Saturday, November 25, 2017

Piestewa Alternate Ascent

Weather: 69ยบ, sunny

Time:  27 minutes

About this Hike:  Another day, same weather, same hike...

Today I tried going up the alternate summit trail now that I'm confident in where it starts and ends.  I'm convinced this trail shaves quite a bit of distance off versus starting at the main trailhead. The difference is that the alternate seems steeper, so elevation gains happen quicker.

Regardless, I posted a 27 minute time to the summit today.  That was with a handicap, albeit not a generous one.  Maybe I was closer to my usual 26 minutes—I had to make a lot of stops for bottlenecks in the trail.  However, there were periods where I sprinted along like a mountain goat. 

I didn't quite touch the summit again today because the congestion at that narrow final push was just too much.  The summit is beautiful, but also something I've seen many times before.

On the descent I used the alternate trail again.  I think I'm really going to like the alternate trail...

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