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| Hiking | 2.96 Miles |
1,243 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.96 Miles | 2 Hrs 59 Mns | | 1.26 mph |
| 1,243 ft AEG | 38 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Being another high humidity morning I took my time so it was almost 9 am before I began the hike. It was nice my initial goal was only 1/2 mile from the trail head, but that's being a bit too simplistic and it was not going to just be a walk-in-the-park.
From the trail head I headed straight for Ajax Benchmark (the highest peak in the Mineral Mountain Quadrangle), dropping down to the saddle where the old Great Enchantment Trail used to cross, then a reasonably steep climb directly toward the summit.
Not having any idea what route to take to reach the summit, yet obvious it wouldn't be on this side, I headed slightly to the left with the plan of circling around until I found a safe route up. Almost half way around I saw a promising opening, but within 5 minutes of climbing it was obvious this was not going to work and I dropped back down. Not sure just how far I'd have to go around as well as not knowing if I would return this direction or not, I headed north along the ridge to take some photos from a high point across the ridge from Ajax.
While taking photos from that vantage point I scanned the upper portion of Ajax hoping for clues for my next attempt. None were forthcoming from this side, so I headed back south around the east side of Ajax. As I continued circling clock-wise there were a couple more teasers, but nothing very inviting so I kept going.
Almost three-fourths the way around it opened up to a wide area of large bare boulders but still saw no obvious route. After taking some time to scan it was time to just begin somewhere and so how it went. Climbing carefully I reached a point within 80' vertical and about 100' across to the summit where I had no more confidence to continue. Although the boulders were bare yet coarse enough for reasonable grip, for every 10 great handholds there would be one that broke away with very little pressure. 
So with that, the exposure factor, nursing a sore left ankle as well as being totally alone, I was ok with leaving it for another day. Besides, I had another couple peaks on my plate for the day.
With full knowledge that at least three people have in fact reached the summit, I know it can be done, I'm just not sure if it will require any climbing gear. But I have a feeling if I had someone very experienced leading the way, I would have been fine following in their footsteps.
Now 270 degrees around Ajax, I saw no point in retracing my route so I set off to the south toward Peak 4202, maybe bagging that on the return trip instead returning to the TH before heading out again. As it turned out, the last 90 degrees around Ajax looked to provide every bit the challenge of trying for the summit.
After climbing the first part of Peak 4202 I could see the summit outcrop of 4202 and it looked to be every bit as daunting as Ajax so just took some photos for further examination before returning with more determination to reach the summit.
Time to head back to the trail head for lunch before heading out to my last peak for the day. On the way down from the saddle I followed a very old and almost invisible section of what used to be the Great Enchantment Trail down to the bottom and back up to the saddle below the trail head. From there it was a short jaunt back up to the car.
I posted a 70-second 360-degree panorama video from a high point on the ridge north of Ajax here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=171
I posted 50 photos on HAZ, the full set of 62 is here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/album.php?id=168 |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
So JJ dug under the front seat, found the roll of TP inside a large ziploc bag that I always have along for emergencies like this and passed it forward to Nick. As much as I tried to make the ride a bit more palatable, it just wasn't happening. So I began to think...
