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| Hiking | 5.69 Miles |
2,678 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.69 Miles | 5 Hrs 31 Mns | | 1.13 mph |
| 2,678 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Today I had five items on my to-do list:
1. Drop off a 12 gallon public-use water cache near the start of AZT Passage #17
2. Reach the summit of Ajax Benchmark (I failed the previous attempt in July)
3. Reach the summit of Peak 4202 (I failed the previous attempt in July)
4. Follow the ridge along Peak 3937 (This as a great viewpoint to shoot photos and a video of Nick as he completes his last leg of the Arizona Trail from aross the canyon)
5. Provide Nick with a ride back to his vehicle in Kelvin.
#1 was easy, well it was after the rough drive to get that far.
#2 & #3 may both have been failed attempts again if it weren't for fearless JJ. Although I did not follow his first route up either peak, thanks to his recons I managed to bag both. Ajax was definitely a scary one, even following my 'easier' route.
After finding the worst way up the western approach of Peak 4202, JJ sought a better route because he did NOT want to descend the same way. Meanwhile I'm working on my PB&J lunch down below. Just when I was beginning to wonder if he fell off the other side he pops up right beside me, having descended by a route that was almost a walk-in-the-park from the east. Great work JJ! And now I benefited from his due diligence.
#4 was pretty easy although nothing near as easy as it was for JJ. By now this 62 year-old body ached from head to toe trying to keep up with the 45 year-old hiking machine so I dragged up the rear. But once on the ridge the view across to the AZT was awesome. And wait... what do you see? Why, it's Nick cruising along the slope across the canyon. So I zoomed in 50x for a few photos and video as he met up with a mountain biker heading in the opposite direction.
Nick said later the biker told Nick he had stared the pumpkin out of him. And these even after JJ yelled across the canyon telling Nick to watch out for the biker.
#5 was easy enough for me and JJ but I'm not sure Nick felt that way... in fact he felt, well, like  So JJ dug under the front seat, found the roll of TP inside a large ziploc bag that I always have along for emergencies like this and passed it forward to Nick. As much as I tried to make the ride a bit more palatable, it just wasn't happening. So I began to think...
Would it be better if I drove slower to lessen the agony?
Would it be better to go faster and shorten the duration of the agony?
But I never figured out which was better and just took it as it came.
In the end, I hear you Nick... having had terrible bouts of car-sickness when I was young I would never trivialize the effects it can have.
So overall I had a very satisfying day and what makes it even better a day later... I have not one ache or pain at all! I guess that means I've got to keep working my pumpkin off to fend off old-age. Yeah, RIGHT!!! Don't I wish!
Oh yeah... last thing... this hike of Ajax, Peak 4202 and Peak 3937 could very aptly be named the Awesome Ajax Trifecta Loop due to the three peaks as well as the awesome scenery that is not to be missed.
I'll post the Peak 4202 and Peak 3937 photos separately but be sure to check out the 3937 photos to see Nick as he nears the end of the passage. |
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