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Today's route stats: 

Although today would be shorter than yesterday, with 3600 feet of elevation gain to deal with, it would be much harder.  Since I was in no hurry to get out (some of the others had planes to catch in Phoenix), I took my time hiking out.

It is about two miles of relatively flat terrain to the intersection of the Tonto and Hermit Trails.  For the next mile, from the Tonto to the top of the Redwall (and the Cathedral Stairs), the trail climbs about 1300 feet in one mile.  Then the trail levels out some, gaining 1300 feet in the next three miles.  At the junction with the Dropping Springs Trail, the trail steepens again.  For some reason this last section is always the hardest for me. 

By the time I got to the top, everyone else was already gone.  I suspect I took close to an hour longer than the others.  I then headed to Flagstaff where I spent the night before continuing home to Truchas the next day.