The Window & a Rescue

The day prior to our Saturday hike, I considered canceling due to a 20% chance of rain.  OK, in the midwest, a 20% rain chance means there is a 100% certainty it will rain.  Out here, 20% is 20% but the closer one is to the mountains, the chances increase.  And so it would be true today. Amy and I drive to the trailhead where the rising sun illuminates peaks. Our destination on the left and In that mass of rock is the Window.

Our group of 10 arrives, gears up and starts a little late, entirely my fault as I mispositioned the "map pin".  on the hiking site I use to announce hikes. We begin our hike on the Ventana Canyon trail which requires several stream crossings as we make our way up canyon.

Then the climb steepens, significantly.  We eventually reach a saddle, drop down a bit and pass the Maiden Pools.  This 2.5 mile distance to the pools is a popular destination so the trail is well worn.  The trail above the pools....

....was surprisingly easy to follow given the Bighorn Fire and heavy monsoon of last summer that inspired thick new growth of vegetation.  While the Maiden Pools is the most popular spot, there are many other waterfalls and pools that would be fun to visit....on a warmer day.  Today's high in the valley would "only" be 64 while higher up, where we were headed, the temperature would be much cooler.

At about mile 4.2, we get a good look at the Window!  Looks kind of small but the opening is huge when once inside.

I had told the group that once we are even with the top of a spire (shown above), we are almost at the top of Ventana Canyon.  And so we were which had....

....lots of examples of the remains of the fire of 2020.  

In the distance, it appeared it was snowing around Mount Lemmon.  Clouds had gathered, thickly, around us too, so it was only a matter of time before we would become wet from snow or rain.

Reaching the saddle, even with the cloud cover, we had grand views as we are now on the Esperero Trail, following a ridge toward a rock formation that houses the Window.  The "nose" of rock, pointing right, slightly right of center in the above image, is just above the Window.  So, a little more climbing required.

So many trees blackened and dead from the fire.  Mount Kimball in the distance.  At last....

....we reach the Window.  The wind was blowing, the temperature was in the low 30's or upper 20's so many of us retreated to seek shelter behind a wall.  The exception was Marc G., on the right, who is impervious to the cold as the rest of us wore gloves, hats, jackets, etc...

Through the opening I could see Window Peak but none of us had the appetite to continue on to that as a secondary destination.  I've been there only once and it is kind of tricky navigating to the top.

Marc took the above image of me.  I ventured as far from the opening as I thought was safe. The exposure is not as bad as it appears although I like the fact that it appears "scary".  Maybe I should send this image to my mother. 

I sat, legs extended, enjoying one of those, "it's good to be alive" moments.  For most of us, it was too cold to enjoy the opening of the Window so we did not linger for long and began....

....the descent which included passing a few patches of snow. The elevation of the Window is about 7000' which is almost 3000' below Mount Lemmon where there is much more snow and 4-6" forecast for today and tonight.

To the south, we could see precipitation approaching and wondered, would it be snow or rain....

....the wind roared through the pass as it brought in snow.  Later, Amy and Katherine dubbed it the "Blizzard of 2022"!  We were glad it was snow rather than rain.  Once we got off the ridge, the wind abated as we....

....continued down canyon with the rock formation we had left, barely visible through the snow.  So, there we are, descending when we begin to hear screams.  I was skeptical, attributing it to kids climbing on the other side of the canyon but in fact, it was a hiker in distress.  He was yelling, "Help me!" over and over and even after we shouted our replies, he continued to scream.  Given his distance and surroundings, it was difficult to see where he was so we repeatedly asked him to stand and wave. Marc immediately descended to the bottom of the ravine, well up canyon of the hiker and then traversed the slope toward the him.  I descended via the trail until I was below the hiker, found a crossing and headed up.

Members of our group asked if the hiker was hurt and he replied "a little".  Marc reached him first and found the hiker, uninjured, just, well, terrified may not be an overstatement.  It's a story too long for this format to tell about why he was, where he was but we led him down to the bottom of the ravine and then up to the trail where our hiking buddies were waiting.  We had called 911 and before his cell phone died, the hiker had texted his mother stating he was lost and she too had called.  As we hiked back with the hiker, his parents arrived and soon thereafter, a team of 3 from SAR, then a team of 5 then a team of 2 more.  He was well cared for so....

....we resumed our merry descent.  Above is our track to and from the Window, shown in red.  The longer blue line is how I think the lost hiker reached where we found him.  He had gotten off trail and kept hiking but at least stayed to the left of a ridge and within sight of the bottom of Ventana Canyon.

Another hike, another adventure.  We finished with a little over 13 miles and 4000'+ of climbing. Tough hike.