Mount Wrightson Loop

After the recent embarrassment in Davos, where President Persimmon Pedophile spewed incoherent racist rants and derided our friends and allies, we decided we needed a really challenging hike to cleanse our minds. We settled on Mount Wrightson, despite recent rains and the possibility of snow. Based on a couple of recent trail reports, there wasn't enough snow to bother with microspikes; boy were those reports wrong. Luckily, we brought our spikes anyway, and were glad we did.

The first time we hiked Wrightson, in 2019, we ran into ice and snow about two miles from the summit. As bad as that was, this time it was far worse, and the trail was rather difficult to navigate in stretches the final two miles up, and for a mile on the return once we hit the Super Trail. 

We always do one of the longer routes on Wrightson, usually 11-16 miles, depending on the combination of trails. Today, we chose one of our favorites, the Loop. This wonderful hike consists of the Super Trail up to Josephine Saddle, Mount Baldy trail to the summit, and the Super Trail back to Madera Canyon and the trailhead. Next time we might just do the Super Trail the whole way up and back, a route we have yet to try. As a bonus, it is a bit longer, but less steep.

Saw a trio of hikers at Josephine Saddle, and a solo hiker shortly after. After that, no one the rest of the day. The overcast skies, cool to cold temps, and dangerous conditions might have kept the more inexperienced (read, not crazy) folks away. Temps at the summit were in the low 40s with lots of wind. Not a very relaxing place to have lunch. Great day, however.

Times were a little slow for us, but blame the trail conditions toward

the summit for that.

Josephine Saddle, about four miles up.

Not sure what the hell this pic is, but that won't stop me

from posting it. Maybe Misty will know. 😋

About 2 miles from the summit, we donned our microspikes and were glad we did.

Our summit lunch spot, looking southeast toward some of our Huachuca mountains.