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| Hiking | 7.50 Miles |
3,100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.50 Miles | | | |
| 3,100 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Most folks do Bighorn in combination with Table, but when Wendy and I spent the night on Table a couple of years ago, we didn't have the water, the energy, or the time to get over there. I've done Pusch Peak a bunch of times and the Cleaver a couple of years ago as well. Bighorn still loomed, unchecked off the list. Until today.
It was so cold this morning that I waited to start hiking until 10am. Even still, there was ice on some of the plants in the canyon. It warmed up once the sun hit and turned out to be a perfect day. I was surprised to see fall color on the cottonwoods, seeing as how it's almost the new year. Decided to take the southeast ridge slab route that Wendy and I took to Table. I prefer ridgelines over gullies and I remembered the footing not being too bad.
Found my way across the canyon and started up the slabs. I wish the whole way was like this. Grippy granite gneiss with minimal vegetation- dreamy. It was not to last, though and soon the slabs stopped and now it was a matter of finding the way through the prickly pear labyrinth. I chose poorly at one point and ended up getting spines in my side. There was a point where I thought it would be better to contour into this one drainage rather than climb over the ridgetop. It was bad-loose and really brushy. I tried to shimmy between some prickly pear and got stabbed in the side. It took me a while to get the bulk of the tiny glochids out of my side, shirt, and hands. I decided to get back on top of the ridge, but had to do an awkward move through a hackberry bush that left me all scratched up.
Once back on top of the grassy ridge, travel was easier, but filled with shindaggers. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't escape getting stabbed. At one point I was so intent on looking at the ground that my hand came up with some momentum right into a buckhorn cholla, almost punching it. That hurt! Some of the spines went into the joints of my fingers and were particularly painful.
I finally reached the top of the ridge with spectacular views of Table Mountain's cliffs and the Catalinas. I followed the ridge until it became a jumble of boulders and made my way to the summit. What incredible perspective on Pima Canyon, especially the sheer cliffs of the Cleaver below and views north all the way to 4 Peaks. I didn't have a lot of time on the summit due to my late start, so I snapped some pictures, ate a snack and headed back down the bouldery ridge. I got to visit a couple of alligator junipers before the shindagger-surfing resumed.
The hike down was pretty fast and I managed to be on a game trail most of the time back down to the welcome slabs and the end of the brush. There was ice on the leaves at the creek crossing and I emerged onto the Pima Canyon Trail. I was surprised to see blooming Globe Mallow and Brittlebush- the wildflowers are so confused this year.
Hope all the HAZers have a Happy New Year filled with exciting adventures! |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
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