I am planning on hiking Kagel this coming weekend (6/11 or 6/12) for the first (10am) flight and I wanted to see if anyone else was interested in joining me. I just did the hike last weekend and I figured I would try and do it once every weekend, but I might eventually drop that to once a month
The hike took me 56 minutes from the big gate at the paved road, but I was hiking at an accelerated pace with very few stops - I plan on doing the same pace so if you're interested in joining me, plan on leaving much earlier than the truck, hiking at the same pace, or getting there late and risk the truck leaving launch before you're ready. If you are an average hiker, I'd plan on on it taking about 1.5 hrs.
This is a pretty steep trail with quite a bit of scrambling up loose rock and sand. I think it's about 2300ft of elevation gain, so I'd highly recommend trekking poles, good trail shoes, trekking poles, and a camelbak with an ample supply of Gatorade or some kinda sports drink.. and did I mention trekking poles? - you'll have a much more difficult time without them. I'd recommend the following:
http://www.rei.com/product/798003/leki- ... poles-pair
I'd also highly recommend getting a pair of gaitors to avoid getting a bunch of crap in your shoes:
http://www.rei.com/product/782777/rei-t ... ng-gaiters
Don't forget sunscreen because otherwise you'll fry on the way up.
Depending on Joe's weather report I'll have a better idea of when I'm going up, but unless there's funky weather planned, I'll be planning on heading up Saturday morning and departing 15 minutes or so before the truck so I can get up there in time to fly!
Mike
