I and The Chef continued our hikes, hopefully not for the last time in 2018 because he's going back to work this Mon. I decided to take the trail which we denied access to, two weeks ago due to Bear activity in the area: Chester Lake.
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| We saw this Fox at the side of Highway #40 looking for something and stopped for a shot |
We met at 05:30 in a usual rendezvous point and headed west to Highway #1 as usual. However this time our trip was different. After a short stop in the last McDonald's for breakfast we found the highway extremely foggy with a very limited visibility. I had rented a Ford Fusion and although it's a very good car, I was making sure that nothing happens to it and would not cause me any extra cost rather than just the rent and gasoline. I had to slow down to 60 Km/h for majority of the road until we reached Highway #40 where the fog almost was gone. We reached the trail-head with no difficulty after that. However we started the hike at almost 08:15! It means that the distance which is normally driven in maximum 2 hours took nearly 3 hours to us! Considering the time we stopped for breakfast and photography on the road, we still spent 45 more minutes than usual!
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| Mountains in the area have interesting shapes and figures. This one looks like cut Rust Beef with sprinkles of maybe cheese on the top! |
We were the first vehicle at the parking and the weather was cloudy and a little bit cold. The Chef started with his gloves on and it seemed the 0 ℃ was not very pleasant to him. The trail is well-worn and in fact it's a very easy hike for kids under 8 and people with sever physical disability but my aim was to see how close I could get to The Fortress. In fact is you're on a wheelchair or using crutches to walk, you would easily make it to the lake. It's just the fact that it would tale longer to you. The trail is nice and the colours of Fall make it nicer. I'm sure it would be nice in Summer and Winter as well. There was no one on the trail until we reach the lake and that took us barely 01:20 hours. We then took the lest trail and went to the other side which is filled with boulders.
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| I found this interesting rock with a shellfish fossilized in it on my way up past the lake |
The Chef chose not to continue after that and complained about the cold and his ailing left knee (I should probably post about that) but I took the obvious trail and went up the cliffs where I could see The Fortress but I was in no position to make it to the summit. It was probably at least another 02:30 to the summit from there and the whether was changing constantly. The fog first came down and covered the trail and then disappeared again. I then climbed down and joined The Chef to go back to the car. I had not had a good sleep the night before due to the cold and also the night prior to that and as I've mentioned before, both the factor of having a silly, stupid job and getting coward and lazy were involved to hold me back from going to The Fortress, not to mention the constant naggings of The Chef! But it's good that I brought him because I share the cost of rental and gasoline with him and also he always have silly stories to make me laugh.
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| I finally was able to take a good shot of a Pika. This cute and lovely mammal lives between the rock and is difficult to spot due to its ability to camouflage. You need to listen to its scream(!) and then spot it. This is as close as I could get to him with my 7-300 mm lens. I didn't want to scare it off |
It's unfortunate that he might not be able to join me for any hike until next year that he will again have his vacations but I will try to take him if any long weekend hike will be available any time.
(Photo: The Fortress from above Chester Lake. This probably would be more than 02:30 hours to the summit from here)
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