I'm getting back into shape after being injured for a while, and climbing Iron seems like a good test of one's fitness. This being a fitness hike, I took the "easy" route both ways: Heaton Flats trail to the South ridge of Iron.
There were two fires in the area in the last week: one in the Shoemaker Canyon area (Shoemaker fire) and another somewhere west of there (Tecolote fire). The Tecolote fire must still be going since Hwy 39 above East Fork Road was closed to traffic. The Shoemaker fire is done, and here's what the aftermath looks like:
The "normal" route up Rattlesnake peak is on the ridge on the left side of this photo, away from the burned area (it's heavily burned from another fire a few years back, however). The secondary route up Rattlesnake peak travels right next to the burn area, however.
I left the parking lot before dawn to beat the heat. The trail is in good shape. Dawn broke when I was at Coldwater saddle, so it stayed cool more or less the entire way up. The view were great. The city was covered with the morning fog, and looked like this from the ridge:
I kept a good pace, stopping periodically to listen for wildlife. This strategy paid off. At one point there was quite a bit of commotion around a manzanita bush. I took a quick photo:
I promise there's something there; dead center. There were two black bear cubs, but no mother to be seen. One of the cubs scampered off the instant he saw me, but the other hung out long enough for me to get a better photo:
I thought black bear cubs stayed with their mother for a long time. Does the mother ever leave for a while?
The South ridge has a fantastic view of San Antonio Ridge and Gunsight Notch:
Looks terrifying. Views from the top were pretty great:
According to the register, nobody has been on top for over 3 weeks. I have a bit of a hard time believing this, but that's what it said. The box containing the registers has a crack in the lid, and most of the notebooks inside were soaked:
If anybody wants to be a good samaritan, bring a new box next time you go up there. Finally, there was a can of soup on top with a request that a review be left by whoever eats it. This was very tempting, but I had no utensils on me.
On the way back down I saw one of the cubs again. This time he (she?) was on the path proper, and climbed the nearest tree upon seeing me. It was getting hot at this point, so I just kept on walking.
