Story:
I parked at the Sanctuary Cove parking lot off Scenic Dr and started up the trail to Sombrero (Safford) Peak via the NE route which has some sections with exposure near the top. From there I started down the SW side of the peak following the other trail until I veered off towards the West to make my connection over to Panther Peak. There is no trail along this section so I made sure to avoid vegetation as much as possible, stepping on rocks as much as I could. I made it about 2/3 of the way there when I came to a large rock outcropping which was too steep to descend, but I walked around just to get a sense of which approach I should take when I retraced my steps back to try another route. I found one which brought me out at the bottom of this rocky outcropping and allowed me to scramble on over to the somewhat established trail on Panther which finally takes you to the summit. I decided to take an alternate route back so I followed the summit trail back down and then took it North until it intersected with a horse trail. I took that trail generally East until I reached a gate which was the NP boundary. I needed to get back up over the last ridge to rejoin my route that I took from Sanctuary Cover, so I took an old trail back up and over that ridge until I hit the SC trail again which took me back to my car.
I parked at the Sanctuary Cove parking lot off Scenic Dr and started up the trail to Sombrero (Safford) Peak via the NE route which has some sections with exposure near the top. From there I started down the SW side of the peak following the other trail until I veered off towards the West to make my connection over to Panther Peak. There is no trail along this section so I made sure to avoid vegetation as much as possible, stepping on rocks as much as I could. I made it about 2/3 of the way there when I came to a large rock outcropping which was too steep to descend, but I walked around just to get a sense of which approach I should take when I retraced my steps back to try another route. I found one which brought me out at the bottom of this rocky outcropping and allowed me to scramble on over to the somewhat established trail on Panther which finally takes you to the summit. I decided to take an alternate route back so I followed the summit trail back down and then took it North until it intersected with a horse trail. I took that trail generally East until I reached a gate which was the NP boundary. I needed to get back up over the last ridge to rejoin my route that I took from Sanctuary Cover, so I took an old trail back up and over that ridge until I hit the SC trail again which took me back to my car.
Comments (1)
Facebook
