I moved this post to discourage any thread jacking on the Closures thread.
Well...I thought I moved it. Oops. So much for cut and paste.
Anyways...Kat and I had an interesting weekend starting with the outrageously heavy fog on Saturday.
When we got to the west side you could hardly see anything. On the trail we could barely see from one pinnacle to the next. One really cool benefit was how the fog provided a background for some of the hard to see formations that are normally superimposed on everything behind them. A fine example is almost centered.
We hiked and inspected but were displeased by the moisture content of moss and lichen on our objectives, so we strayed from climbing and had a nice hike (we're soft). We saw little and hiked a lot. We stopped and chatted with Savannah at Condor Crags while she monitored for condors with no visual confirmation. What a strange day. We felt sorry for those visiting Pinns for the first time.
Yesterday we arrived to almost the same conditions. Driving through the Salad Bowl had been sunny but as soon as we hit Soledad - boom! No sun for you!!
We decided to hike the new Jawbone Canyon trail while we waited to see if things would clear. The trail is a nice addition with some beautiful sweeping views. It does have an eerie feel in the lower reaches where the moss covered trees close in for a stretch. Someone or something had been snacking on the trail.
We had a nice hike up to the visitor center and then back down. The sky had cleared in the interim, so we decided to hustle up to the High Peaks and get some work done. While working, we were treated to condors, buzzards, ravens and falcons. I got buzzed repeatedly by falcons while working on the route. They didn't dive bomb me but they definitely let me know they were there. We had the added pleasure of seeing one of the west side roadrunners on the Jawbone Trail and a big coyote crossed the road by the automatic gate on the way out.
