Today was the big day for the mountain challenge. Since Miller Peak (9466' or 2885m) was a wash-out last week, we made the training hike up today with a 14-mile hike up one of the tallest peaks in southern Arizona, Mt Wrightson, (9453' or 2881m) a rocky point that sticks out of the Santa Ritas. This peak is a challenge even for the fittest. There is no easy route to this peak.
Ellen and I had done this hike before, last November, but today we did it with several more people from the hiking club: Rod, John, SteveA and SteveS. Minnie came along but again I left Sadie at home because of the forecasted heat of 97F in Tucson. That meant that the mountain would only be around ten degrees cooler. Sadie wanted to come and again I had to keep her from coming along, feeling a tad guilty as she loves to hike with me.
I was running late this morning and got to the scheduled meet-up place on Fry Boulevard in Sierra Vista ten minutes late, just as Ellen drove up. We still made it to the Whetstone meeting place at 7:30am where the guys were waiting. We got to the Cave Creek trailhead an hour later, but when I got out of the truck Rod said he had wanted to park at the Gardner Canyon trailhead uphill. I should have let Rod drive up ahead, as I have always parked at the Cave Creek trailhead due to its shade and quick access to water.
"We can get there via the Link Trail" I said, "this is a much shadier place to park."
Ellen then realized she hadn't packed any water. Luckily the rest of us had spare bottles for her so she managed with five pints of water. This was not a good omen on a forecasted hot day. Luckily nothing else bad happened.
Instead of the planned out-and-back hike via the Gardner Canyon trail to Mt Wrightson, we ended up doing the Cave Creek-Crest Trail-Mt Wrightson-Super Trail-Gardner Canyon trail loop in reverse from last year's training hike.
Our start time was 8:46am at an elevation of 6200'. We ended up doing the loop hike at Cave Creek and hiking uphil via the steepest section: the two miles up to Florida Saddle. Last year I remember telling Ellen that I was glad we were not coming up Florida saddle, and here we were doing just that! Clear skies overhead and some burned foliage made this hotter than usual, and I worried about Minnie who was panting all the way. While there was water in lower Cave Creek, once we switchbacked up to the saddle, it was hot and humid. SteveA was behind me, stopping and taking a lot of photos. I stopped a few times to make sure he was on the right trail (there were a few illegal trails that were confusing in the lower canyon) but once we were on the one trail left, I left him behind to join the others at the first saddle. It was slow-mo up to this point.
I worried about Minnie. I had a gallon of water for her that I started using up this switchback, and we had already used half that gallon in the first few miles. Was I going to have enough water for her? And for me? She took advantage of every break, and at times I stopped for her, but when she got thirsty at one mossy creek, she dug into the moss to get to the wet moss roots for some water.
Once we all gathered at Florida Saddle at 7800', the grade uphill was less intense, and much prettier as the elevation was covered in Golden Rods, lupines, red sage and other wildflowers. Storm clouds took over, which also cooled us all down, a godsend, and we all felt rejuvenated, especially Minnie. The prettiest section of this loop hike is by far the section along the Crest Trail from Florida to Baldy Saddle. While this is badly burned, the rock cliffs and new growth alonng this section provide for some shade and beauty.
There's an unnamed saddle between Florida and Baldy with a gorgeous view of the western slopes. We rested here, took some photos, and took in the beauty. Just off this trail we found a baby twin-spotted rattle snake resting by a rock, one of four species of rattlesnakes protected in Arizona. It was no bigger than a silver dollar; I had never seen a snake that young in the wild.
My thighs were feeling the steep grade. We had to stop a few times to wait for SteveA to catch up. SteveS, who had been on vacation in Pennsylvania for a month, hadn't hiked all month and was able to stay with the main body the entire time. But when we finally made it to Baldy Saddle for lunch, it was almost 2pm and we knew time was of essence. By 6pm the sun would be set too low for decent light. I hadn't packed a flashlight.
We ate our lunch here. Minnie had her can of food and some jerky and some more water. I found a cash of water left behind by what appeared to be Mexicans, as they tend to paint the gallon jugs black to avoid sun glare. The water inside the jug was discolored and full of floaties. Would it have even been safe to drink for humans? I gave Minnie this water, which didn't affect her in any way, and took the jug with me the rest of the way. This jug had been exposed far too long and the water inside was no longer safe
to drink.
The view of Mount Wrightson coming down south off the Crest Trail is an impressive view. It's like a giant thumb sticking out, and so close. Today it was also very green, an unusual color this time of year. Ellen and I ended up bagging the peak afterall while the guys continued on. It took me 45 minutes to make that final .9 mile stretch to the peak. Others were already climbing back down (all who scared Minnie for some reason, who'd always run back to me at the sight of others). We got to the peak with a group of others still there, including a young couple with a Papillon dog onleash that Minnie wanted to bark at. This was the one time I put her onleash herself to avoid any trouble.
It was surprisingly calm on this peak. Ellen ate her lunch and Minnie and I rested, all the time thinking about the time. We had six miles to go; would we make it in daylight at the pace we had been going? We didn't leave the peak until 3:20pm and still had the roughest part ahead of us: the burned-out section of the Super Trail with its many blow-downs.
The hike downhill was faster. Even though downhills are usually faster, this part of the trail has to be carefully hiked due to the many loose rocks and blowdowns. We got to the Gardner Canyon trail at 4:50pm; the Walker Basin trail was another 1.9 miles through the burned area. We had to make that part for sure. We didn't stop for water again until we reached the Walker Basin trailhead. By now Minnie was visibly tired and laying down whenever she could.
The burn area ends just below the Walker Basin area. We hiked another mile in lush riparian terrain where more fresh water awaited Minnie. By the time we got to the open mining trail of lower Gardner Canyon I was feeling exhauted, and getting to our truck at 5:57pm couldn't have come any sooner. Rod's truck was long gone and a couple with an unneutered pitbull were now camped in his spot, letting us know that the guys had left only 30-40 minutes prior. Could we catch up with them at the SteakOut restaurant in Sonoita, where they were feasting post-hike? (Another message to Ellen on her smart phone revealed that the guys ended up not going there and we no longer had to try to catch up with them as they all decided just to drive back to Sierra Vista.)
Our departure from Gardner Canyon was further slowed when a black chihuahua named Dino ran across the road. I knew then that the dog had run from a nearby camp-site, and when we came across the worried owners we drove them back to the place where Dino was seen running across the road. One of the owners could even trace a few of Dino's footprints.
We lucked out with today's hike. The heat wasn't so bad with the late morning cloud cover, no one ran out of water, no one was injured or got lost, and we had plenty of light. We made it to the Sonoita Convenience store just before closing for ice cream to replenish ourselves. The final day's hues didn't fade until we had driven out of Sonoita driving east.
The Santa Rita mountains are a beautiful mountain range. If the drive there weren't so long I'd be exploring the many OTV trails more. This region was once a hotbed for white settlers, Apaches and Mexicans. It's now slowly turning into a mining survey area with foreing mining companies wanting to mine here. The Rosemont Mine will be a reality in a few years. I should try to hike some of the canyons that will soon be destroyed because Arizona politicians continue to sell the land for profit.
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