Blackett's Ridge, Twice

One reason I keep a hiking & biking blog is to document my physical (some might also suggest mental) decline as I age off this orb. Likewise, when I re-hike a particular trail, I like to compare my time to previous attempts to document any decline. That is one reason I have hiked Blackett's Ridge so many times. It's a real test of stamina despite its short 6 miles—and it's relatively close by.

My goal this afternoon was to eclipse my previous best time of under 2:15 up this craggy ridge and back, which I accomplished hiking with my pal Ira in 2019. 

Little did I know after summiting in a great time (1:09) that it would all be for naught, that my 6-mile hike would be over 9 miles, that my elevation gain up Blackett's would double to 2,600 feet, that I would run out of water, and that I would be lucky to get off the trail before dark.

I made great time to the top. The actual Blackett's Ridge Trail, which forks off the Phoneline Trail after 1.6 miles is 1.3 miles long and 1,300+ feet of elevation gain, making it quite steep. This is the trail I would do twice.  

I started my descent confident that I would easily finish in under 2:15, and hoping for under two hours if I really hoofed it. This would prove to be my literal downfall. About ⅛-mile down from from the summit, I tripped and took a hard fall into the boulder- and rubble-strewn trail, drawing blood and injuring my beer-drinking right elbow. I was a bit in shock, but quickly assessed my injuries, and figured they were minor enough to allow me to keep going at the same pace.

After reaching the bottom, where Blackett's Ridge Trail meets Phoneline, I reach for my new iPhone 13 Mini to check my time. It was no longer in my shirt pocket; it'd obviously been dislodged during my fall at the top. I had no choice but to hike up Blackett's again, despite having only a few sips of water left.

I climbed back to the summit, slower this time, and began my phone search in the upper reaches. I was unable to find my phone and figured I would be up the next morning with Patty's phone to use the find-my-phone feature. While back at the summit, I ran into Steve, from Northbrook, Illinois and asked if he'd found a phone. He hadn't but asked for my number and tied to call it several times. He said if he found it he would turn it in to the Visitor Center. 

Short story long, another hiker found my phone and I now have it back. Now I have to get back and do the hike right.

The hike starts out as a sandy stretch for the sauntering crowd.

The Phoneline Trail is where the rockiness begins.

The last little push to the summit is kinder than the rest of the trail.