Yesterday I went with a group on a Hike on Finger Rock Trail to Mt. Kimball in the Santa Catalina Mountains. This was a Grand Canyon training hike and it lived up to that goal. Round trip was about 10 miles, with 4000' of elevation gain in 4 of the miles going up. I did fairly well, except for some leg cramping near the top. On my way back down, I ran into the group's leader who let me know that 2 of the hikers had taken a wrong turn up top on the way back down. We had spotty cell phone coverage with them. After giving him my cell phone and map, I went back down, as I was out of water. Unsure of the situation, me and the other 2 hikers waiting at the bottom went to the store to get some more water and food. When we got back, the lost hikers had again found the trail after a couple of hours of looking around. Another hiker on the trail had also given our leader more water and a head lamp, so we didn't need to go up with more supplies. It took awhile, but about 1.5 hours after sunset, the 2 lost hikers and the leader made it back down. Waiting for them ended up being quite an enjoyable experience for me, as we just sat out under the stars and talked until they arrived. Next week is my Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike. I should be in fairly good shape for it, although I perhaps should have done a few more training hikes.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Lost After Dark
Yesterday I went with a group on a Hike on Finger Rock Trail to Mt. Kimball in the Santa Catalina Mountains. This was a Grand Canyon training hike and it lived up to that goal. Round trip was about 10 miles, with 4000' of elevation gain in 4 of the miles going up. I did fairly well, except for some leg cramping near the top. On my way back down, I ran into the group's leader who let me know that 2 of the hikers had taken a wrong turn up top on the way back down. We had spotty cell phone coverage with them. After giving him my cell phone and map, I went back down, as I was out of water. Unsure of the situation, me and the other 2 hikers waiting at the bottom went to the store to get some more water and food. When we got back, the lost hikers had again found the trail after a couple of hours of looking around. Another hiker on the trail had also given our leader more water and a head lamp, so we didn't need to go up with more supplies. It took awhile, but about 1.5 hours after sunset, the 2 lost hikers and the leader made it back down. Waiting for them ended up being quite an enjoyable experience for me, as we just sat out under the stars and talked until they arrived. Next week is my Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike. I should be in fairly good shape for it, although I perhaps should have done a few more training hikes.
