Distance

7.4 mi to summit

13.1 mi total

Elevation

7,609 ft start

10,907 ft max

Vertical

3,507 ft gain

Time

5 hr 43 min to summit

9 hr 20 min total

Last climb of the year! We started at the South Loop trailhead and took the South Loop Trail to Griffith Peak. None of us had been at altitude in a while, so we were huffing and puffing a bit. From Griffith Peak, we descended south, through the burn area. We followed Sexton Ridge past the Sexton Ridge 'peak' and to the La Madre Mountain Wilderness Highpoint. That stretch of the hike was extremely pleasant. The views were great and the terrain was pretty easy. From LMMWHP, we descended SE down a steep ridge. That part was horrible! Lots of bushwhacking, grabby vines and burnt trees made it difficult to stay on the ridge, so we had to sidehill through steep talus slopes. Finally, we made it down to the wash, where we met up with Rob, who dropped us off at the other trailhead this morning. We followed the wash for a while, then took the Griffith Shadow trail system back to the Griffith Shadow trailhead, where Rob had cold drinks and his FJ waiting. We gained about 4100 feet and lost about 5700 feet over 14ish miles.

Route name

North Ridge from Griffith

point-to-point/traverse
Obstacles

routefinding, bushwhacking, snow on route

Key gear

GPS device