My friend picked me up at the airport at about 7:30 Saturday morning and we were to the mountain and climbing by about 9:30. We had rough directions on what to do. Let me emphasize rough.
We went looking for a small path that lead to the "road" up the hill. No luck. So, we decided to climb under the ski lift. This seemed like a brilliant idea, but I assure you, it was not. It was super steep and gravelly (is that even a word?). But, after some serious leg work and a couple breaks, we climb far enough that we ran into the road we had been looking for. We took it to the clearing where there is a restaurant and the ski lift loads. But that was maybe 1/3 of the way up ... maybe.
We took the road less traveled you could say.
We climbed the rest of the way in short segments. The altitude was definitely a factor in our speed as we had to stop several times to catch our breath. But finally, we made it to the top and it was FREEZING ... beautiful, but freezing.
In case you can't read it, is says "Devil's Backbone" Trail.
That says it all!
Way up, way way up.
We took a couple of pictures (that's the point right? the pictures?), ate our sandwiches, and about 20 minutes later started the trek back down. The way back down was much less crowded as most people had already been up and back, or had turned around when we decided to push on for the top. It was quiet and peaceful.
At the top.
We love our Giants!
This photo sums up the trek down ... so nice!
But, by the time we hit the clearing again, we were absolutely exhausted. We decided it is only cheating if you take the ski lift up; it's ok to take it back down. And with that we decided to make a pitstop at the restaurant and take the ski lift down instead of climbing down.
At the end of our long, exhausting day we were rewarded with a stunning sunset (the picture does not even do it justice, but we know how beautiful it was!)
A great reward!
Say yes to climbing mountains ... with assistance! :)
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