From the South Mesa trail head I headed up the Mesa and Towhee trails to Shadow canyon, which leads to S. Boulder Peak. I didn't plan to hike very far up the canyon, as I thought it would still be snowy from March storms. But the trail was dry, so I hiked two thirds of the way to the saddle below the peak.
Shortly after the Shadow canyon trail heads west from the junction with the Mesa trail it passes an old cabin. Not a bad location as it's close to a stream.
The rock outcropping called the Maiden dominates the lower section of the Shadow canyon trail. It's very popular with rock climbers, which is as much as I know about climbing.
Q: What's the difference between a hiking trail and a dry stream bed?
A: Nothing, if we're talking about Shadow canyon
To be fair the trail was severely damaged by the 2013 floods. But still. Here's a typical section of trail followed by a half dozen wood steps. Ed: remember the steps?
Since this was my first challenging hike of the year I climbed at a leisurely pace. Three small groups of hikers passed me, all hiking at a fast clip and presumably heading for the summit. I decided to turn around at about 7700' elevation, near Devil's Thumb.
On the way down I mostly focused on not spraining an ankle. Footing is sketchy, and early season my feet are still pretty dumb. It takes 'em a half dozen hikes to learn not to step on wobbly rocks. But at my slow pace I didn't make any missteps, so it was an easy hike back to the car. In all the hike was 5 miles round trip and about 2000' elevation gain.
A: Nothing, if we're talking about Shadow canyon
To be fair the trail was severely damaged by the 2013 floods. But still. Here's a typical section of trail followed by a half dozen wood steps. Ed: remember the steps?
Since this was my first challenging hike of the year I climbed at a leisurely pace. Three small groups of hikers passed me, all hiking at a fast clip and presumably heading for the summit. I decided to turn around at about 7700' elevation, near Devil's Thumb.
On the way down I mostly focused on not spraining an ankle. Footing is sketchy, and early season my feet are still pretty dumb. It takes 'em a half dozen hikes to learn not to step on wobbly rocks. But at my slow pace I didn't make any missteps, so it was an easy hike back to the car. In all the hike was 5 miles round trip and about 2000' elevation gain.
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