| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 19.80 Miles |
7,700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.80 Miles | | | |
| 7,700 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | The background
Dave and I had talked about this hike/climb on and off for about a year and a half.
We previously had it slated for 2011 but rain or something cancelled it. About a week
or so ago, I threw out March 4th as a date and things fell into place. The date was set
unless rain or snow would postpone it.
Thankfully, I was celebrating with my son on his 22nd birthday Saturday. We had a party with friends and family. I decided to break away about 10-1030pm and tried to get some sleep. The laughter subsided and I was asleep sometime after 11pmish. The alarm went off at 1245am, that is the signal for Bruno that its time for his daily morning jog. We went for a shorter than usual run (maybe a mile or less) and I grabbed my stuff and arrived at the rendezvous point 6 minutes early.
History
Lots of history is written about Cheops in Egypt and the GC. I won't bore you with all the details if you even made it to this point. This is a cool tidbit though. Members of the first US Survey party ran out of local names and fell back on Greek,Roman, and mythological names like Wotans Throne, Zoroaster Temple, Krishra Temple,Holy Grail Peak ,etc.. ....paraphrased from Arizona Place names by Will C. Barnes (who won the CMH for something at Fort Apache).
Cheops is part of the etc.
The hike
The hike down S.K was super entertaining. Dave was hilarious. The first hike
I did with Dave was an ML and I think he said hi to me but that was about it.
Since then I've hiked with Dave on occasion and I have always had a great time.
I've been really impressed with the way he expresses himself at Joe's expense.
He is also very knowledgeable about the migratory habits of a certain bird that inhabits
Utah flats. He also explained (in layman terms so I could understand) why the Colorado
River was so green and calculated the flow within .00001 percent.
From BA campground, Dave tore off up the hill and I contemplated surrender. As we
got a little higher I decided on the 10 ft wall while the others bypassed. For about 3 minutes, I was energized. At this point, Dave told Joe he no longer needed long pants. 
J and J cached some of their stuff and we were off. Nobody was appointed break boss and
that totally sucked.
Piano alley...Utah flats...Isis/Cheops saddle seemed like a blur except for the "that route looks doable".
The climb
Exposure is a mental thing. I've had a few ML sections where I felt the exposure was worst....funny nobody followed me on those routes. The climbing itself like others have said was easy with bomber holds. Totally juggy. My second trip down, I dislodged some huge rocks on two separate occasions... Once jumping onto a small ledge to safety. My scariest part of the day would come later in Piano alley. I went a different route then the others and one part was ridiculous...bordering on stupid...but ohhh so fun.
The final push
Dave and I waited for J and J at BA camp. I soaked my feet in the creek and ate a snack.
What I didn't do was drink water or fill up nearly enough for the climb out. The rest of the hike was horrible and I felt like about 3 cents. Dave faked being sick and slow so he
could help me out and for that he moved into the top 5 on my HAZ list. And most of all thank you for saying NO when I offered to carry the rope the last few miles.
J and J are always fun to hike with. Both are very skilled and humble. The food service talk on the ride home got a little boring though  .
I feel great today...after my first hike of the year over 10 miles. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
