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| Canyon-Avoidant Superstition Ridgeline, AZ | |
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| | Canyon-Avoidant Superstition Ridgeline, AZ | | | |
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Canyon-Avoidant Superstition Ridgeline, AZ
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| Hiking | 18.90 Miles |
5,412 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.90 Miles | 10 Hrs 11 Mns | | 2.04 mph |
| 5,412 ft AEG | 55 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The goal of this hike, as the title suggests, was to traverse the Superstition Ridgeline without having to pass through any of the three main canyons by which it's usually accessed. (I'm just not a fan of Siphon Draw, Carney, or Hieroglyphic Canyon!)
Aside from the grave error of rolling out of bed at 08:00 and consequently having to circle the Hiero TH parking lot for over half an hour before finding parking, the trip, which I've divided into eight segments below, went smoothly. I hope to repeat it with minor modifications in the near future.
The first segment of the route was the usual walk from the Hieroglyphic TH to Hieroglyphic Falls on the Hieroglyphic Trail; nothing unusual, though at 09:30, I began much later than I would have liked.
The second segment was approximately the "Balanced Rock/South Ascent" route from the Falls to Superstition Peak 5057. To keep things interesting, I took a couple detours from the standard/cairned route. These involved some fun but short segments of class 3. In particular, I deviated southwest of the standard route when attacking the first major cliff band, hiking directly toward one of the "horns" visible from Hiero Falls instead of bypassing it via the balanced rock. Subsequently, I deviated northwest of the usual bypass of the second major cliff band, ignoring the large white spraypainted arrow directing ascending hikers rightward. Finally, upon having made it through the third and last big cliff band on the standard route and coming level with the summit block of 5057, I continued straight toward the peak instead of keeping east to meet the spur from the Ridgeline Trail.
The third and fourth segments involved traveling southeast along the spur and Ridgeline Trails from 5057 to the Three Sisters and then northwest along the Ridgeline Trail from the Three Sisters to the shallow saddle between 5057 and topo marker 4790 respectively. I was able to access the latter via a class 3+/4 indentation in the wall to its south.
The fifth segment was just continuing northwest along the Ridgeline Trail, from topo marker 4790 to just past topo marker 4562; the sixth segment was deviating north from the Ridgeline Trail to approach Supserstition Peak 5024 from the east, reaching the peak just as the sun was getting low in the horizon.
The trip's seventh segment was effectively a downward "reverse flatiron", descending northeast to the falls from the prominence just above it. Toward its end, the sun had set and twilight had begun, making for some great views of the hills to the north and of the Four Peaks off in the distance, but there was still sufficient light to navigate without a flashlight.
The eighth and final segment of the hike was a flashlight-aided walk to Jacob's Crosscut TH from the Falls via the Massacre Falls trail. (At which point I continued down the NF road and SR 88 to the Lost Dutchman parking lot, where I was picked up by a family member.)
Overall, this was a really enjoyable trip, though more challenging than my previous hikes in the area. Temps were in the 10-20°C range for the most part, and I ended up drinking about 5 of the 7 liters of water I brought with me, so I'll probably have to wait for the summer heat to wear off before I can attempt a repeat. |
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