Admittedly it would have been better if I'd brought my rain pants and some waterproof boots, but I was experimenting to see if those were really necessary. Conclusion: Yes, they are. But the bigger issue was the fact that the $#%@! mist was so thick that I couldn't see a dadburned thing. The whole point of grunting uphill for three hours is so that you can see a view when you get to the top. If all you can see is freakin' mist... well. Bah humbug!
Other than that, everything seems to be working okay. A bit tired, but that's to be expected, given that I had roughly 3500 feet worth of total altitude gain during the hike (once I got to the top, the road back was up and down from hilltop to saddle and back up to hilltop again to hike the ridge back to where I started in this loop hike). I had hoped to explore some of the old ranching ruins and old ranching roads, but I couldn't see a #$%! thing once I got up into the mist level, so that will have to wait until next year, probably (since the season is turning to the point where long hikes in the desert aren't feasible -- even this early into summer and even with the rains we had the past few days, the stream was almost dry).
-- Badtux the Hiking Penguin
Don't feel too bad , I once climbed(hiked the trail to) Mt. Lassen only to realize the local forrest fire made visibility worthless . At least I was dry though .
ReplyDeletew3ski
well the exercise has gotta count for something, right?
ReplyDeleteThat much is true, IW. Certainly beat riding that #$%@! stationary bike, which is boring boring boring...
ReplyDeletecut to the chase dude.
ReplyDeletehow'd the leg hold up?
Like I said, everything seemed to work okay. The only fail was that my duct tape attempt to stop blisters from forming did succeed in stopping blisters from forming but caused its own problems, but that'll heal. But that's an unrelated health issue (too much scar tissue from old foot injury).
ReplyDelete"If all you can see is freakin' mist..."That happened to me once at Hurricane Ridge. I understand the view is beautiful from there. What view? The only consolation was that I had bussed, not hiked, to the top.
ReplyDeleteStay healthy, BadTux... and to the extent possible, stay dry.