Mark's Cycling & Hiking Blog
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups

Leading a Group Hike

11/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
I led a small group of the willing on a very hard but short hike to Pusch Peak.  While only 2.1 miles, geesh what a hard hike.  The average grade is 25% but the first .8 miles skews the average down.  After that opening, the balance of the ascent must be at least 30%.  Above, a photographer has set up shop and taking pictures of flowers while my group checks it out. 
Picture
Yeah, steep I said as Zack navigates a place with Marianne waiting her turn. It's not just the grade, it's also those damn pointy things that must be avoided.
Picture
We continue up and pass "Breakfast Point" in the distance and then, wow, what a rare event....
Picture
….a bighorn sheep walks across our route, there in the center.  We gawked for awhile as we enjoyed the experience.  The first I have seen in the Catalinas. I wondered what we should do and Jessica interpreted that as me being afraid.  Ha, ha.  That is a good one.  A Mountain Lion, ok yes but I don't consider getting head butted by a sheep a realistic risk.  We kept going and it scampered across our trail and then gone.
Picture
Then, oddly, a guy leads a pack of dogs down trail.  Never seen that before either.  Each had a tracking collar on it and were well behaved.  He had come to the peak off trail from the southeast side and was now headed down via the northwest side.
Picture
We rose higher and higher.  It was a tough hike but big kudos to the gang for not bugging out and turning around.  Marianne thought we were only hiking to the base of the peak so I turned on the encouragement voice and told her we were almost there when we may not have been.  On each of my previous visits, I had always gotten off the route and been forced to bush whack to the top but today, the trail was visible and not much route finding required.  Finally.....
Picture
…..we arrive!  Zack on the right, Jessica on the left who is a park ranger at the nearby Kartchner Caverns.  
Picture
Yeah so, a nearby ridge presents a good image opportunity so each of us hikes there and has our image taken. 
Picture
Looking to the northeast, so many peaks, so many places yet to visit.  We enjoy ourselves on our peak and then begin the bone jarring descent.  The descent is brutal and slippery with all the pebbles strewn about the trail.
Picture
Hey!  A Rock Squirrel checks us out as we continue our descent.  Oro Valley is in the distance. 
Picture
Down we go as we hit a rare, not so steep section. Then we hit one of the....
Picture
…"walls" where Marianne shows how to butt hike.  This is a useful technique when one is unsure if tread will adequately grab the rock.
Picture
We stopped to regroup a few times but all arrived at the trail head and felt good about our experience.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

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

    Categories

    All
    April
    California Riding
    Grand Canyon Backpacking
    March
    The Characters

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.