September 21, 2008 Castle Rock
Wimble Scale: Moderate, Length: 4.2 miles, Climb: 1100 feet, Time: 2.5 hours
The announcement
Kathy will be out sucking on blades of hay in the Midwest, trying to find food that isn’t covered with gravy, so I’ll be on my own looking for company. I’ll be leaving here at 10—yes, that’s right, when Kathy’s not around to wake me up, I prefer to get up later in the morning. I think I’ll head on up to Castle Rock for a moderate hike. There is some small chance I’ll change the hike at the last minute, for either Portola or Butano, but only a small chance. It depends on who RSVPs that they’re coming. I had in mind another fun place, but I’m saving that for when Kathy comes back.
So, we leave here at 10 for an inverted hike at Castle Rock. Plan on about 3 hours of hiking with a snack on the trail and possible lunch afterwards. If we want to make it a bit longer, we’ll consider going out to the backpack camp area. Otherwise, it’ll just be the normal loop. It’s 2/3 covered and 1/3 exposed. Cool in the covered areas, sometimes warm or hot on the exposed ridge line, with a 90% change of seeing rock climbers along the way.
The hike
I was well taken care of in Kathy’s absence. Joanne and Dorothy provided me with enough food to feed a small army, or 3 FOMFOK hikers. I’m still eating those meals. And it’s official, we took the slowest hike in FOMFOK history last week. Well, slow for everyone but Beth and Grey who may have the record for the fastest—until one of them blew out a tire.
It’s funny that Grey carried 35 pounds of camera equipment in his backpack, yet I’m the one that took 35 pounds of pictures.
Grey’s pictures are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/grey3050/FOMFOKCastleRockStatePark
