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| Hiking | 17.48 Miles |
5,940 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.48 Miles | 9 Hrs 34 Mns | | 2.35 mph |
| 5,940 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 7 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Chumley and I left the valley at 4:45AM headed for Madera Canyon, and we were on the trail before 7AM with comfortable temps in the low 70s and some stray clouds hanging around Wrightson. There were more cars in the lot than expected, but the trails were surprisingly quiet. Chums had drawn up a loop with a variety of peaks we could decide to add on as we went, and we started clockwise with a short stint on Super Trail before starting the steep climb up Pipeline/Kent Spring Trails.
Lots of shade on the way up, and Sylvester Spring had a full spring box and a steady flow of water from the pipes. We passed a group of three near Kent Spring that warned us about unmaintained trails and some bushwhacking on our route, but we never found that to be the case. The wind picked up as we approached Shovel Saddle, and we went out to an overlook nearby before continuing on to McCleary, the first peak of the day and a new one for both of us. There was a good social trail with minimal brush all the way, and with some minor scrambling, we were on top. The register had quite a few HAZ names (including some repeat entries), and we added ours before taking off.
Next up was Peak 8853 (88 Mac), and we decided to take a direct shot up the steep north side rather than circling around on Four Springs/Crest Trails and approaching from the flatter E/SE side. The flat summit was covered in dry grass, and we found another register up there (with entries back to 1993), took a short break, then followed the ridge down to Crest and walked ~10 yards on the trail before leaving it to start the climb up to the unnamed peak that Chumley had seen referred to as Pine somewhere. Surprise--another register, which referred to it as "Ridgepoint 9040".
We scrambled down the SE side and continued along the ridgeline over to Rice Peak (another register there), then stayed mostly off-trail along the ridge over to Ian, where we took another break. The register I'd placed in 2023 was next to a redundant second register, which we consolidated into one jar before heading down to Crest Trail. The stretch of peaks along that ridgeline was a lot of fun, with nice views of Wrightson and Hopkins and some continued clouds near the summit.
We saw one group leaving Baldy Saddle on our way down, and we passed another taking a break there, then had solitude all the way up to and on top of Wrightson, making that my first visit to the peak that wasn't crowded with people. There were some strong wind gusts on the way up, but it was calmer and very comfortable on top. We took a longer break at the summit and talked about our options to finish off the loop, ultimately deciding on the longer return with a hike up to Josephine Peak.
We enjoyed the easy on-trail hiking down to Riley Saddle, then a steep, brushy half mile up to Josephine Peak involved a lot of loose footing near the summit. We took another break at the top and added our names to yet another register, then headed back down to Riley Saddle, taking a slightly more direct route down with some controlled sliding. From there, it was all downhill trail miles, and we made good time with one more break at Josephine Saddle before closing the loop on Old Baldy Trail back to a much emptier parking lot.
Enjoyable day, and by far the longest hike I've done in the Wrightson area. Great weather, some interesting clouds, and a fun mix of on- and off-trail with a combination of familiar and new areas. We ended up hiking to a total of seven peaks along that loop, completing the "Seven Rita Challenge" that isn't really a thing...or wasn't until today. I guess the logical next challenge is the Nine Rita with the addition of Jack and Hopkins  . This was the first time I've seen seven registers in one day, or double digits if we count the repeat registers on some of those peaks...though the definition of "peak" has to be used loosely for some of those. Regardless, I'm lucky I didn't get a hand cramp from signing so many. On the way home, we concluded a fun day with a stop at the DQ near Picacho for some dipped cones in honor of JJ. |
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Sylvester Spring |
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| |  Full spring box with flowing pipe | | | |
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