Rangitoto - Bloody Sky!

9/22/16

Today was our grand adventure on Rangitoto Island! We got a relatively early start to the day in order to make the 9:15am ferry and decided to skip the formal sit down restaurant for breakfast. Instead we decided to check out the small pastry shop built into the hotel, which turned out to be a much better proposition. They had a great breakfast sandwich that we enjoyed the following day too!

The walk down to the ferry was just shy of a mile and all downhill, so it was not a big deal. We made it with plenty of time to get a ticket and enjoy the cool, fresh sea air for a bit. Riding over on the ferry really was a wonderful site with the breeze blowing past us; a great way to start the morning!

Good morning Rangitoto! We'll be seeing you soon!

Rangitoto Island is the most recent addition to the Auckland area viewshed and its most predominant feature too. It formed when the volcano erupted roughly 600 years ago and sprang up from the water just west of Motutapu Island. Human and dog prints preserved in the ash from the Rangitoto eruption found on Motutapu indicate that the Maori were living on the island at the time of the eruption – What an intense experience that must have been to witness! One day nothing but sea between them and mainland New Zealand and the next day a big island pops out of the sea right in front of you! Crazy.

Once we landed, we decided to take a side trail into a Kowhai grove to let everyone else get ahead of us and avoid seeing too many people. It was a much smaller trail and before long it felt like we were the only ones on the island. Kowhai is a tree native to the island that blooms with a pretty yellow flower in the spring and summer. Our trip is at the end of winter/beginning of spring here so there were not very many flowers in bloom. But there were a few, so I felt lucky to see at least a couple. I imagine it will be quite a site in another two or three weeks.

The Kowhai Flower.

The little side trail spit us out just a little bit past the start of the main trail to the summit and we began our ascent to the top of the volcano! It was not too difficult of a hike but we took our time during the first part – although I imagine that Tyler may not have been taking his time as much as I was. I recently finished reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, who had often described walking on the Appalachian Trail for hours until he found a nice spot to sit and wait for his friend to catch up and enjoy the view. Those parts in the book became a little more real to me on this hike. I didn’t mind at all though, it gave me an excuse to stop and take in the views that I rarely take advantage of on my own. And the company is always nice too.

But I also wanted to take a side trip to Boulder Bay, where New Zealand took a lot of their old ships to die, and that was not going to happen if I continued at that pace. So when we got to the turn to check out the lava tubes, I parted ways with Tyler and we agreed to meet back at the wharf just before the last ferry left the island at 3:30pm.

I made my way ahead to check out the lava tubes; a fun little side trip, but there were only really 4 of them and none went any serious distance. Plus, I had other places to go and not a lot of time to do it, so after a good 20 minutes exploring a couple of them, I was off to Shipwreck Bay . . . I mean Boulder Bay.

Still, the Lava Tubes were worth the side trip.

If the suggested times were accurate, it was going to be tight and there would be a small chance that I wouldn’t get there before I had to turn around to make the last ferry. But when I put my mind to it, I can make my way through trails pretty fast and I had a feeling that I might be able to make it happen. When I made it through the first part in 10 minutes when the map said 35 minutes, I felt a lot better about being able to make the trip in time before I had to leave.

Sure enough, I made it to the bay with plenty of time to briefly look around and take it all in. The waves from the ocean are incredibly loud and you would expect to hear them a lot sooner than you do, so when I first heard the faint sound of the beach I figured I still had another 5 or 10 minutes to go. But it grew louder a lot quicker than I expected and by the time I turned around the bend in the trail I could see the water. It is kind of crazy the dampening effect the trees have on the sound that goes through them. That was one thing I noticed on the island – just how quiet and still everything seemed to be. It was very peaceful.

Boulder Bay - Where ships go to die!

Boulder Bay was another great view, but not much of the ships could still be seen – at least where I was. Apparently the most intact ones were a short hike further north, but I didn’t have time to make that trek if I wanted to make it to the top of the volcano too. So I just looked around a bit, enjoyed the sea breeze and then made my way back toward the top

A lone piece of metal lets me know that I am in the right place.

