Mitten Ridge Mar 09
From Schnebly Hill Road, one mile from the end of pavement
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MITTEN RIDGE
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We start by climbing the Munds Wagon trail
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Is this a vortex tree?
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Leaving the wash, we head directly up Mitten Ridge after less than a mile. We are now on a series of ledges.
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A tricky place
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A band of limestone
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Our break stop, on a rocky shoulder
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Sometimes we switch roles and pause to let nature admire US
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As we ledge crawl, a precariously balanced rock
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The shoulder in the distance will be our route back
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This Indian paintbrush is one of the earliest bloomers of the season
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We approach the final ridge
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The steepest pitch
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...And we're up!
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Here on the backside of the ridge, we choose a lunch spot
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That's Hightway 89A and Midgley Bridge in the valley
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We start down, this time well to the right of our original route
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This nose looks impossible...
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...but it's our route
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This gets us down fast
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Now we're back in the wash
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One last dead tree before we go
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