Til the Last Hemlock Dies: Under the Dripping Cliffs.

When I got to the park I took a look at the various trails. I have hiked most of them in the past, but not for a number of years. After taking a look I decided on the Pinnacle Trail which would take me from the park nature center to the summit of Pinnacle Mountain and back down.

Originally I had planned to hike a side trail to see a major waterfall on the mountain, but it was closed due to damage from a severe forest fire. So I had to forego that part of the hike and just hit the summit and come back down.

As I stated in my previous blog post, it has been quite some time since I have been on anything approaching a serious hike. This is because I took a job last year that put me working full time and which has kept me from hitting the trails as much as I'd like. In addition, every time I have planned a hiking or backpacking trip to coincide with a day or two off I have been faced with heavy rains. I have hiked and backpacked in rain before, but it's not my favorite thing to do (to put it mildly) so I cancelled all of those hiking trips.

Thus, my legs especially are in bad shape. Walking around the neighborhood just doesn't give me the kind of exercise to keep my muscles and tendons in good condition. So, the almost nine-mile hike I took to the top of the mountain and back to the cabin put a lot of stress on those mushy muscles and tendons. Ouch.

But it had to be done. Weather for my next day off (Monday) calls for sun and cool temperatures so I have a hike planned. Hopefully I'll be able to do more mountain hikes and keep my legs in better shape.

Here then is a brief video concentrating on the bands of low cliffs I passed under on my way to the top of the mountain. Because of all of the rainfall this year, the overhangs had become drizzling waterfalls and the route sent me under the overhangs to avoid getting soaked.

Enjoy.