By then I was starting to feel the aching from the hike. I have not been able to do much hiking (work or fun) for a while now so I was not in great shape. I was definitely going to feel this in the morning, but the views were worth every step. The top of the volcano did not disappoint! I stayed up there long enough to eat a snack and enjoy the view, as well as help a couple people with their photos. Then I was on my way back down to catch the ferry.

The photo does not do the view from the top any justice.

Tyler ended up checking out the lava tubes and making it to the top too, so he was feeling the effects of the hike as well. We had also planned on checking out a WWI and WWII defense over in Devonport on the way back. I was certainly feeling the Rangitoto hike by now and would have been completely alright if we had not gone to Devonport too, but I didn’t want to make that suggestion. So I left it up to Tyler, thinking that he would have had his fill of adventure for the day. Imagine my shock when he said, ‘What the heck, we are only here once!’

Way to go Tyler!

And with that, we were off to Devonport. I certainly am glad that Tyler made the decision to check it out, because they were really impressive. I guess the local newpaper decided it would be funny to report a spoof article about a Russian ship attacking Auckland in the late 19^th century that got a lot of people up in arms about New Zealand’s lack of defense. Despite the fact that the article was a farce (apparently, the name of the Russian ship in the article was Kaskowiski – Cask-of-Whisky), there was legitimate concern with current Russian expansion in the area, so they started a project to build up their defenses on North Head that expanded during WWI and again during WWII.

Battery Observation Post built in 1889 - one of the oldest structures still remaining.

After the wars, it was used for training by the New Zealand Navy for several years before it was turned into a park open to the public – that is pretty cool! Anyone with the gumption to get outside can go soak in the history and beauty of the area at no charge. Great job New Zealand!

Well, by then our feet were certainly not happy with us with the full day of walking so we limped back into town to find a restaurant to get some dinner and have a couple of pints with the hopes of dulling the aches a bit. A quick ferry ride back to Auckland and we were ready to walk the mile back to the hotel uphill . . . yeah right! We totally took a cab.

A New Chapter - A New Journey

Santa Ritas – Mt Wrightson

Elevation: 9453 Feet

Starting Elevation: 5331 feet

Date: 03/26/2016

Time: 4 hours 40 minutes* (2 hours 35 minutes to the top, 25-minute break on top, 1 hour 40 minutes down)

Steps: 25, 265

Miles: 9 round trip

* Please note that there is a good chance I am a lot faster than you will be and most people should not use this number as a guide to how long they will take. The guide I saw said it would be a 6-hour hike and reviewers of the hike said they did it in 6.5 and 7 hours. This is not to brag; I know a few people that are much faster than I am on trails and I am sure that there are many more. But these people are serious trail runners with resting heart rates in the 40s. Mine is a much more average 60 beats per minute, but something about how I am built makes me a naturally good hiker. My co-workers call me a billy goat. So on the off chance that someone outside of my family and friends read this, there is a good chance you should add some additional time to your plan.

I have decided to hike the tallest peak in every mountain range in Arizona. I did not put a firm deadline to do this, but I have a serious hiking goal coming up in two or three years that I am not quite ready to make public knowledge and I would like to be over half-way through by the time of that goal. I just googled the number of mountain ranges in Arizona and Wikipedia believes that there are 210 named mountain ranges in Arizona. That is exciting!

I got this idea today as I was hiking Mt. Wrightson for the first time. It is the tallest peak in the Santa Ritas and I have always meant to get to the top of it, but only managed to make a plan of it nearing the end of my 37^th year. It really was a wonderful hike and all the way up I was thinking about how great it felt to be out in the crisp morning air and challenging myself at least a little. I was also thinking about this yet to be revealed goal and how I could get myself into a condition where it would be an achievable task. Thus the challenge of the tallest peak in each range was born. I did not know there were 210 ranges at the time . . . this sounds like a real challenge to be proud of when I achieve it.

Definitely a view I wish I had gotten to see sooner!

I also decided that I would create an entry in here each time I got to the top of one of these peaks. Once again, I intend to update family and friends on here somewhat daily when I do this yet to be revealed challenge (as well as another that I hope to do in about 8 years). So I figured writing an entry for each peak I do in the meantime will be good practice.

