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| Hiking | 12.40 Miles |
4,210 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.40 Miles | | | |
| 4,210 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I am not sure where to post this trip report, but the "Old Baldy - Super Trail Loop" seems most appropriate. Please let me know if I should post it somewhere else. Anyway, last weekend, I went for a 2-day backpacking trip in the Santa Rita mountains. My dog and I arrived at the Madera Canyon trailhead around 7:30 AM on a Friday. There were only 3 or 4 cars at the trailhead, a big change from the normal crowd it sees on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
From the parking lot, we started hiking up the Super Trail. We hiked in the shade of the canyon almost the entire time and were at Sprung Spring before we knew it. Sprung Spring had a good flow of water and was overflowing its little tank. Additionally, the creek South of the Super Trail had intermittent flows and pools of water along its first couple of miles. Always a good sign in southern AZ. After passing Sprung Spring, we came to Josephine Saddle where I talked to a couple of other hikers at the saddle as well as one guy who was already coming back down from Mt Wrightson. He was fast! From Josephine Saddle, I hopped on the Old Baldy Trail. This section of trail was much steeper than the Super Trail, but the great views of the Santa Rita crest and Mt Wrightson kept me going.
Maybe half a mile after leaving Josephine Saddle, I encountered my first small patch of snow. And after taking a short snack break, I reached Bellows Spring just before 11 AM. Bellows Spring had a strong flow from the pipe as well as from the little waterfall just above it. I do not know how much of the waterfall was snowmelt and how much was spring water. Since this would be my last reliable water source until halfway through my 2nd day, I had to tank up with a total of about 8L of water - enough to get me and my dog through the rest of day 1, that night, and then most (if not all) of day 2. While I had a nice light load before, this water pushed my pack weight to somwehere around 35 lbs, and all before the steepest part of the hike!
So I left Bellows Spring, watered up and feeling heavy, and slowly made my way to Baldy Saddle. The climb actually ended up proving to not be that bad, or so I thought at the time. I had lunch and changed socks at Baldy Saddle, all while watching dozens of birds dive bomb the Western side of the crest. It was very windy on my climb up to the saddle and even windier where I had lunch. Everything had to be secured so that it didn't blow away. I walked around Baldy Saddle for a little bit, checking out potential camp sites, but I decided to hike along the Crest Trail 2 miles to Florida Saddle and camp there for the night. I had always wanted to do the Crest Trail in the Santa Ritas so I was excited to get going. On my way to Florida Saddle, I jumped off the trail a couple times to see a view or check out a camp area next to the trail.
The first 1.5 miles of the Crest Trail north of Baldy Saddle were actually really nice. I hiked in and out of burn areas, but I remember it as being mostly forested and easily hiked. I saw a small group of hikers about 0.25 miles from Baldy Saddle, and they'd be the last people I'd see all day. After about 1.5 miles, I reached a large saddle which was extremely windy - so windy I pretty much just hiked past it as fast as I could. Once I got past that saddle, the trail changed briefly for a little bit. Here, there were many logs blocking the trail and it was overgrown in places. It made for some challenging steps for me, but easy crawls underneath for my dog. As I worked my way down to Florida Saddle, I realized I was entering another burn area. And when I reached Florida Saddle, the wind was still blowing very hard. I looked around for a little bit, but I was unable to find a good place to pitch my tent - one that was protected from the wind and safe from any falling dead trees. So despite my legs being quite tired and it being about 2 PM, I decided I would have to hike back along the Crest Trail to one of the sites near Baldy Saddle.
My hike back along the Crest Trail was fairly uneventful. I had not realized how much I had descended in elevation from Baldy Saddle, so the climbs were pretty difficult for me. I was glad to have my dog pulling me along, as she seemed completely unfazed by our day's journey thus far. Whenever I slowed down on a hill, she'd look back and seemingly ask me why I was stopping. By the time I reached Baldy Saddle (again), I realized I had hiked over 9 miles and climbed something like 5000 feet, with the last few miles being at high elevation and with lots of water in my pack. Upon reaching the Baldy Saddle area, which was also very windy, I searched for the most protected camp site that would be safe from falling trees. I eventually selected a flat little spot without any nearby trees but with several bushes near it. These bushes would not prove to block the wind as much as I had hoped.
Setting up my tent was quite the challenge, but after a few minutes my tent was all set up and I proceeded to place big rocks over all my stakes. I was glad I had brought a low-profile teepee-style tent that used my trekking pole to support it; I pitched it tight to the ground, and while it would flap around a little bit, it wasn't going anywhere. After a cold dinner (the wind made it difficult to cook and I wasn't about to risk having a camp fire), I watched a fantastic sunset and then went to bed. I had wondered why I felt a little cold when watching the sunset, and I just attributed it to the wind. But then I saw my little thermometer said it was already down to 42 degrees.
I had hoped that the wind would die down as night came, but it only seemed to blow stronger. I would be sleeping just fine and then suddenly awakened by a huge, loud gust. I will forever remember how loud the wind was that night. It would eventually get down to about 28 degrees, but I managed to stay warm inside the tent. The loud and constant wind finally caused me to get up at about 5 AM. When I finally emerged from my tent to pack up camp, the cold temperature and high winds caused my hands to quickly chill. I had forgotten my shell mittens and really wished for them then! I ate a quick breakfast, filtered my last bit of remaining water, and then broke camp. I hit the trail with a significantly lighter pack, refreshed legs, and colds hands - all things which allowed me to quickly reach the top of Mt Wrightson, despite a couple of little snowy and icy parts. The views from Mt Wrightson are always stunning and this morning was no different. It was nice to have the top to myself, but the wind eventually drove me off after a few minutes.
Once I reached Baldy Saddle (for the 3rd time!), I decided to take the Super Trail back down. This proved to be a pretty good decision over all. This section of the Super Trail (between Josephine Saddle and Baldy Saddle) is noticeably less traveled than the lower section. I had to travel over many downed trees in the first mile on my way down, and then through some overgrown sections a couple miles later, and then I had to climb over more downed trees in the overgrown section. That said, the Super Trail was very pretty, particularly the last 1.5 miles before reaching Josephine Saddle. I would just recommend wearing long pants. You can certainly count on seeing less people than you would on the Old Baldy Trail.
Once I reached Josephine Saddle around 10 AM, I encountered lots of people. Some were turning around, others were continuing on to Mt Wrightson. I was glad to see so many people enjoying their time hiking on a Saturday. From there, I took the Old Baldy Trail back to my car. This section of trail seemed to go down forever, and by the end of it, my legs were feeling pretty tired. All in all, it was a pretty good trip, albeit very windy, and I'm happy to have had a nice little tour of the Santa Ritas. |
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