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

Taming the Panther

12/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Our small group parks at Sanctuary Cove and takes a trail to a saddle where we then....
Picture
...head off trail into the valley below.  A pleasant day for a hike with a few lingering clouds front a front that moved through a couple of days ago but no chance of rain, just perhaps thickening clouds later.
Picture
Reaching the floor, we skirt the mountains to our left while heading toward Panther Peak in the distance on the right.  At the bottom of the slope is a ridge we eventually reach.
Picture
Vagabond Jeff leads the way with Donna second in line.  Unbeknownst to us at the time, there was a faint trail to our left that some of us discovered later.
Picture
How about that!?  We stumbled on the trail and that is good except for the remainder of the climb to the ridge, it is no longer a trail, just a route guided by the placement of cairns to indicate which way to go.  Kind of rugged but lots of fun. At some point in time, someone took the time to collect rocks along the route and create dozens of small piles that now guide us.  Thank you to whomever!
Picture
We have reached the ridge or saddle, regroup and swing right and up the slope to Panther Peak.  For this section, there is a faint trail.  Reaching the top.....
Picture
…..Noooooo.  Rain just southwest of us.  All I wore was a long sleeve T shirt so with the temp in the 50's, getting soaked would suck.  We descended the slope and arrived back at the saddle.  There, three of us decided to return the way we came while five decided to follow the ridge line up and over as originally planned.
Picture
Three F18s fly maneuvers above us while escorting a large plane.  Probably practicing for the next time Air Force One is in the area. I heard they flew out of Yuma and went as far north as Phoenix.  Pretty cool.
Picture
We returned to the valley floor and occasionally would look to our right at the ridge line and wonder if the other group was receiving rain.  At times, yes, it looked pretty socked in up there and since we had some light sprinkles a couple of times....  Later, I talked to our hike leader Jeff and they had to hunker under some cliffs to wait out a brief shower. We decided our group had made the correct choice.
Picture
A fallen Saguaro cactus.  If one of those falls on you, you are a goner.  So heavy and then the spines!  Finished with 5.6 miles and 1900' of climbing.  Meantime, the other group that followed the ridgeline finished with 5.7 miles, about 90 minutes after us and of course wetter:)
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

    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    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.