James McMurtry - The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix

James McMurtry

Humphry's Peak and Acute Mountain Sickness

My body was really struggling once I got above 11,000 feet elevation. It took me 3 hours and 32 minutes to reach the saddle at 11,787 feet. After resting for 23 minutes I began hiking again. In a short time I was again out of breath and had to stop. Beyond the saddle I frequently needed to stop. At 12,350 feet I sat down on a boulder on vomited. I was experiencing high-altitude brain hypoxia. The drop in oxygen causes the body to prioritize oxygen distribution to the brain and lungs, slowing digestion and causing nausea. 

 

Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) - Mexico

I spent the day at Playa Hermosa and Playa Bonita. I arrived in the morning at low tide, and high tide came in the afternoon. High tide is the best for swimming. This area is part of the Altar Desert, one of the driest, and hottest areas of the larger Sonoran Desert. Geologists estimate the gulf formed 12 to 35 million years ago due to a clash of tectonic plates that caused the Baja California peninsula to drift westward from Mexico's mainland. The area now containing the gulf subsided, allowing ocean water to flow in from the south.

Rocky Point has some of the most extreme tides in the world. The Sea of Cortez is a long narrow body of water. As the gravitational pull of the moon and sun pushes massive volumes of water north, the narrowing gulf acts as a funnel, forcing the water upward and causing extreme water fluctuations. The highest and lowest tides occur every month during the new moon and full moon phases, when the gravitational forces of the sun and moon align. There are typically two high tides and two low tides each day.

The maximum depth of the gulf is roughly 10,000 feet. Located in the southern portion, particularly in the Guaymas trench, the deepest parts are caused by complex plate tectonics. The northern portion is much shallower, typically less than 200-600 feet deep. It's profound depths are characterized by hydrothermal vents, specifically in the Guaymas basin. 

 

Turk's Head - Superstition Mountains

I began my hike to Turk's Head at 5:27 PM. It was my first summer ascent. It took me 52 minutes to reach the base of the craggy rock outcropping situated directly south of the main Superstition Mountains ridge. Turk's head is a product of intensive Miocene volcanic activity. The formation is primarily composed of dacite lava and rhyolitic tuff (compressed volcanic ash). From the parking lot it had taken me 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach the 2,822-foot summit. I finished my hike at 8:46 PM. My hike was 5.4 miles round-trip, and it took me 3 hours and 17 minutes.

 

Black Cross Butte - Superstition Mountains

I began my sunset hike at 6:15 PM, and reached the 3,351-foot summit in 45 minutes. My loop hike was 2.1 miles, and it took me 1 hour and 44 minutes.