Sugarloaf 7-11-09

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:02 pm

Eric and I climbed Sugarloaf Peak via Falling Rock Canyon and returned by ascending to Ontario Rdge and taking the Ice House Canyon Trail back to the car. Eric had his ankle hit by a pretty decent-sized rock that came loose while traversing a scree slope. (This was AFTER leaving Falling Rock Canyon, by the way.) It had started to bother him by the time we approached Ontario Ridge, so we didn't even bother with the short diversion to the peak, opting to head down instead. Eric was nursing a tender ankle later but it does not appear to be too terrible -- just a reminder of how little it takes to waylay a person.

We got the obligatory picture of the infamous strap-on but there are plenty of them out there already. An interesting cultural comment on Ice House Canyon.

Pictures

Post by **HikeUp** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:02 pm

Looks like you guys went for the direct ascent out of FRC to Sugarloaf...dang that's steep. Any class 3 going that way?

BTW...congrats on not bagging Ontario!

Hope the ankle gets better soon.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:19 pm

We were thinking about going up the scree slope that leads to the saddle on the ridge that goes up to Ontario. (See HPS description.) After looking it over, the scree seemed like less fun than actual ground. So we traversed over to the right a fair bit. There were some short Class 3 sections that could be avoided by heading up earlier, like most people seem to do. That original scree slope looks like it might be more fun going down.

We should get points for not bagging Bighorn too!

Eric is feeling a lot better, but is actually taking a day off from running, which is rare. It does look like hte ankle will be tender for a bit. He is going to be careful with it.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:01 am

AlanK wrote:We should get points for not bagging Bighorn too!

Oh man! This is a tough one.....

Perhaps the rules committee will have to convene in special session 8)

But was the original plan to bag Bighorn as well ? Then you got to the summit trail and said nah?

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:22 am

We did originally figure we'd visit Ontario and Bighorn. By the time we got to the ridge near Ontario I saw that Eric was limping and headed left instead of right. We glanced at the ridge leading to Bighorn on the way down but were not tempted.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:04 am

AlanK wrote:... We glanced at the ridge leading to Bighorn on the way down but were not tempted.

Definite NHPS material.

norma r · Post by **norma r** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:23 pm

alan,

sorry about eric's ankle. hope your assessment that it's not too bad is accurate.

i was hiking Mt. Ritter this weekend. while ascending the class 2/3 section near the summit i knocked a large rock loose with my foot. it hit a smaller rock (size of a fist) and as i yelled ROCK several times the smaller rock hit a guy in our group in the face! it broke two of his teeth and cut his chin. first time i have ever seen a falling rock really injure a person on a hike and worse yet that i had set the rock in motion.

i still feel horrible, though everyone said over and over it's not your fault, we all know the risks out there. but a HUGE reminder of how quickly an accident can happen.

be careful out there!

tinaballina · Post by **tinaballina** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:28 am

Nice route Alan. My poor Eric, sorry about your ankle. you have to be careful, we have to keep you running.
When i was doing baldy on sunday i realized i had never been up register ridge, i was hoping you and eric could guide me one of these weekends.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:51 am

tinaballina wrote:Nice route Alan. My poor Eric, sorry about your ankle. you have to be careful, we have to keep you running.
When i was doing baldy on sunday i realized i had never been up register ridge, i was hoping you and eric could guide me one of these weekends.

No one gets hurt on Register Ridge, so that sounds like a good idea!