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| Hiking | 10.25 Miles |
3,313 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.25 Miles | 4 Hrs 40 Mns | | 2.41 mph |
| 3,313 ft AEG | 25 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | A rare AM start to a hike for me as I was meeting my parents at 4PM in town to eat. I was shooting for a 10:45AM departure, but was off at 11:16AM. There wasn’t too much traffic on the trail, as it never felt crowded, and certainly more people coming down than going up. I missed a switchback at the start of the switchbacks below the saddle, which cost me a couple minutes and some quality energy. I tried to push harder to make up for the error, but that lasted for all of 5 seconds as those dreaded tight switchbacks would have none of it. That section always feels like the hardest part of the trail to me. I slogged into the saddle with a time of 1:33 and, since I wasn’t on any sort of record pace, decided to take a little break. The wind was very strong by this point, as gusts in town were in the 40s, so certainly somewhere north of there at this point on the mountain. I took shelter at the rock face, where a few others were as well. As I had approached the saddle, for a brief moment, I considered turning back due to the wind (as I knew it was just going to be worse further up and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to deal with it), but never truly entertained doing so. I left my hat under a rock in exchange for a tight fitting beanie and added another long sleeved layer.
After a 7 minute refueling which included some electrolytes, I continued onward and upward, proceeding at a steady pace. With the strong wind, I didn’t want to push it, and I was off pace anyhow. It was pretty cold and I felt a touch underdressed with two long sleeves, but no biggie. I would say I probably crossed paths with maybe 5 groups heading down as I was ascending. As I came to the last little ridge with the last little hump to climb, holy moly, the wind speed increased by 20-30mph and I was thinking “this is intense!”. I was quickly evaluating in my head if it was a feasible threat to be blown off the mountain. I crouched down, lowering my center of gravity, which proved effective. I think the last little climb on the rocks was mostly on all fours (I’m not certain though), ensuring there were some rocks as a barrier on the downwind side of me. I arrived at the top, where 5 or so people were sitting against the rock face. I proceeded down to the lower one, where an additional 2 people were. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
I wasn’t up there long, maybe 7 minutes, and never did go for the view towards Kendrick, but instead opted to head back down into the wind inferno. As I was coming down, I could see the group of 3 that had departed a few minutes before had their arms linked. I had to shut my right eye a few times due to the force of the wind. I wear glasses, so I am sure that helped a lot, but otherwise goggles probably could have been useful through that section.
I made it back to the saddle, retrieved my cap, and took another 7 minute break. There were about 6 or 7 others there and I was listening to the conversations. Apparently, someone had stated they recorded 80mph on the peak. Uneventful hike the rest of the way down and I arrived back to the trailhead 5 minutes before 4. Made it over to Picazzo’s 35 minutes later where my pepperoni pizza arrived 40 seconds after I sat down. Ideal timing and thanks mom and dad! It was great to experience the fierce winds; definitely a first for me. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
only six others on the trail and nobody past linda vista.
