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| Snowshoeing | 11.08 Miles |
4,112 AEG |
| | Snowshoeing | 11.08 Miles | 7 Hrs 2 Mns | | 1.80 mph |
| 4,112 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | With Wednesday's snow, Belinda messaged me to see if I was interested in snowshoeing down south. Sign me up! 
I typically try to get out on the snow during or shortly after the storm, so heading out three days later left me a bit unsure of what we would find. After discussing options, we chose to skip the lazy drive up the Catalina Highway, in part because we expected it would be pretty busy with flatlander tourists looking to play. So we set off for the Ritas where we knew there would be some serious effort involved!
Though several days have passed, it's been cold and there was snow on the trail just past the wilderness boundary. Since Wednesday's snow, many feet have trodden here and microspikes were a necessity. There was a short stretch above Josephine Saddle where afternoon sun hit the trail and it was snowfree, but after that it just got deeper and fluffier. Still, enough use in the previous days allowed continued travel with traction and our floaters stayed attached to our packs.
We took a break at the saddle where a couple of hikers with no snow gear said they had not made the summit and something about somebody being stuck up there. Sounds fun!  Bee and I pressed on as the previous use path slowly petered out to a single set of prints. We made it through a couple of the lower switchbacks before suddenly there was virgin snow. There was no sign of trail, just deeply drifted snow at the natural angle of the slope, which is to say, steep.
Bee does crazy things underground that I couldn't possibly fathom accomplishing. But aboveground and oversnow things are more my cup o tea, so despite some apprehension (but no concern about leaving orphaned cats at home) I decided to push on.
One of the switchbacks was just a stupid plan. The snow here was windpacked and crusted. I was unable to properly punch deep enough into it and create stable steps to traverse the slope. I was lamenting that I didn't have my ice axe with me as a slide here would not end well. But I took the snow basket off one of my poles and telescoped it down to it's shortest length, giving me a makeshift option to jab into the slope should I need to arrest.
I made my way up a short couloir (I think I can call it that when there's snow in it  ) that I was able to dig some solid steps in before doing a little traverse and short rock climb up what is normally the manmade stone wall that makes one of the switchback turns in the trail above. From there I had one unenjoyable traverse of about 30 feet before reaching more comfortable terrain away from the cliff.
The top of the mountain had not been above freezing, even in the sun, until this afternoon, so all the trees and cliff faces were windloaded with thick layers of rime ice. It was beautiful. It was also an aerial assault of epic proportions. Luckily there are only a couple of spots where the trail goes directly under these bomb droppers and I was able to navigate those successfully.
Upon reaching the summit, I took a couple of photos but didn't stick around. With anxiety of the challenges still facing me on the descent, and knowing that Taco's mom was waiting patiently, I started the descent.
To my surprise, I encountered another insane person, a girl from Idaho, who had just followed my tracks through the switchbacks and headed for the summit. I warned her of the falling ice ahead and continued on. Once below the switchback section I swapped back to micros, caught up to Belinda, cracked the summit beer I had carried all day (no way I was having a bevvy with all that sketch to go through!) and we motored back down to the trailhead.
Great day in the Ritas. Great to get some trail miles with Mark and B again. |
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| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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