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 Pinnacles National Monument California

Time : 1:43 PM. Temperature : 15-20 Celcuis. Altitude: 2500+ feet. Strength : Still strong. Morale : High.

The second trail (BLUE) is basically traversing the peaks. The hike this time was serious. Ups and downs of 45-80 degrees are common. Eventhough the harder climbs are assisted by rail, its still a hard climb. The journey of 2.1 km continues.

Warning (Lots of pictures follow) Please be patient while the photos load. Timestamp of picture give you a general idea of the duration of hike. More pictures here (362KB)

Top of the mountain. (Almost). You can see the other hills. If you look closely enough, towards the middle right, is a trail. That's where my group will be passing. I think that place is around .7 km away.
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Timestamp: 1:43 PM

 

A downhill slope. Going downhill can be harder than uphill due to the fact you have to brake. Its tough on your knees and ankles. Down and down we go.
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Timestamp: 1:44 PM

 

Shane and Helen. Oh yeah, Bill is one of my instructor, Helen is another one but not mine. Shane and Bruce are my classmates.
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Timestamp: 1:44 PM

 

Up one of those steep slopes. No trails can be found around such cliffs so they carve the steps out of the rock face. Rails were there to protect us. If there is no rails, one slip and u drop couple hundreds of feet!
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Timestamp: 1:46 PM

 

Another steep slope behind Bruce. We were resting after one steep slope. What a surprise to see yet another one! Grrrrrr....this slope is roughly 75 degrees.
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Timestamp: 1:50 PM

 

Us climbing that slope! Bill went up ahead to snap the photo. He took roughly 2 minutes to get up there. We took 1 minute.
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Timestamp: 1:55 PM

 

Group photo again. We should be roughly 2500 feet high. Ohyeah, if we took 3 steps back, we be off the cliff.
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Timestamp: 2:00 PM

 

Bill up to one of his antiques. Showing off his rock climbing skills.
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Timestamp: 2:02 PM

 

One of those tight crevices. Real tight. I have to kneel down, Bill have to kneel down while Bruce nearly had to crawl. One more thing, California is prone to earthquake. Imagine.
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Timestamp: 2:05PM

 

Now, we get 80 degrees slope DOWN. Coming down is hard, I wonder how do someone climb up one! Bill posing for my photo shot. The colouring on the rocks are litchens (moss + fungus). They are red, blue, green and white ones around here.
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Timestamp: 2:07PM

 

Down and down we go. All the way down. Observe the steps.
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Timestamp: 2:10PM

 

Me and Shane. Picture posing. Nothing to describe here.
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Timestamp: 2:11PM

 

Another of those pictures that speak for themselves.
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Timestamp: 2:16PM

 

End of trail 2. Bruce taking a much needed rest. He cannot really keep up with the rest of us. He joined us for the experience, just like me. One cool guy.
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Timestamp: 2:16PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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