It was journey with brother that was memorable and exciting. Would like to share our journey of climbing Pinnacle National Monument in September 2010.
It was going to be an awesome journey to do with my brother Kostas. We had prepared what to wear and supplies we would require for the climb.
We had stopped by a gas station to fuel up and get some bottle water for the day, we had decided that one bottle each would be sufficient. We were following the map we had printed to get us to our destination and it worked well. Construction project were not shown on map, hence it made it an exciting trip their and back.
As we got to the Pinnacle National Monument the view of the surrounding region was spectacular and the excitement was growing.
We entered the office where we met the Office or Texas Ranger I called him and he asked us how long we were planning to our hike for the day. We said "full day" he responded in a stern tone "You are going to need 4 water bottle each, if that the case" We took his advise very seriously and we bought some more water. It was going be more weight to carry but worth it in the end! We thanked him for his recommendation and continued on our journey.
As we
started our decent up the mountain my excitement was building. so much
that I actually slipped and scrapped my knee! my brother turned around
and said " take it easy we have a long day of walking!". We continued
our journey and we faced an interested walk, it wasn't exactly and
smooth paved surface, there rocks, uneven surfaces as we walk along the
path.
The sun came down hard as we began to stop and have our water. Find
shade proved difficult because there were not any tree's to hide under,
we had to keep moving at a steady pace.
The scenery was awesome all around us, we both had digital cameras and
were taking pictures all along our trip. (see link at the end for
pictures)
Spending time with my brother was great experience, keeping each other motivated and inspired along our journey made it a great journey to be on that day, the destination of didn't matter at the time. As the day passed my brother had some interested challenges and insights that would make it for a interested climb. Keep reading it's worth it.
We got near the top of the mountain and we stopped for take some awesome pictures of the 360 view of the Pinnacle National Park from the mountains, wild animals (from a distance of course), we did see some interesting indications that there animals nearby (let you figure that out for yourself).
As we continued our trek my brother said "We are nearing an interesting part of our trip, let's see how you do?" Just the way he said it made me feel very uncomfortable.Until I saw a sign that said "Welcome to the Steep and Narrows" Then I began to feel very uneasy and very nervous. My brother assured me that I will be okay.
I had mentioned numerous time that I workout weekly, cycle and maintain an active lifestyle, it should come in handy on this trip. I had no idea how important it was!
Steep and Narrows is exactly as it sounds. Very steep and very narrow climbing and wall crawling!
It was exciting yet nerve racking at times. There were areas where they had created foot holding in the rock for the purpose of climbing through and over certain areas.
Near the end there was a section where the only thing between me and the mountain side was a mental bar that was put there as guide and not as something to hold on two. The scenery was spectacular and that helped me keep focused moving forward. We took some amazing pictures of the this area. (see below links for pictures)
As we went down the back side of the mountain we did encounter others who were climbing the other way. We waved and said hello, the interested part as most of the them didn't have any water with them which was very weird since we were carrying 4 bottle each!
We came to an area where the was an amazing reservoir of water overlooking the mountain side and there were could see in the distance people climbing the mountain side to the top. It was a spectacular thing to see! as we continued my brother said "Let's go to the cave for a bit" I agreed and then I quickly got nervous because we went from head and humidity to being cold very quickly!
It was nice to be in the shade for a bit and have some flat surfaces to walk on for a bit, we continued and then we came to a sign were it said " Bats ahead" My brother insisted we keep going and I followed, it started to get really cold fast. Thankfully there as a locked fence and we couldn't go any further to see the bats. I said " okay great to hear the bats don't exactly want to see them that close!"
We turned around and headed back to the trail and down the side of the mountain. It was little easier going downhill than uphill for sure. Still had to aware where you will walking and holding on too.
It was an amazing sunny day with clear skies and to the view of the surrounding area was spectacular and thrilling to see.
We near the end of the our day long trip and it was such an amazing day to be on journey of enjoying the experience of going on this journey.
Moral of the story:
There is saying "it's about the journey not the destination" after this experience this statement truly made sense to me and I empower you to to do something in your life to enjoy this statement.
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