An Auspicious Beginning
This picture was actually taken at the end of the day -- I can tell by the direction of the shadows -- but this is what it looked like at the beginning of my hike. It doesn't look so bad. My destination was the "small" promontory just barely left of center and set back from the other formations. It looks small 'cause it's farther away. It's also higher up.A Stop to Smell the Roses
Well... in a manner of speaking. This was a plateu about 2/3 the way up. I intentionally took a detour along some relatively flat terrain in order to rest from the climb. This rock formation was one of the interesting things I came across on this stroll. (The other was a scorpion -- no picture, sorry.)
Are We There Yet?
By this point I was seriously tired. I'd been carrying most of a gallon of water as I hiked and climbed all morning (foolishly conserving it for the heat of the day). I also had a ridiculous amount of hardware (knife, camera, flashlight) and spare clothing.It was about noon and I'd covered about 75% of the distance to the "Flatiron" as the formation is known. Unfortunately, I'd only climbed about 500 feet of the 1,600 foot total.