These entries will not be focused on the mechanics of the hike so they will not necessarily be a good read for those interested in tips about each of the hikes. However, I did decide to start each entry with statistics about the hike – because statistics are fun and I envision that I will enjoy looking back at these entries and these statistics. The entries will be more like a window into my brain at a moment in time when I afford myself a lot of time to think about the world around me, where I am in it and where I want to be in it. But there is sure to be a lot of talk about hiking and being outdoors as well as a few interesting facts about the hike. So read on if you so choose.

Mt. Wrightson is named after a GLO land surveyor that was killed by Apaches just prior to an attack on Fort Buchanan. The fort was burned to the ground and later abandoned. I found that information while doing some research on the area for a survey we had to do for work. I thought it was all very interesting and remember thinking that I wanted to do the hike even more after finding that bit of history.

It really is a beautiful hike. I took the Old Baldy Trail because it was the shorter of the options. I will almost certainly always take the shorter more direct approach when given the option; even if it costs me a few extra dollars. I am sort of known to be a bit frugal, but there is one thing I value much more than money: Time. My time is extremely valuable. The world is big and there is so much I would love to get to see and do. So much, in fact, that I know I will never even come close to making a dent in that list. Time is not on my side – but if there is something I can do to save a bit of it for the next task at hand then I will be that much closer to getting to do or see one more thing on my ever-growing list. That is priceless. So I gladly paid the $5 fee to park at Madera Canyon.

Overlooking the valley that I spent much of my youth!

The approach is from the west side, which would make it an ideal choice for a summer hike. If you got up early enough, you could do 90 % of the hike in the shade. Summertime in Southern Arizona puts a premium on shade. I did get a very early start. I committed to meeting someone at 5pm so I wanted to be sure I would be back with plenty of time to get to downtown Tucson by 5pm. I go back and forth on whether I prefer an early or later start to my hikes. If I get started early the trail will be less crowded and I can move freely at my faster pace; plus, who goes for a hike to be surrounded by a crowd of people? But when I start later, I end up getting to pass a lot more people on the hike. It feels good to pass people on a hike. It makes me feel like I might not be as close to the end of my summer years as I believe. Ultimately, silence is solace. So I usually choose to go earlier if I have the option.

I made it up to Josephine Saddle easy enough and in very good time. At that location there is a memorial for 3 boy scouts that got caught in a freak blizzard in November of 1958 and died. Up until that point my thoughts were mostly going over a predicament that I have put myself into. I hesitate to go into detail on it here as it could cause some of you to look at me a bit of bad light. If I don’t talk about it in the next paragraph, then I have either decided not to or ran out of time and wanted to get the post up on the same day of the hike. But now my thoughts turned to those three boys (ages 12, 13 and 16) and their families. I imagined the scar such a tragedy would leave on a family and hoped that time had healed that scar at least a little. At one time (and maybe it still is) it was the most intense search and rescue effort that took place in Arizona. So I said a quick prayer for them and their family and I was off again.

The remaining part was just a little more intense and steep, but nothing crazy. The trail really is well maintained and the occasional down trees to hop over were the only minor obstacles. I was very content. More content than I have been in a long time. I really believe I was made to hike mountains.

I have just started reading my great-great-grandma’s autobiography. What a wonderful gift that is to her descendants! I have decided that everyone should attempt to write down the story of their life for their family. What a great window into the late 1800’s it has been! I see a bit of myself in her and her father. Both were fascinated by the outdoors and I find myself relating a lot to how she describes her outdoor adventures. Her dad was a very solitary person too; which I can relate to as well. I spent a lot of the remaining hike up to the top thinking about her, her father, autobiography and the idea of writing down my own story (that is the other reason I decided to write these entries – that way I can look back on them and find the pertinent information to write my story when the time comes.

So I made it to the top and spent a little bit of time enjoying the view; it always amazes me just how far you can see in Arizona if you have the right vantage point. Then I found shelter from the wind behind the old foundation of a fire look-out of another life and time and thought a bit more about my great-great-grandma’s adventures. I wonder if she could have even imagined that some of her descendants would have found their way out west and found an equal love of a very different nature than the rural Illinois landscapes of which she was so fond.

The archaeologist in me appreciated that the foundation to the fire look-out was still there :)

Until next we meet . . .