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| Hiking | 10.25 Miles |
3,313 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.25 Miles | 8 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.21 mph |
| 3,313 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | A Cinco de Mayo trip! The day after the warm hike to Cope Butte in the Grand Canyon, we came to the true training I needed for my soon-upcoming Denali trip. Today, it was Ben and Tanya joining me for the whole trip, while Richard and Alana turned back due to icy trail conditions around 10,500'.
The weather wasn't ideal, but that probably is better Denali-simulation than a bluebird day, right? The lower part of the trail is pretty clear and spring is underway, but snow hits the tread in earnest around 10,000' and stays consistently snow-packed (except on the open south-facing parts) all the way to treeline. It's icy, and a little slippery, but with some care and caution, the three of us made it ok. None of us had spikes or yak-tracks: I had my crampons in the pack, but never felt the need to use them. Many did turn back on this day, though, because of discomfort with the trail.
Just before the saddle, the trail fades under snow drifts for good, but it's obvious where to go. We went up good snow slopes to the Agassiz-Humphreys saddle. And while the snow cleared from the route above treeline, the weather did not. A snow squall blew in, and a nice horizontal blizzard greeted us. It lasted about 10 minutes, and made things pretty cold for a time, but we had plenty of layers. We set a good steady pace, the weather cleared, and we warmed up well with nice (for here) conditions all the way to the top. Tanya pulled ahead of me and my heavy pack, along with Ben and his lack of sleep. Progress was good though, and the summit was ours just after noon. Huddled in the windbreak on top, we soaked in the view and recharged. Temps were maybe just over freezing, but with the wind blowing, it was definitely not warm.
The descent of this trail always seems to drag, but since the day never really got warm, post-holing was thankfully not an issue. We were quite happy to see the ski run at the bottom again soaked in that filtered afternoon light, though. What a weekend and quite the variety. |
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