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| | | Canyon-Avoidant Superstition Ridgeline, AZ | | | |
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Canyon-Avoidant Superstition Ridgeline, AZ
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| Hiking | 20.19 Miles |
5,746 AEG |
| | Hiking | 20.19 Miles | 13 Hrs 23 Mns | | 1.78 mph |
| 5,746 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 4 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This is a repeat of a hike that I first completed this March. Unlike last time, I actually managed to get to the trailhead before sunrise, albeit still later than I had initially wanted. Nevertheless, given the relatively shorter November daytime and the addition of a handful of new elements, I ended up finishing in around the same amount of darkness. Moreover, daytime temps in the valley (so presumably also on the ridgeline) were about 10C higher than they had been in March, peaking in the low 30s. Curiously, I was, as far as I could tell, alone the entire day between the scramble toward balanced rock (during which I heard folks' voices at Hieroglyphics Falls at ~07:00) and the walk along First Water Road to SR-88 (~20:00).
The biggest difference between the two trips, however, was that I was forced to complete this one almost entirely without my glasses. I somehow managed to lose them just above Hieroglyphics Falls scarcely half an hour into the day. (They didn't fall off my face or anything like that—I simply set them down to wipe them and they disappeared.) I looked for them for over 20 minutes to no avail. Given how the rest of the weekend was predicted to be even warmer, I ultimately decided to continue without them. It's my impression that things move slowly in the desert absent rainfall, so I'll search for them more thoroughly when back in town... The silver lining was that between the binoculars that I had packed and my relative familiarity with the area, I didn't really have any severe issues with routefinding on the off-trail segments of the hike, even despite my abysmal eyesight (something like -5 in both eyes).
At any rate, I made it up to Peak 5057 without any other incidents via the "Balanced Rock" route modulo the modifications detailed in my previous triplog. From there, I carried on to the Three Sisters as before, after that beginning the long walk to Peak 5024.
I must have misplaced the main Ridgeline trail on the way back just southeast of Peak 5057 near where the spur trail diverges; I found myself following a well-trodden alternative, skirting the "tuft" of hoodoos just north of 5057 below and to the east as opposed to adjacent and to the west. I made it back onto the trail proper just fine, but it's visible on the GPS track where I backtracked along the main trail to figure out precisely where I had gone astray.
I then made it down the "crux" by which the summit block of 5057 is accessed from the north and from there to the base of topo marker 4790 in a reasonable timeframe. I ascended up to 4790 via the same crevice that I had previously accessed it, only this time I brought my backpack with me (using a rope to lower it on the way down). This emboldened me to wander around on top of the platform for a bit; the views of the remainder of the Superstitions were amazing, and those of Weaver's Needle were in particular arguably better than those from anywhere else on the mountain. Having rested and eaten/drank sufficiently, I descended the way I came and then continued moving north along the ridgeline.
The stretch of ridgeline between 4790 and Peak 5024 were all more or less as I remembered, albeit warmer, with Hiero Saddle, "Peak 4869", and Peak 5024's Key Col all passed in due time.
Once I made it onto the large block on which Peak 5024 and the Flatiron rest, I diverged from the Ridgeline trail as before, following the hoodoo-decorated "minor ridgeline" over to Peak 5024. This segment of the hike was more taxing than it should have been; I had forgotten the intricacies of the many routes through the hoodoos and had to do a fair bit of scrambling up and down that I otherwise could have avoided. I knew that I was almost in the home stretch when I saw the particularly memorable hoodoo whose silhouette is strongly reminiscent of a man with a green lichenous beard.
I then descended down to the Flatiron from 5024 ascended back to 5024 from the Flatiron via the standard route through the hoodoo maze; I had wanted to do this back in March but had ran out of food and time so skipped it. This was my first visit to the Flatiron all year and I was pleasantly surprised by how short the trip from 5024 to the Flatiron actually was (no more than 15mins in either direction).
By the time I was back at 5024 (~16:30), the shadows were beginning to get long, so I wasted little time in returning back to "Greenbeard" and starting the long and scrambly descent to Massacre Falls. Having never before hiked the area in Fall, I had not counted on the vegetation having grown as much as it did since March. This made for a comparatively uncomfortable bushwack in the beginning, especially in the upper reaches of Massacre Canyon, where some scrambling was involved. Eventually, however, I made it past that segment, and was pleased to see that the hike down was more or less as I had remembered, even as the amount of cairns and of spots where a social trail had begun to develop exceeded what I remembered. The sun set on me and dusk began during this segment of the trip.
Once I was just above Massacre Falls, I decided, foolishly, to attempt to descend the final scramble portion through the "window" via which I had many times ascended (but never previously descended). The effect of this was that I attempted to climb down to the Falls much farther east than was feasible, and it was only after a lot of confusing scrambling and being repeatedly forced west by cliff-outs in the blurry, rapidly-fading light (using the rope I had packed to plumb their depth and see whether they could be safely scrambled) that I finally found my way to the Falls. In the moment I was sure that I had taken an unnecessarily west-detoured downclimb to reach them; it was only when I consulted my GPS track in hindsight did I see that the route I had taken down was essentially that which I had ascended those many months ago.
From Massacre Falls, the walk to Jacob's Crosscut trailhead was mostly straightforward, following the Massacre Falls trail, although I did manage to misplace the trail on a few occasions, traversing the desert to rejoin it.
Overall, it was a fun trip despite some jolting hiccups, and I'm glad that I finally managed to complete the route I had initially envisioned including the points of interest that I had initially excluded when first hiking it in March. I don't know when I'll return to Superstition Mountain, but if the weather is favorable, then I'll certainly consider repeating it once more. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
). The route was generally well worn/cairned; but I was grateful for the GPS track for the 20% of times I lost the trail. The steep grade made for some burning legs! Didn't spend much time on the summit because it was windy and also occupied by some folks whose decibel preferences in nature were louder than mine. The way down was nice until I reached the petroglyphs again and got to meet 100 of my closest hiking strangers on the last mile of trail.
