alvars.us

This weekend I climbed Frenchman Mountain. It’s a peak right behind the base. Lot of work. I thought I’d just show up and have a quick hike, a couple of hours and then I’d go look at houses for sale. But oh man what a hike. The guides say it is 4.5 miles and 1,600 ft elevation gain. But, there was a valley (a saddle) that I walked down and then back up the other side so let’s make that right at 2,000 feet of climbing. So that makes it 2.25 miles up-hill, on the way there.

I did the math, that’s a 17% grade.

But coming down was almost worse. Every step for over 2 miles was down. Loose gravel, big boulders, and lots of fine sand made for uncertain footing. I can’t remember how many times I slid and thought I would fall on my butt and slide all the way down, thank goodness I never did. But my knees and hips sure hurt, man it was a long way down.

I took pictures: Click here to see the pictures.