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| Backpack | 21.20 Miles |
5,920 AEG |
| | Backpack | 21.20 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 5,920 ft AEG | | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | Day 1:
Well this turned out to be a very memorable trip for the whole group I'm sure. Our 11 person expedition (had 8 people from ABC) started off at Roger's Trough TH at 8:45 Saturday after an hour on one of the most interesting 4x4 roads I've seen yet out here. The hike up to Reavis Saddle through Roger's and Grave Canyons was rather strenuous but very scenic and well cut, some interesting Supes scenery.
Then after Reavis Saddle you are suddenly in the totally different little micro-climate of Reavis Valley. You are thrust into a ponderosa forest not unlike those in Rim country and around Flagstaff. This part of the hike just totally amazed me as we sped though the muddy trail over creeks, through thick canopies of pine and in tall meadows. You would never think this is sitting right in the rugged, scrubby mountains of the Supes. All the way through the valley we ran into sections of the 18 scout troop that Spinax was with. Was nice to finally run into another HAZ member on the trail by total chance. Just before hitting the Fireline trail we ran into Topo and the Trans-Supes group. What a trooper Topo must have been to survive the catclaw nightmare that they described on Two-Bar Ridge. From there we went out to Reavis Ranch to eat a nice lunch. Made good time getting there by 1:45.
From here we went back and started up the generous climb up to the ridge north of Mound Mountain (tallest spot in the Supes) and from here hitched the quite steep climb up the Circlestone ruins. The views up there were amazing as we could see everthing from Four Peaks and up the Mazatzals to the Rim, to the copper mines near Globe, to Mt. Lemmon and the Rincons just north of Tucson. Quickly we made our way back down to the Fireline and then down to the intersection with the Campaign Trail to setup camp after completing 10.7 miles that day.
After getting our shelter, tents and hammocks pitched and gathering firewood, we all sat down to a roaring fire to make our dinners and get to know one another. After having some wine and watermelontini (not sure why it was called this since it used rum) we packed in for the night.
The camp site Te-wa picked was wonderful as we had absolutely no wind that night thanks to the tree cover. We had intermittent 5 minute sprinkles throughout the night, but that was the only rain we saw that night. Ended up only getting down to about 35 by early morning so we all slept toasty warm as we were preparing for much worse.
Day 2:
After eating a nice hearty breakfast and packing up camp we took off a bit late at 10 heading Southwest down the campaign trail over Pinto Pass. Unfortunately it started raining steadily just 5 minutes after we started the trail and didn't completely stop the whole day. The trail was so severely overgrown with manzanita that by the time we got a bit past Pinto pass even the people with rain repellent gear were completely soaked. It was probably no more than 40 degrees at this point so we just trucked it over the ridgeline that stretched down to West Pinto Trail just to keep from getting cold while "swimming" down the trail. One thing I will say is pretty much no pack cover system seems to work to well through severe bushwacking.
From here we followed the hillsides leading next to Spencer Spring Creek along the West Pinto Trail. We hit some very heavy catclaw patches all along some of the lower sections of this trail further wreaking havoc on our cold bodies and slowing us down. Then came the "lovely" climb up the base of Iron Mountain. Once again we ran into very heavy manzanita that would completely cover the trail in some spots making a trail finding nightmare on top of the wet cold. Drewboy's GPS definitely came in handy in a few spots. Getting closer to Iron Mountain we then had begin an almost straight ascent up 4 false summits that were part of the foothills of the beast each time hoping we would see the saddle from which we could see the trailhead. This section was like a head on Squaw Peak with muddy gravel.
Finally getting up near the cliffy peak of Iron, we skirt it and to our chagrin begin descending again. Grumbling about how we could have skipped 1000 foot of climb and a good mile and a half of trail if only the trailblazer had just gone down into a valley much earlier, we trudged on. By this point I was really having a hard time keeping my core warm. Then came the sludgy climb up to the final saddle. By the end of this section I was having to constantly eat lots of carbs just to stay alive. It was a mixed blessing that my legs were so numb I couldn't feel the fatigue going up this but I knew it allowed me to get up without stopping as I knew that would have meant certain onset of hypothermia. I was already starting to get woozy the last 2 miles up. Going down the last mile to the trailhead I had to give up my hiking poles to the person sticking with me just to keep my arms around my torso as I shivered my way down to the trucks after 10.5 miles of absolute hell nearly frozen over.
At the trailhead I apologized as I stripped down naked to get the nearly frozen, fully saturated clothes off that had nearly killed me. Thankfully my thermals were still dry and I quickly threw them on and got into Te-was Montero that was already warm but incredibly muggy from all the soaked gear in the back. I swore I was going to have them take me to the hospital till I had a Gatorade that replinished me suprisingly well. Soon I had regained my full composure and was thanking God for getting us out of that nightmare alive and well. Funny that I went from one of my favorite hikes the first day, to easily the most miserable near-death experience of my life. We learned the hard way that we need better rain gear today for sure but thankfully we had a hearty group of hikers that were able to endure twice as much as I'd imagine most people could endure. I personally don't know how I was able to make it but have certainly come out stronger because of this adventure. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
). All in all this trip was absolutely amazing, and there were scant few moments when my breath wasn't just completely taken away by the amazing scenery in this canyon system. I definitely look forward to doing more trips in the amazing canyons of Southern Utah as well as with the good company we had for the hike. One last thing.....thank you for the Guinness Randy, I owe you : )
