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| Hiking | 11.19 Miles |
3,091 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.19 Miles | 5 Hrs 46 Mns | | 2.35 mph |
| 3,091 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Ditto to my opening from last Saturday’s triplog: it’s a [damn] good thing I decided to stay local this weekend… my plan was to return to the beautiful Sierritas and finish off what was supposed to be a sweet trifecta from the previous weekend; yet once again, [despite logging double digit mileage], things ended in just a single summit bag. And once again, while I’d normally be very disappointed in myself, [given that my reason for forgoing the 2nd summit was due to sheer lethargy / exhaustion], I’m still too tired to give a crap.
Like my previous three trips to the Sierritas, I launched from the same TH that is the take off point for Keystone Peak. I stayed on the dirt road leading to Keystone for just under 1.4 miles, to the area where there’s an intersection of several dirt roads. Despite feeling slow as molasses, I clocked in at a respectable 26+ minutes for the first 1.36 miles to this intersection. At this point, I hopped on the jeep road that leads through Ox Frame Canyon for just over 1.75 miles before beginning my bushwhack up to Red Boy Peak.
Red Boy was not as forgiving as the other peaks I’ve bagged in the Sierritas but nothing too terrible, [at least not if armed with long pants, shin-guards, and hiking poles]. Under *normal circumstances [*i.e. if my equilibrium was not still pumpkined up], I’d describe it as: “a little bit of Southern Arizona ‘feces’ vegetation but nothing too terrible”… however, with my equilibrium at another standstill, what should have been no more than a moderate bushwhack really pushed me to my upper limit and proved to be on the challenging side [even with my hiking poles and shin-guards]. With a somewhat steep grade coupled with a touch of loose footing and not a huge margin for error between the shin-daggers, ocotillo, prickly pear, and other offenders, it took tons of focus to not end up head over heels on the ascent [up terrain that I would’ve charged up with ease, sans the residual equilibrium pumpkin].
From the direction I approached, there is one false summit followed by a short loss of elevation gain before the final ascent. Once making the false summit, the terrain gets much easier and I was able to pick up the pace and enjoy the journey a bit more. The views from both the false summit and the peak are sensational! Of the 5 named summits I’ve bagged in the Sierritas, Keystone, Horse Pasture, and Red Boy are my top three in terms of best views. On Red Boy, there is a summit cairn and parts of registers: 1 broken glass jar with the rusted lid still on, and a second glass jar with a pencil inside that was lying on it’s side next to the summit cairn with the lid right next to it. I could not find any log/paper anywhere [and was not expecting to but did my due diligence and checked anyways]. I did not have any paper or writing implements in my hiking pack but did my best to improve upon the register by writing the peak name and the elevation on a piece of medical tape that I had in my pack, which I placed on the outside of the intact jar. Next, I took another piece of medical tape, signed and dated it, [and folded it in half so it wouldn’t stick to everything] and then put that in the jar.
After enjoying the amazing views from Red Boy, I contemplated heading up the even more prominent UN 6137 [and then following the rest of that ridgeline up to Keystone Peak], but I was wicked tired and for once not in the mood for more uphill. Thus, I proceeded as planned and headed West off of Red Boy. The descent off the W/SW end of the peak is barely more than 1/2 mile before it reconnects with a jeep road, but it took me almost an hour... even before the viral infection pumpkined with my equilibrium, negotiating loose footing has never been my forte. Thus, [on top of the equilibrium issues], having to deal with a somewhat steep grade, loose footing, and not a huge margin for error between the shin-daggers, ocotillo, prickly pear, etc., made the descent a very slow go. Despite some slips, I managed to recover well without taking any terrible falls. However, as I was nearing the bottom, I heard some loud noise from a small drainage I was heading towards and looked up to see a javelina scramble out and up the opposite bank where it stopped and turned around to look at me. I paused for a minute or two to see if there were any others. While I wanted to avoid potential javelina encounters, the drainage I was heading towards was a lot less brushy and steep as the slope I was on. After spotting a second javelina, [this one right in the drainage], I opted for what I thought was the lesser of two evils: loose footing and catclaw…
…not more than a few steps later, the terrain put me on my pumpkin. The “fall” was more of a small spill; definitely not a full out, ‘head over heels’ type of fall; [the terrain was so steep that my pumpkin was all of about 1 foot from the ground when I started to fall]. While I didn’t even feel the small impact from the fall, the instinct of throwing my arms forward to break myself hurt like none other, thanks to catching a finger in a spike of catclaw, which instantly imbedded itself about 1/3 of an inch. Let’s just say that was worlds more painful than any cactus encounters. After removing the thorn from my finger, I put the tweezers back in my pack, fetched my 380 [just in case] and headed straight for the drainage. Luckily I did not hear/see anymore javelina(s), and a minute or two later I was finally cruising along the jeep road.
In addition to sheer exhaustion, I was now kind of beat up and in no mood to go after a second peak. Thus, I followed the jeep road around the base of Red Boy Peak, where I soon reconnected with where I departed from the road earlier to ascend the peak. After a few rest stops on the way back, [a very rare thing for me], I noticed that my mileage was only 8.54 by the time I reached the intersection of several jeep roads, including the one leading to Keystone. Knowing that reaching my weekly mileage would NOT happen if I headed back to my vehicle with the intent of continuing down McGee Ranch road, I hung a left and headed up the jeep road a short ways in the direction of Keystone Peak before turning back.
Interestingly enough on the drive back, I’d gone a few miles down McGee Ranch road and thought, ‘I guess no interesting wildlife encounters on the drive this time…’ when I suddenly found myself slamming the brakes to avoid running over a tarantula that was crossing the road. I stopped my Forester, got out, and took some pics while I waited for the spider to get safely across before continuing on my way. The previous weekend on the drive to the Sierritas I saw a Gila Monster crossing the road [my 2nd Gila Monster sighting in the four years I’ve lived in AZ]; and the time before that I saw a red-racer on the drive in and a diamondback on the drive out. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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