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| Hiking | 13.42 Miles |
4,324 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.42 Miles | 9 Hrs 57 Mns | | 1.52 mph |
| 4,324 ft AEG | 1 Hour 7 Mns Break | 18 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | I met up with Linda at first light to bag as much of the Sutherland Ridge as we could in a day. This was at best just thrown together about 36 hours earlier, so there were a number of potential goals, with few real expectations.
We started out on the Cargodera road under beautiful weather conditions, discussing what might lie ahead and what we would like to accomplish. The road section runs about 465 FPM over 4.25 mi, so some energy had already been used by the time it was behind us, and we faced the first real challenge of climbing to the ridgeline.
As many times as I’ve done this portion of the Sutherland, it had always been - with a few exceptions – as clear and easy to follow as most any of the trails that the CNF has failed to pay any attention to over the past 3 decades, only really steep. Today would be quite different in that there is little trail left post-Bighorn Fire. For those familiar with navigating the upper ridgeline, the same route finding challenges now exist shortly after leaving the road. No matter, as we had an “absolutely no pressure” clause in today’s contract, we just slogged ahead as best we cared to.
After what seem like forever, we finally crested out to some awesome views. This spot is among the finest viewing in all the Catalinas and to me meant mission accomplished. With time remaining on clock, we pushed forward accomplishing yet another goal of being snowed upon. Linda tried to ruin this for me by pointing out that it was actually graupel (which sounds to me like some type of arthritis or something), but it was close enough to snow for my liking.
Eventually, the timer ran out, so we took a little lunch break and turned back. Linda had pretty good recall, getting us back down the trail-less hillside in good time, but the last stretch over that rocky road was slow going. Now down in the valley, the wind picked up for the final couple of hours, making for a less than pleasant finale. If nothing else could be considered a success, I got some amazing pics which I ran through the “Devolve” filter on my new Android phone, so be sure to check those out.
In total, I loved this hike; the weather averaged out to “great”, as was the company and I got to peek over the Sutherland Ridge once again.
All good things, those. Thanks Linda for driving down and burning the day! |
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Cargodera Canyon |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | Good snow melt right now. Several water crossings up to the end of the road |
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Cargodera Spring |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | flowing audibly strong from 50 yards away. | | _____________________
| Don't Poke At The Badger!!! |
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