My Daughter Tackles the Flat Iron

For someone with a fear of heights, today's hike was going to be a challenge, beyond the usual challenges of distance, elevation gain and trail conditions.  I gave her every opportunity to not go but she wanted to check off a box and say she has summited the Flat Iron, looming over us, upper left.

The opening section is hard but no real exposure and Olivia emerges, triumphant, at the foot of....

....Siphon Draw.  I've posted this image several times and it is always awe inspiring and as usual, the image does not convey the steepness of it yet....

....she made it to the top and we rested, surveying what lies ahead.  The route follows the drainage to the left of the Flat Iron.  Really steep, bouldery..a lot of fun.

And so it begins and eventually....

...we navigate that final 12' wall and follow a.....

.....short trail to....

...the top of the Flat Iron.  In the distance, Superstition Peak but much else is obscured by dust that has been stirred by strong winds which made today a good day for hiking rather than cycling.  Temperatures were in the mid 70's.

Descending the ravine we can see the short up climb to the top of the Siphon Draw which lies on the other side.

Check out the two lizards in the rock gap and immediately after spotting that....

....we saw an unfortunate baby tarantula being dragged somewhere by a wasp, which will use the spider as a host for its eggs.  Sorry for the bad focus.  Gruesome way to die, having your insides eaten by baby wasps.  Well, we shifted our attention to the descent of the Draw and Olivia did fine, using her "5 Point" hiking technique.