to help with the ascent, but we couldn't decide whether the tree helped or just got in the way. We relaxed on this fine rocky summit with endless views, including across to neighboring spires that are only feet away and barely lower than the pinnacle we were standing on. |
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