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Hike to Linda Vista Saddle

12/8/2018

4 Comments

 
Picture
A group was to head up Finger Rock trail and rather than ascend to Kimball Peak, there right of center, was going to veer off and make the Linda Vista Saddle their destination.  I planned to start with them and then break towards Finger Rock Guard, the rock formation just to the right of the obvious thin rock spire known as Finger Rock.  By the way, to the left of Finger Rock is Prominent Point, a spot I have yet to visit but probably will soon.
Picture
We follow a trail as it crisscrosses a dry creek bed for about a mile. ascending at a moderate rate and then....
Picture
….the climbing begins in earnest.  As usual, I left the group to chase what I thought would be a "Strava" segment.  I caught a guy who is serving at a nearby air base and later learned he had recently climbed Mount Fuji!  How cool is that.
Picture
Rising higher, the usually fabulous views are obscured by incoming clouds from the southwest.  Nothing thick just streaming in and where once Finger Rock was bathed in sun, it was now enveloped in clouds as shown later.
Picture
Images rarely demonstrate the steepness but this comes close.  The 1.5 mile segment once the climbing became serious averages 19% which surprised me.  It seemed steeper.
Picture
I reached a junction where continuing right takes one either to the aforementioned saddle or on to Kimball Mountain.  The not so obvious left fork dives into a canyon prior to climbing very steeply toward Finger Rock Guard.  The above image of clouds lingering in the canyon was neat.
Picture
Just like that, the clouds thickened and not only could I no longer see Finger Rock, I couldn't see much of anything.  My shirt was soaked with perspiration so I donned a jacket and gloves to wait for....
Picture
….the group as they approach.  The slickrock found frequently along the ascent was kind of slippery given the moist conditions and the scree that was present.
Picture
The group arrives but I abandon my plan for a couple of reasons, climbing to the top of the Guard and being surrounded in dense clouds kind of defeats the purpose and there is a labyrinth of boulders and a wall that have to be navigated.  Doing so on wet rock surface is a bad idea.  So....
Picture
….onto the Linda Vista Saddle where we enjoyed ok views to the south.  Clouds continued to stream in and somewhat obscure the view.
Picture
But, Kathleen and Marianne had brought treats and gosh, were they good!  Big thanks to them.  After about 15 minutes we....
Picture
….headed down and what I saw across the canyon reinforced the decision I made to abandon the trek to Finger Rock Guard.  Finished with 6.75 miles and 2700' of climbing.
4 Comments
Liane Stark
12/8/2018 05:47:30 pm

It was a challenging for me hike and so enjoy all your photos of our travails. Beautiful hike!

Reply
Kathleen
12/8/2018 06:28:38 pm

Thanks for sharing, Mark! I noted that the all-chocolate bars disappeared before anybody reached for a berry one ;-) Fun day and group!

Reply
Mark
12/9/2018 06:06:02 am

Kathleen, you should start a production line, call it "Kathleen's Kranola Bars", have it packaged and sell to local merchants:)

Reply
emma
12/12/2018 06:57:15 pm

Hello Mark,
You have done so well! It seemed very fun.
We are beginning at hiking and trekking.
I'm just wondering that which shoes you were wear
along your hiking trip.
We have some lists and are about considering.
What we've checked out is this site:
http://www.pirt.org/best-hiking-shoes/
If you have some suggestions, please advice me.
Thank you in advance.

Reply



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    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

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