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| - I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
- The Original JT
Personally, I've never seen fire on this trail, but I have seen rain... and boy, does that make it slippery.
This is a fabulous trail, and is what I used to train for Flatiron, for a good 6 months. i can ascend to the peak on this trail in about 40 minutes. It took over two hours to hit the peak at Flatiron.
My buddy Nick, and I, hiked this trail today... http://youtu.be/l-aMaDoDRVE. Let me explain the journey in words, and then you can watch the movie.
The start of the trail is a winding path, with a steep grade. If I had to guess, it would probably be 15% for most of it, exceeding 20% in some parts. This section culminates in a easterly view of the valley, complete with sunrise if you get out early enough.
it is followed by a brief reprieve, which then leads to the StairMaster portion, which is two distinct flights of railroad ties, some spaced a little too far apart. This brings you to the first beast you'll face. It's a smooth, almost vertical, incline, with two sets of handrails, which are critical for descending. You should be out of breath by the time you clear this one. However, I've seen people faint, and go down near the top. Dont do that, because no one wants to see you "rag doll" it all the way down, and they sure dont want to baby sit you until rescue shows up.
Next is a short break until you hit the first of the rock piles. Thankfully, this one does have a handrail, but it is the last handrail of the ascent. Once past this, you'll be able to catch your breath, until you hit the next of the rock piles. That one isnt bad, and I'm saying this because the next rock pile is bad... like really bad... like 5 or 6 of this one.
Between this one, and the next, is another break, and a short incline, where you wind around the side of the hill, take a big step up, and wind around a little more. Now you're face to face with the "big boy", but you dont know that, because you cant see all of it yet... so wipe that smile off of your face... or better yet, eat a banana, because you're going to need some fuel for this next part. Like a crock pot, just take it low and slow.
You'll climb and climb and then climb some more, and you will clear this part... but you'll never forget how relentless it was, because you'll have to go back down it. From here, the summit is like five minutes away, as you scramble over more rocks, and up one slippery incline. Before you know it, you hear voices and laughter. You're mere seconds away now... and then you're there.
Enjoy the view my friend, and rest up, because you've got to go back down... unless you want to do an up-and-over to the Cholla side, and then come back over again. It's like hiking the mountain twice.
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