Almost Granite Mountain
Description of hike courtesy of www.vtrail.com
Topographical Map generated with my GPS and MapSource
I want to start off this hike by saying that it was the hardest to date. When we started, it was quite cloudy and cool.
When we started, it was quite cloudy and cool. The hill was the steepest yet but the trail was well maintained and not too hard to climb. We soon began the climb well into the clouds and the fog made it even cooler.
I wear a heart rate monitor to optimize my workout during a hike. If my heart rate gets over my target zone, I stop for a minute and let it drop. There were many times on the steep stretches that I had to do that. It got annoying a couple times when we were hiking for a minute or two between stops.
We got nearly to the top when there was a fork in the trail. I picked the wrong fork and we went the path of the boulders. Now this was probably the most fun path to take, but several places, the dog could not do it. Normally, Isis hates to be picked up but she was so scared on these rocks that she relaxed completely when I held her. We only went about 200 yards on the rocks and then decided to turn around and go the other path.
On the other path we did not go far either before I decided that my leg hurt too much and I wanted to stop for a while and potentially turn back. It was cloudy/foggy and there was no view to see, so going the other 500 yards or so seemed a waste of time. We rested for 30 minutes and then Dan was getting a headache. We decided to turn back and come back next weekend.
The trip down was hard on the legs. I was keeping pace with a young couple for about 3 miles but then slowed down as my knees began to hurt. This convinced me that I need retractable hiking polls. I will stop at REI and get them before next weekend.
Another mistake I made was that I did not take my water purifier/pump as vtrail says there is no water. There was plenty of water on the trail and I ran out with about a mile to go. Lesson learned: Always take the pump!
Last story to tell is of the young couple we followed for 3 miles. When Dan and I got back to the car, both of us were in pain in the legs/knees. The young couple however, were running and playing around back at the car when they got there. Nothing makes you feel older and more out of shape then people doing the same thing you just beat yourself up to do with no more strain then getting up and going to the bathroom. Next summer, that is what I am going to be like!
I took just a few pictures on the hike due to clouds/fog. Enjoy!
