So where does one go when the forecast is horrible for just about everywhere? I guess its Arizona. My climbing partner and I had tentative plans to go to Yosemite, but as the weekend approached the plan began looking pretty sketchy due to the forecast for heavy rain (and the fact that we hadn't reserved a campsite in time). With everywhere from Vegas to the Pacific coast looking about the same, we started to look at Phoenix. With only a 20% chance of thunderstorms, it seemed like the best option. So after a late start we were rocketing along the I-10 on the way to Arizona. That is until I got pulled over about 15 miles this side of the border. CHP was lying in wait and got me and the guy who I was following. Progress slowed a bit after that, but we still made good time.
We had decided to head for the Superstition Mountains and had a few choices for what we would climb. After getting very little sleep because I had driven the entire way there, I decided I wasn't totally psyched about a long approach and heavy packs filled with the rack and rope. So we decided on a class 3 route up Superstition Peak. We chose to head up via Hieroglyphic Canyon, a route that follows the Lost Gold Mine Trail for a bit before heading up into the canyon. You basically stayed on good trail until you gained the ridge to head for the summit.
Despite the fact that the parking lot was busy all morning, we didn't see anyone along the trail as we headed up. Storm clouds could be seen in the distance, but for most of the climb the day was just about perfect. Overcast skies and temps were just right. Some light rain fell while we sat on the summit, and thunder could be heard way off in the distance, but other than that it worked out well. We enjoyed quite a bit of scrambling along the way to the summit, not always taking the easiest route but definitely having fun.
For the descent we chose a different route, one that took us down a gully that would allow us to enter the canyon further up than we had on the approach and would let us see more of the area. One of the things I hadn't considered when I decided on this descent route was the number of evil cacti that sit in your way as you try to descend a brush choked gully. Needless to say, my sleep deprived state didn't help matters and it was a long walk back to the car! Darkness hit us right about the time we found the trail leading out of the canyon but it didn't slow our progress as route finding was pretty obvious. We were glad to see some petroglyphs on the way out as this was one of the reasons we chose that route. We also saw a couple of rattlesnakes right along the trail. The first one began rattling as we approached, but the second one didn't alert us to its presence until right after we had walked by it. We heard a few others along the way but these were further off of the trail. We made it back to the trailhead not long after regaining the trail and headed into town to get a much needed meal!
The next day we slept in a bit and then headed to Pinnacle Peak, a small park just north of Phoenix. We climbed the namesake formation and had a great morning. After that it was lunch with some of my partner's family and then the long drive back to Cali. Not a bad weekend!
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