John had a week off from work between Christmas and New Year's, so we packed up the truck and went off to explore. We did some camping, and then pretty much the opposite of camping.
First off, a day in the Superstition Mountains. For being close to Phoenix and easy to see, they are anything but easy to get up into. We looked forward to climbing Siphon Draw again, I wanted to see some of the trails on the ridge, and if all went perfectly I might even get an FKT.
Camping out with Tug-E at the base of the Superstitions:
Getting an early start:
A beautiful sunrise shadow as we were climbing Siphon Draw - the downside being that we wouldn't have sun on us until we reached the top:
John led the way up the boulders. It's a steep, scrambly climb, and we made a wrong turn even having been here before (maybe someday we'll remember from one time to the next):
Yay for sunshine!
John headed down while I started the next phase of route-finding. The "figure it out" challenges continued, small detours to one side and the other. It's mostly a real trail, just not well defined every step of the way.
I tried not to get too distracted by the wonderful scenery and interesting rock shapes:
On the other hand, this is one big benefit of climbing up here - excellent views in all directions. Looking back to the little saddle I had come from:
Lots of little boulder climbs/descents, and then a nice runnable section on the way to the next peaks:
After a bit more route finding, I came to a spot that I wasn't super keen to try. At least not by myself. I worked out how I might make it happen, but still decided to bail and turn around. No FKT, no matter. It's all good training.
I let John know (he was going to meet me at the other end of the trail) and started back west. More smile-inducing views, including a side look at the Weaver's Needle:
This cholla ball almost looks like a dead bird... either way, don't touch it:
The trail occasionally gives you difficult (and pokey) choices:
Hey, it's John! He had climbed back up Siphon Draw to meet me - so he got even more elevation gain than I did for the day:
John's view of the situation (aka dueling cameras):
Since we had time, we checked out a couple of the overlooks at the top of Siphon Draw:
A lovely desert sunset to close out a fun day:
Next up - Nevada!
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