I've been interested in the Superstition Ridgeline route for a while, ever since we first climbed Siphon Draw and wondered what was beyond the top, where most of the day hikers didn't go. There's a trail all the way to the other end of the peaks, that's cool!
I attempted it in December but when I arrived at the boulder climb just before Superstition Peak, I decided I didn't want to try it. The move is pretty tame but it's high enough off the ground that my fear of falling said "please no".
The scenery is spectacular and the route has some interesting scrambles, so it was only natural to try to get John up there with me. Equal parts getting help with the boulder challenge and so he could see the ridgeline and trail.
We did an orienteering meet on Saturday and stayed in Phoenix to try this FKT on Sunday. Got lucky with beautiful, somewhat overcast, and perfect temperature weather. John led the way up Siphon Draw and we finally managed to climb it together without making any route choice errors.
I took over the lead for the traverse across the ridge, fixing several of my mistakes from the previous run (it's easy to get off track in a few places). John helped me with the sideways move over the boulder, happy to finally get past that spot.
From there the trail is mostly easy travel. John started watching the tracks on Gaia so we avoided all but the smallest of detours. We were surprised at how many hikers we saw way up high - nice to see so many people getting up in the mountains.
Then the big descent, where we could see the parking lot from the top. It looked far enough away that I didn't think we had a shot at breaking 5 hours. But we were dropping in elevation fairly quickly, so maybe? Except it was just rocky/technical enough that I didn't maintain much momentum. We got close to the Wave Cave trail with some leeway on the made-up 5 hour goal, so maybe? But the flatter trail at the bottom, even though it was finally runnable, was long enough that we didn't quite break 5.
No matter, it was a super fun Superstition day!
Then I followed Bill's route on trails back around the base of the peaks to Lost Dutchman - thanks Bill for leading the way on this return route. Picked up the truck, picked up John, and we were on our way home (did you know there's a Renaissance Fair in that area?)