Sun, Sep 16 2007 - Stuart Knob, Television Peak & Protection Mountain (View Original Event Details)
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This was to be a long day but we didn’t think it would be 13 hours. We can be blamed for part of it as we took a number of breaks to bask in the sunlight and beautiful scenery.
We made pretty good time to Rockbound Lake at which point it was hard to resist laying down and enjoying the beach like atmosphere. We could even hear sea gulls flying around.
From Rockbound Lake we climbed up to the first plateau at which point we rested again while looking for a way up to the second plateau. We found a really fun route that had sold holds and ventured into the difficult scrambling territory.
On the plateau we had a good view of our objective and we made our way to it, but not before stopping once again near the bottom of the ridge for a snack and puddle jumping.
Getting up to the summit of Stuart Knob was no problem and the views were great but we quickly started to realize that we were behind schedule. Especially after seeing how much elevation we would have to lose and gain to get up to Television Peak.
It was mostly up and down loose rock and scree to get to the lowest point between Television Peak and Stuart Knob and here again we took a break to allow everyone to catch up. At this point we were starting to get concerned as we could see our descent route/ridge on Protection Mountain and it looked pretty far!
The ascent to Television Peak was mostly quiet as the group seemed to get nervous about getting off the ridge before it got dark. We wasted no time at the summit and continued following the ridge to get to our descent route. A few moderate scrambling sections (which might have been quite enjoyable if we weren’t in a rush) slowed us down, but we got through them alright and were soon looking for a way down the ridge.
By the time we saw the old mine trail the sun had started to set and though it was quite pretty it was also a little worrisome. Our intention was definitely not to be hiking in the dark, but luckily a couple of people had headlamps.
With five kilometers left and a good trail in front of us we made our way down at a pretty good pace with the occasional tree root or log bridge crossing slowing us down.
Getting to the road and seeing the car felt really good!