(a.k.a "The Broken Staircase of the Abyss")
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Even still, it was wet, foggy, cold, and somewhat miserable. But we were the first one up, since we got to the trail head at a decent time. |
May 29, 2000 I'm getting desperate for hikes. I have gone out every weekend for 5 or 6 weeks, but most of the nice hikes that I plan to do this year are still snow covered and inaccessible. Hence, Bandera. A bald mountain next to Granite and McClellan, scortched by a fire 40 some years ago. Not much to see, but a snowfree hike. That's why we went. Also because Sunny just bought an altimeter, and we had to go somewhere and play with it. All we saw was fog. Fog. Fog. Fog. Fog. Fog. Fog. You could not even see 100ft below you when you were only at 1300 feet! At 2300 or so, the trail makes a hard left off the abandoned road and makes a vertical ascent right up the damn mountain. I'm not kidding. 2000 vertical feet in less than 1 mile. And it was all steps. Imagine a narrow staircase missing every other or every 2 steps. This was the trail. No switchbacks. Just up up up up (break) up up up (damn!) up up up. It was hard on the legs, but it was easier to breathe doing the leg work, as opposed to a steep grade. On 2 occasions, we got a view of some peaks to the south peaking out of the clouds. |
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 This was the best it got. Don't let this fool you. This was IT! See above for what it was really like.... |
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But, it was not a complete loss. When we finally got to a peak, we were visited by some Camp Robbers. They put on a show, and I'm weak. So, I fed them. (Bad hiker! <smacking hands> )
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