|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 13.96 Miles |
4,837 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.96 Miles | 8 Hrs 25 Mns | | 1.66 mph |
| 4,837 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | Met Karl at Peralta. That was fun! Good flow in 5 crossings. Only h/c trucks were making it through. Left a truck and drove back around to First Water, where the instagram massacre was in full swing. It's a rare day I'm happy to deal with the shyteshow in Siphon, but it was def better than the reverse. Good water flow in the draw the whole way. It was a river, and there were plenty of falls feeding it from all sides above.
Reached the top and skipped both 24 and the board. The forecast completely failed, as it got more and more cloudy, socked in, windy, and chillier than planned. And still, a beautiful day!  I could not believe how much water there was on the ridgeline. Where does it come from? I can see the highpoint 12 feet on my left and still there's a steady stream of water flowing down! 
Good time going across, knocking down countless useless cairns along the way (plenty of helpful ones were unharmed!) Are the people who build them stupid, or do they think everybody else is stupid? Or do they build them out of boredom? Got into a fun argument with some folks at heiro who apparently would not have been able to find the saddle, nor the canyon, without a pile of rocks! (Other) Kyle has anger management issues. Lol.
Enjoyed a beer on 5057 as the sun tried to make an appearance and the wind had given us a break. Over at the Carney Saddle we met up with Patrick and Justin and decided to skip the Robbers Dacite route back, instead going straight down. There were a couple of great waterfalls here too, including one that was easily 250 feet. Would have been impressive to see yesterday.
Supes in rare form today. Glad to have spent a few hours out there. Thanks for helping shuttle Karl! |
| _____________________
| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
Hieroglyphic Spring was still slightly trickling, but funky like usual. I'd guess the families and kids that only make it this far still think it's everything is awesome. It was enjoyable ascending the canyon for once without an obscene number of cairns along the way. Perhaps people are catching on that a duck every five feet really isn't necessary (reference the Wave Cave arrows erased for more context). It also was nice to experience the Supes in mid-May with all the wildflowers and fresh leaf outs. The heat usually keeps me away, but today had substantial wildflowers. The flaming yellow and red Dudleya stalks were peaking. I reached the summit in two hours and speaking of culmination, there was an entomology orgy of flying ants, bee flies and tarantula hawks circling. The former two groups were dive bombing and getting spunky with each other, where the ants were antisocial and not crossing over to the other species. 
I was at the West Boulder Saddle before eight, about three hours into the hike, where there was still some good shade at the pass. After this brief and final break, the stretch dash got hot. Along Goldmine was the only place I saw another person, which was south of Turks Head. She had just turned around, informing me that half her water supply was gone, and she wouldn't be finding the bygone gold mine. Definitely a better, more diverse, scenic and challenging loop than the intensive forest bath of the 
Strep throat infection and also had to work some. 
On the early drive east, one of the US60 road signs was displaying AZ88 closed - rocks on the road. 
(perhaps it displays that always). I suppose we're not doing any hikes from the Canyon Lake area. As sunrise broke, one could see that the NW Supes were getting some action, lots of lightning and rain. I settled on the Hieroglyphic TH because I had my car. We chose CCW because the lightning was very active up on the ridgeline. Usually I'd complete this great hike at a brisker pace, but Dese and I had to shelter three times total, as each wave of rain rolled through with the accompanying and uncomfortably close lightning strikes. The final wave soaked us to the bone, but the sun emerged quickly afterwards. We dried out nearing the 5057 summit. It would of been nice to relax longer there, but swarming termite orgies just aren't my thing. On the descent, a large Coatimundi band crossed in front of us. There were at least three, small young ones (so cute) in the group and they all bristled orange. I've never been able to get a good pic of Coatimundi. Another large adult and one baby crossed behind us after we passed. They look like little monkeys easily scrambling the Supes' rocky terrain. This was a tough hike for Dese, but she powered through. She'll get a good rest this weekend because she isn't allowed to hike in the Grand.
