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| Hiking | 12.86 Miles |
2,610 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.86 Miles | 8 Hrs 28 Mns | | 1.61 mph |
| 2,610 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | This one has been in the works for a while. I haven't been out to the Tortilla TH since 2006 when I first bought the Xterra. Once I had hiked the trails there, I moved on to other adventures. Last year when we went to 4Peaks, I ended up having to replace all the shocks and struts mainly due to age and the wear and tear of what little 4x4 driving I've done over 16 years. Wally is always game for anywhere in the Supes and has a new 4x4. But he's no sucker. Andy was all in an volunteered to drive. His health issues pushed the hike back a bit, but then last week he did a different hike from the same TH and did some damage to his suspension. Jason came through as our hero with his brand new 4x4 and was even able to fit 6 of us into it. We did have to vacate his vehicle over the worst spots since that much weight was causing it to bottom out over quite a bit, but no one was complaining.
The actual hiking portion of the day was a slog. A mile and a half of the trail on either end by the trailhead or the junction on the east end are pretty good, probably because that receives the most traffic. The 3 miles of no man's land in between are the worst. There really isn't any crazy overgrowth, like the monster manzanita you can see after a fire, but the catclaw can be troublesome. In quite a few spots there were fully grown century plants or even trees right in the middle of the trail, so it's pretty obvious that zero maintenance is ever done on this trail. The loose rock in these sections is really what makes it bad, in conjunction with the constant route finding. It's slow going most of the way, and while it isn't really taxing in a cardiovascular sense, you need to have patience and sustained concentration.
Despite that element of the hike, it was actually a really fun day. The scenery along this trail is fantastic. Four Peaks is visible most of the time, as well as Superstition Mountain and various landmarks in the Supes. The geology and the lighting really enhances the views. The weather was fantastic as well. Clear skies made for good pictures, and it wasn't too cold or too hot. I didn't need my usual extra layer for AZ winter hiking, and I even too off my sweatshirt by the afternoon. And hiking with a larger group is always fun. Lots of one liner jokes made the day fun and it always helps to share your grief and get the verification that you're not the only one who's annoyed by the lack of an actual trail in several spots.
The first mile or so, I hardly checked my GPS since the trail wasn't too bad. Then once it started to fade out, I kept following where the group ahead of me were, which turned out in many cases to be not on trail. By the 3rd mile, I was routinely checking my GPS and several times redirecting the other 5 blind mice back on trail in the rare instances when I was able to pass them.
Towards the start of the hike, Wally and Scott took a detour and went to a mine in the wash south of the trail and quickly made their way back to our group. Wally said you can usually go into the mine, but the recent rains have led to water that currently has flooded it. the group mainly stayed together after that minus me since I hike so much slower. They kindly waited on me a few times and then straggled a bit as I mentioned due to the route finding issues. As we approached the junction at Tortilla Pass, I could tell when Andy and Jason were getting off trail because I was catching up to them.
We had lunch at Tortilla Pass and within 15 minutes I had a bee hovering around my lunch and Gatorades, as is usually the case. It's been frustrating dealing with this, but I'm at the point where I've accepted if I'm drinking sweet flavored drinks, the bees will come. Wally still had a chuckle.
I got to the trailhead about 4pm. Wally, Scott and Johnny had been waiting for an hour so Scott took a detour hike to the ranch to take photos. The drive out was just as interesting as the drive in. I lucked out with the front seat since Scott was sightseeing, and when we emptied out again over the rough spots, at one point I helped Jason and acted as a spotter. At one point he had 2 tires off the ground and I was scared that he might tip. I directed him to turn the wheel hard to the left which quickly stabilized everything once he gave a bit of gas. The stressful look on his face through this section reminded me of when I drove this in the Xterra and why I was looking for a volunteer for this go 'round. Thank you again Jason for driving us out and back of 3 miles of some of the roughest roads in AZ. We were talking about how the road seems to have got worse, but I mentioned that it may also be because we're all 10 years older now so things might seem scarier now that we're older. It's probably a bit of both.
And just for posterity's sake, here's the Youtube link to the heyday of the Stillermobile, back when it was all of 2 weeks old:
[ youtube video ] |
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