| | -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
-
-
-
-
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 10.30 Miles |
3,880 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.30 Miles | 7 Hrs 38 Mns | | 1.87 mph |
| 3,880 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 7 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Took the day to romp around the Ritas. Didn't have a particular itinerary in mind, but I did want to see if I could summit any peaks by going up the hard way. I did arrive a bit later than I would have liked, about 9:45. The parking lot was crazy. I had to loop around and park about as far away from the Super trailhead as possible. While trolling for a space, some yahoo turned out of a parking area and started heading toward me, going the wrong way on a one-way street. Rather than back up he kept motioning for me to turn off and let him pass. It was very irritating. Ultimately I chose to give up my righteous indignation and just park.
Started off on Super to Pipeline, then up to Madera Spring. The canyon was flowing with lots of water, and everything was green and lush. It's such a gorgeous stretch. I knew Madera would be my last water source for a while, so I filled up my dirty bag. I didn't want to take the time to filter until lunchtime, though I did take a few minutes to enjoy the columbines.
On the way up I passed a sizable group headed down from Roger's Rock. One of the hikers told me, with eyes of wonder, that the claret cups were doing well there. When I got there, I understood why he was so impressed, as the claret cups were indeed doing well!
From Roger's Rock I proceeded up the ridge toward Four Springs trail and Shovel Saddle. The ridge trail is starting to get a bit overgrown, but not too bad and still easy to follow.
Four Springs was clear all the way. I made it to Shovel Saddle a little past noon, set up my hammock and had lunch while my water filter did its magic.
After about an hour I packed up and decided to scramble up to Pine Saddle. I'd advocate for that trail to be replaced by an official one that takes advantage of a feature called "switchbacks". The views are great and the route offers some great options for exploring an otherwise underused area of the Santa Ritas. And there are lupines in season.
I'm definitely a fan of underused areas, but I have to admit there are downsides to them. On the Crest headed toward Mt Ian, I found a fair amount of migrant trash on the trail, including a burned spot on the trail at the base of a tree opposite a discarded heavy blanket. To keep warm, someone had built a fire in a risky place for triggering a forest fire. I can't help but think that there would be less migrant traffic on trails more frequently used, though I know they'd just shift to a different route. (And to blow up my own theory, I remind myself of all the migrant trash I've collected around Josephine Saddle.)
Around 3pm I was at the top of Mt Ian. I signed the log and enjoyed the view. I didn't have time to summit Wrightson so I figured Ian was a pretty good alternative.
I headed down Old Baldy and made pretty good time. I passed a few backpackers headed to do an overnight on Baldy Saddle; sounded like fun! It was nice to see Bellows accessible by the trail again.
Upon my return I was curious just how steep some sections of my route were on the way up. The stretch between Roger's Rock and Four Springs worked out to average 18%, and the stretch from Shovel Saddle to Pine Saddle was 26%. The overall average from start to the summit of Mt Ian was about 13%. |
|
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Not many but where there are blooms they sure are pretty. Columbines at Madera Spring, claret cup cactus on Roger’s Rock and Mt Ian, coral bells on Four Springs, lupines below Pine Saddle and on upper Old Baldy, Indian paintbrush on lower Baldy, a few others here and there. |
|
  |
Bellows Spring |
Gallon per minute |
Gallon per minute |
| |  Steady stream from the new pipe into the new catchment, which has a shallow pool. Nice to see it functional again! |
|
Madera Spring |
Gallon + per minute |
Gallon + per minute |
| | | Flowing beautifully almost the length of the canyon. So many happy trees, Bob Ross would be proud. | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
