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| Hiking | 17.08 Miles |
5,940 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.08 Miles | 9 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.30 mph |
| 5,940 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 9 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | The Seven Rita Challenge sounds like it might involve a lot of tequila, so I opted for a different name.
Summits north to south along the range starting with McCleary, 88 Mac, Pine, Rice, Ian, Wrightson, and Josephine. I was pushing to add Jack and Hopkins, but apparently 10s had reached his 10-day aeg and mileage goals already, so we headed back down via Old Baldy and called it a day a little early.
Other than McCleary I don't know if the other peaks have names, why they're considered peaks at all, or why they have the colloquial names that they have. But the names show up on triplogs here from time to time, so somebody seems to have invented something at some point.
All told, there were 7 bumps. Each had at least 2 registers. Some were signed by the same people. Repeatedly. Some had witty musings. Some had politics. Some had less witty musings about political musings. Others had a name and a date; a novel concept.
McCleary: With the upper lot surprisingly full at our pre-7am start, we decided to avoid the early Baldy crowd and head north first. Didn't realize Pipeline wouldn't be marked and missed the turn by a few yards before correcting. Sylvester Spring was full of clear, cold water, and producing a surprising quart+/min. This drainage was surprisingly pleasant with some monster old Sycamores.
The climb up to Kent Spring along the 157 was wake-me-up steep. Early morning shade and temps still in the 50s was helpful, but there was still some sweat and burn. A trio of hikers were resting at the very dry Kent Spring, and would be our only biped sighting until afternoon.
Four Springs Trail might be the nicest in the range. What a treat! We took a brief breath-catcher and checked out the view from the point just west of Shovel Saddle before continuing on to the saddle at the base of McCleary.
Unsure of what this route would be like, we were pleased to find a reasonably-well worn route up and over to the first of our high-point breaks on the day.
88 Mac: With oddly-named point 8853 next on our list, we scoped the terrain across the saddle and decided to make a direct approach rather than continuing on the trail past Armour Spring and dropping down to the Crest. This is some very steep terrain, climbing about 700 feet in half a mile, but was mostly in a stand of ponderosa and some nicely spaced scrub oak.
Pine: From 88 Mac we continued south along the Rita ridgeline toward the next highpoint, briefly clipping the Crest Trail for a few yards near the saddle between the two. This ascent was again a bit steep, though only about 400 feet. Now on the east side of the crest, the mid-June sun was baking down on us, but the forecasted strong wind kept the low-70s temp feeling like the low 70s!
Rice: Next up was Rice, which after dropping down a bit we overshot on the climb back up. Here we found our 12th glass jar on the day, and I continued to add to my collection of business cards. Where's JJ's Amex when you need it?
Ian: Next up was Ian, which involved another slight overshoot after dropping down to the Crest Trail and cutting through a nice grove of post-fire aspen growth. This one seems to get a little more visitation, and might qualify as an actual peak by those list sites. But there was no sign of a defined route or cairns to mark the trail exit. No matter, this area is not well-vegitated and travel is not obstructed.
Wrightson: After discussing making a direct assault on Baldy, we opted instead for the traditional route via the trail, passing by a pair of hikers taking a break at the saddle. My thermometer sat in the sun for a bit and the temp briefly notched 80 before returning to 73 when shaded. A fierce gust of wind hit us on the switchbacks below the peak, but the summit itself had only a light breeze.
Josephine: While snacking on Wrightson, I covered the descent options and while I normally wouldn't consider the Super Loop on a sunny summer day, the breeze was doing good work negating the sun, so we opted to head down around the backside to hit up Josephine too. I was quickly reminded what an awful experience this is, snaking through prickly brush and then trying to find the best of the undefined routes that make the final steep loose climb to the summit.
Here, I finished the last of my water, taking time to cool off in the wind. Carrying a 5th liter today would have been helpful. Perhaps the strong wind and subsequent evaporation was a factor in the miscalculation today? Heading off the peak we found a better route. Or at least it was better going downhill. I'm going to cross this one off my list for a while.
The traverse around to Josephine Saddle went quickly, but was also the first time on the day that it was a little bit warm in the sun. Luckily, the breeze kicked up and some clouds provided occasional shade. After a quick snack and decision to skip Jack and Hopkins we made quick work going down Old Baldy, passing by other humans number 6 and 7 before arriving back at the now-empty parking lot. The 84 temp at Madera quickly headed to 100 as we reached Green Valley.
The big day necessitated a DQ stop at Picacho on the way home, and reminded me why JJ does this, and questioned why I don't do it more!
Fun day. I would do this again, but not with Josephine. Maybe Jack and Carrie Nation instead though. |
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Sylvester Spring |
Quart per minute |
Quart per minute |
| | | Nicest looking spring on the mountain. | | _____________________
| I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies. |
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Route Editor
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. 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.
Okay, made it over the high point (phew) alive and now it was on to the finish line via the Super Trail. The lightning abated and the heavier rain stayed away. Almost back to the parking lot, a trogon flushed out of a tree as I walked past. I tried to get a decent picture, but they don't let you get too close. I'll post the blurry one anyway. Perhaps it was the same fellow I heard in the morning? This just put an exclamation point on what turned out to be a fantastic day. 
