We are the tiny figures on Devil's Bridge |
Having officially done our last hike of the trip together, the beastly Mount Wrightson, its finally time to share all those slightly torturous but stunningly beautiful moments with you.
Before we get stuck in let me just say that my hiking experience hasn't been all smiles. At times walking up a giant rock has really tested my patience, motivation and endurance to the max, both physically and mentally.
There did seem to be one recurring trend in our adventures in regard to these struggles. I would start a hike particularly grumpy when we had to get up around 5am and eat breakfast on the move. I am not really a morning person. Especially if I haven't slept very well the night before, for example cos I'd had to nap in the car or we were so far up north that our motel room was freezing! Luckily (for Sharath's sake mostly) this moody period tended to be short lived, as it melted away with the amazing views and general highs from the physicality of it all.
We also found that food was an extremely good motivator. Nothing like the promise of a diner brunch or a Mexican feast to keep you moving, when you realise you still have everything you just finished huffing and puffing your way up, to climb back down.
YAY! it rained! Picacho Peak |
I should point out that Sharath and I have a habit of losing track of time when we are together. We like to take our hikes slow, so we can take in all of the new surroundings (or read a book in a picturesque setting). This day dream filled approach had never caused any problems on our previous short hikes, as we could always trail run back down the relatively short distance before it got dark. Our tendency to meander was not the only reason our hike was so long, somewhere along the way I developed a throbbing and persistent pain in my upper right thigh. I remember it being particularly bad when we were a little under 2 miles from the top. We discussed if we should just turn around and head back down, this may have been the sensible option but I could see the top! It felt like an injustice just to turn around with out reaching those magnificent views across all of Arizona and out to the Mexican border. So we trudged on.
Silly faces time! |
So much glee |
I was so elated when we finally reached the top, I was literally shouting and running with joy for the last few meters. The views were utterly spectacular, with the classic Arizona clear blue skies all around. We were on the highest point in the Santa Rita Mountain Range; on top of the world.
After refueling and beginning our descent it became obvious that we weren't going to reach the car before nightfall. Mount Wrightson is what they call a forested Sky Island. A vastly bio diverse mountain, with vegetation and wildlife all over the peak, completely surrounded by the much less inhabitable cacti filled desert. The unique ecosystem gave us a canopy of trees to walk among for most of the way, which was a great source of shade on the way up but a little intimidating in the dark on the way down. As the sun set and we pulled out our torches, I became fairly anxious and jumpy to the sounds of lizards and snakes scuttling around the forest floor. The signs warning that this was bear country down at the start of trail head was also playing on my mind.
My heightened state of fight or flight instinct came to its climax when we heard a tree crash to the ground somewhere behind us. For a moment I really thought, "we might die tonight". After some reassuring words to calm me down I got my confidence back and we started moving pretty swiftly back down the trail, as my desire to get home overpowered the sense of pain coming from my thigh.
Descent sunset view from Mt Wrightson |
Some how we manage to keep each others spirits raised and made it to the car around 10:30pm, worn out and hungry but victorious!
When we finally got home to feast on some real food, instead of the days fill of trail mix, cereal bars and Hershey's Almond Kisses, I could barely walk but I was pretty damn proud of myself! I'm certainly not going to forget this hike for a long time and I don't think my legs will either!
That was a bit of verbose trail through my hikes, but I hope you managed to make it to the end and found it as satisfying as I did.