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| Hiking | 6.40 Miles |
2,307 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.40 Miles | 3 Hrs 29 Mns | | 1.84 mph |
| 2,307 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Every time I came out to hike on Pinal Peak I'd see this peak off to the west and think "I'll hike up there someday" but it turned out to be 5 years from the first time before I got around to it. I wasn't quite as prepared as I'd like to have been for what I found. But before I get into that I should start from the beginning.
The first challenge was just getting to the trail head. I see the directions have since been updated, but when I did the hike (I'm posting this log 16 months after-the-fact) there was conflicting information. I decided between the two different ways by turning at road closest to the edge of Miami. It didn't take long to find out that road had since been closed so I turned around and went to try the other directions. All it took was a couple blocks on this set of instructions and again I was perplexed as to where to go next. Luckily I found an elderly couple going for their morning walk and asked if they knew how to get to Madera Peak. Funny, they had never heard of it, but when I described where I expected the road leading to it should be, they said, oh that's the old dump road and proceeded to give me directions.
Ok, no armed with that information I was on the road again. Along the way I could almost see why they called it the old dump road, because there were a number of cars planted in the ravines, ostensibly to stop erosion. Unfortunately, now that I think about it I wished I had taken a photo of the most unique vehicle I saw there, a 1963 Studebaker Lark Wagonaire, which had the rear part of the roof slide forward so the rear section had open air above it.
Onward and upward... as I was continuing of the drive to the trailhead I came upon some horses standing in the road. I approached slowly figuring as I got closer they would move off the road. The first one just turned around enough that I could drive by, but the second one just stood there looking at me. The look he gave was like I was trespassing on his road and I better just turn around. But he looked so docile and I wasn't about to bail on the hike so I slowly moved forward until his head was half-way up my hood, then rolled so the front bumper slightly brushed his knees. And he still would not move, so I just bumped the horn enough for a slight beep. Still nothing, so then I just put it in gear again and gave him just the lightest nudge until he finally moved, but only a few feet toward the driver's side. Then I backed up a couple feet, moved forward again while easing over to the right just enough to get by while still staying on the road. As I was easing by he stuck his head in the window (I had it all the way down) a few inches, let out a loud snort and turned his head back out but still did not move. The left mirror rubbed his rear haunch as I slid by yet he still wasn't about to give another inch. Once past him I realized not only how weird the whole deal was, but that I never thought for a moment he could have turned and given my car a swift kick.
Ok, drama over, on to the hike. This is one of those hike where there isn't a moment to warm up at all before hitting a seriously steep trail. Alright, so it was more of a rocky old jeep road up to the radio tower. Nothing special on the hike up except for burning calves. Somewhat over half way there is a slight respite of a steep downhill, just in time to prepare for the steepest part. Here it was so steep and there was so much detritus of leaves and such on the trail that if I stepped anywhere that wasn't solid ground I'd simply slide back 5 feet with each step. In a couple spots I got off to the side and pulled myself tree to tree. I'm sure at other times of the year the road would be clear and it would be easier, it just wans't now.
Once at the top I sat down to take a break and I started to hear what sounded like rain drops hitting the ground. Looking up there was no sign of rain so I took a look around trying to locate the sound. What I found was billions of lady bugs... and here I thought there were a lot of them at the summit of Brown's Peak, this one took the cake. They were so thick on the tree branches they were falling to the ground, which is what I heard. I took some photos and with other insects flying around and landing on me I simply up and left.
The hike down wasn't any easier than the hike up. When I'm wiped out I'd much rather climb steep terrain than head down. Between the steepness and arthritis, it was murder on the knees. It felt great once I was back on level ground. On the return trip the horses were maybe 100' from the road so there wasn't another battle of wills.
Hike photos are here:
http://www.changephoenix.com/09/2009-07-03MaderaPeak.html |
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It was nice to finally get into the pines, where the shade offered some relief. Once on top of the ridge, I was in heaven. Deep canyons and mountainsides covered in green forest brought on a case of sky island fever. When I got to the top, I discovered it was a false summit, so I hiked a short distance to the real summit. I had lunch and relaxed in the shade of an oak, where I discovered a summit register. 
I wasn't expecting that. I added my own little entry, then began the hike back down. I figured I'd make better time going down. I did, but the 2 super steep sections were slow going. I got back to my truck in one hour, and proceded to dump ice water on myself 
Then it was back home to Safford.
