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| Hiking | 14.78 Miles |
4,564 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.78 Miles | 8 Hrs 7 Mns | | 2.29 mph |
| 4,564 ft AEG | 1 Hour 39 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Got a late start at the overflow lot of 9am. There were surprisingly few hikers anywhere on the trail for a Saturday. A handful of folks on the way to Cardiac Gap, but I only saw one above that point.
All of the drainages were flowing nicely. There was patchy snow above Cardiac Gap. Esperero was especially flush with snowmelt, though none of the creek crossings gave any trouble. Bridal Veil falls were impressive, as were several other falls along the way, and there was lots of snow on the shady side of the canyon. I made it to Bridal Veil a little after noon, had a nice long lunch, and filtered water. I had the falls to myself too. I thought hey, since I'm here, and the Window is so close, why not try for it? So I did.
Trail conditions to the falls were very good. Above the falls they deteriorated somewhat; I'd say the trail just needed a good haircut. At one point as it was leaving a drainage to switchback up to the ridge, a pileup of deadfall blocked the trail and had a rather elaborate workaround, with some of cairns obscured until you got around the other side of them and looked back.
After the junction with Cathedral Rock Trail, conditions deteriorated further. Lots of overgrowth and occasional deadfall, and a few places where the tread was damaged by erosion post-fire. Patchy snow persisted. Between the falls and Cathedral there was a single set of footprints in the snow, but they stopped at the junction, so I was on my own to keep to the trail after that point.
I made it to the saddle overlooking Montrose Canyon at 2:30pm. It had been burned pretty badly, but the views were broad into Catalina ahead and Tucson behind. The trail was completely obscured by snow after the saddle, and there were impressive ice flows hanging onto the rocks of the canyon walls. I think some of the icicles were twenty feet long, gauging them by the size of the trees around.
At any rate, moving forward that late in the day with no visible trail, icy rocks, and no buddy to call for help seemed a Very Bad Idea. I turned around sad and headed back to the car. I passed only three sets of hikers on the way down, none of whom had been any further than the falls. Esperero Canyon itself and the falls are the highlight of this hike unless you are super invested in something past them, so I totally understand this.
Made it to the car a little before 5:30. My phone told me I'd burned over 4,000 calories, so I picked up a steak dinner for two on the way home and ate it. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few poppies on the way up to Cardiac Gap. Some verbena between Cardiac Gap and Esperero Canyon. Brittlebush and globe mallow in sporadic bloom wherever they are seen. |
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Esperero Canyon |
Heavy flow |
Heavy flow |
| | | Good flow along its length with impressive waterfalls everywhere. | | | |
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