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| Hiking | 2.63 Miles |
957 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.63 Miles | 2 Hrs 26 Mns | | 1.68 mph |
| 957 ft AEG | 52 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | First time completing this lightly-used route, 19th Ave to Shaw Butte and back. In February I went up as far as "Baby Butte," the peak W of Shaw, the one with the single tower. I'd forgotten how really steep and rocky the W side of Baby Butte is. My GPS measured it as a gain of 345' in .22 mi. That comes out to 1,568.2 feet per mile, one of the steepest trail segments that I've recorded in North Mountain Park. A lot of huffing and puffing on my part to reach the single tower. I welcomed the drop from there down into the saddle on the E, and then the jaunt on up to Shaw's summit was nothing. Total moving time was just over 51 minutes, slower than slow.
Had a late lunch on top of Shaw where two lovers stood almost motionless for the whole time I was up there, arms wrapping around each other's waist and looking out to the S. A young woman, apparently American Indian, came up quickly and rushed out to a rock ledge where she spread her arms upward in some sort of spiritual rite then immediately headed back down the trail to the N. I remain amazed how mountain summits strike so deeply into the human soul.
Began the return trip about 5:45. Knew I was flirting with darkness and potential disaster. I reached the tower on Baby Butte at sunset, and started down on the W. Would've likely fallen a few times if not for my trekking pole. Not only was it rocky and stumbling-steep coming down. The trail, if you can call it that, is faint, and in the semi-darkness I kept losing and finding it. And to think you can more easily find the trail going down than the one coming up. It was dark when I started down the steep last hill but somehow made it safely back to the FOP parking lot on 19th at 6:30. Expecting company? Forget it. Saw no one coming up or down the W side of Baby Butte and only two until hitting the saddle on the W side of Shaw. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
