Pilot Rock

These pics never really turn out... You can see the rock behind us. The main amazing sight in this pic is Chris' smile - he never smiles in pics!!!

My bum... This sort of shows how steep the rock climb part is.

Hilary at the top

Chris at the top

Chris and I climbed, and I do mean climbed, Pilot Rock yesterday. The trail (term used loosley) was very steep. The hike/climb is only about a mile but in that mile you gain nearly 1,000 feet. The first 1/4 mile is a pretty routine mountain trail over fallen trees and up a little hill. Then you come to the first craziness. A wide swath of barren land that was covered in a thick layer of powdered dirt so that with each step you slid backward a little. Annoying but not impossible. Next came the section of broken chunks of shale and other soft rock laying on top of the thick layer of powdered dirt. This way not only did you slip with nearly each step but the person in back got a shin-full of rocks when you did. The last section is a crack that runs up the side of the actual rock part of Pilot Rock, so narrow and steep we even left everything but the camera at the bottom. You have to pull yourself up with toe holds and hand holds and by bracing yourself against the side walls. Climbing down was pretty nerve wracking for me. My knees were shaking so much that we had to stop at the base of the rock to let my nerves settle a bit before sliding the rest of the way down the mountain. Even with that break, and a few others, the whole deal only took 2 hours!! This was the craziest hike I'd ever done. The view from the top was super and well worth the climb.