Time for another attempt at blogging on my iPhone and I must say, it fucking sucks. I predict a broken phone from blunt force trauma by week 3. Here I go...
I arrived at the trail head at Botcher's Gap at around 11 am after a sleepless night. At least it was absolutely gorgeous out amongst the Redwoods while I felt like shit. My destination? The majestic Pico Blanco, sacred to the origin story of the natives of Big Sur, and a legendary mountain to locals and visitors lucky enough to experience it. I began the 3.5 mile walk down the dirt road to the trail, dreading the thought of having to walk back up it later.
After a bit, I came upon my first view of the northeast face of the mountain, green and forested, unlike the South and West faces, which tower over the landscape with rocky marble and limestone cliffs.
After reaching the trail, my path led up... And up... The ascents nickname is "cardiac hill," because it climbs steeply, about 1350 feet in less than a mile to the top of Launtz Ridge.
The uphill slog leveled out and the sun appeared, illuminating the lush forest. I began to have some great views of the Little Sur River drainage too! Pics later, damn you iPhone camera!!! No zoom?!
A cool sign. Burnt by and salvaged from a recent fire, if I recall correctly.
Having gained the ridge, I basked in the sun before descending again to the Redwood forest at the base of southern Pico Blanco.
The first views of the mountain appeared, but still only showing a tiny portion.
The trail led me to a beautiful meadow strewn with marble. After day dreaming for awhile, I found a light path upwards that gave me a start on where to begin climbing.
I followed this to an old overgrown mining road. Pico Blanco has one of the largest limestone deposits on the west coast, and many decades ago, a mining company bought the mountain with intentions to drill the limestone for lime to make concrete. It absolutely blows my mind that somebody can own this sacred peak and intend to destroy it! It's disgusting. Luckily, this was met by heavy opposition and even went to the Supreme Court, who ruled that Pico Blanco cannot be mined because doing so would negatively effect the surrounding ecosystems. Yeah! Fuck those greedy asshole miners.
Rant over. Anywho, I left the trail, or rather, the trail disappeared, and I started climbing up the south face. It looked like a loooong ways up to the summit, and the terrain got steeper and steeper.
Up, up, repeat...
Views of Post Summit to the south.
After an hour of climbing, I had to stop and go over my route up so I knew how to return. My climb was getting so steep that I was nearly vertical, climbing with my hands and avoiding looking down.
I did manage to get these stunning views of the Ventanas.
Wow! I said to myself, repeatedly.. It was at this time that I realized that I was not where I should be. I left the use-road too soon and found myself in a precarious position on a cliff nearly 100 yards from the summit. I couldn't go up or down safely, so I shimmied to my left for a good while until I found a safer grade to start my slow descent. About an hour later I found myself on level ground again, vowing to sign that summit register next week, with a more direct climbing route.
Pictured above is a taste of how steep it was.
I was tired, hot, and thirsty and thought to myself, "why not hike 2 miles for water?" I hiked down the steep canyon to the South Fork Little Sur River and after a bit of exploring, found something that took my breath away, twice!
The waterfall was about 15-20 feet high and just raging! The pool was about ten feet deep. I filled my water bottle and stripped down. When I jumped in, I gasped and the wind left my body. It was so freezing, but equally refreshing after a long day of hiking. I still had an 8 mile hike back to my car, but the fading daylight under the Redwoods made it fly by. On the steep final ascent up the dirt road, a truck climbed by me and offered me a lift. I said no thanks. No skips on the PCT, so I may as well get used to it!
About blogging and typing on the Iphone: I am finding that it's hard to express my thoughts whle trying to battle auto-correct and the so-called "smart phone." I'm either hoping I get used to it before my hike, or hoping to find a light enough blue-tooth keyboard to bring along. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Location:Ventana Wilderness
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