Blackett’s Ridge
This 5.8 mile round-trip (according to my GPS) hike kicked my ass today. First of all, it’s probably not a good idea to go hiking after, say, 7am when it’s so damn hot outside this time of year. Second of all, it’s not a good idea to only bring one source of water; always keep a backup Nalgene just in case. I apparently didn’t listen to myself and started hiking with a buddy from work at 7:30am with only a camelback and a few granola bars to eat.
I’ll admit it, I struggled up; my asthma was acting up a touch and it’s a right nasty hill to climb (it gains about 1500 feet in less than a mile). After contemplating turning around, I decided to keep pushing for the top. The heat was beating down on us, but it was worth the trip! Here are a number of pictures I took along the way. While at the top, we grabbed a Geocache that someone placed and took in the amazing views of Tucson and the rest of the Santa Catalina Mountains that surrounded us.
The way down was much easier on my breathing, but just as hard on my legs and water supply. After going about 1/3 of the way back, I ended up finishing all 3 liters that I took with me and leached off of Pete for the rest of the trip. Seeing as how it was reaching 100 outside and we were still miles from the trail head and the parking lot, it worried me a touch that I should have been a bit better at using what little water I had.
The leaching off of Pete helped me through, and, after 4 hours of hiking, we reached the parking lot and were able to both dehydrate with the Gatorade that he had brought with him.
I’d do the hike again, but will likely wait until it’s MUCH cooler outside to do it. Fall, winter, and spring are the optimum times to go on this for a reason.
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