Climb to Cathedral Rock

The day prior to this hike, I read it was only 1.3 miles (actually 1.5) so I filled a water bottle about 3/4 full and arrived at the parking lot.  Hmmm,.......

....I could see people climbing steep sections and thought, "Damn, I don't have enough water for this!"  We began....

.....while passing the signpost for the "Easy Breezy Trail" and I thought that would probably be better but we stayed on the cathedral Rock Trail.

Check out the cairns which dotted the route.  So much of it is over slickrock, without the cairns it would be a navigating challenge although for today, there were lots of people too.

Of course it doesn't look like it but this was very steep.

Fresh, the views were abundant for the entirety of the climb and so too were....

....more steep sections as Amy surmounted them all.  Note the parking lot in the distance.  The average grade for the climb is 38% and that includes a few flat sections.  Where there is climbing, it is steep.

We pass an alcove that had a couple of trees growing from inside.  Soon thereafter we reach....

....the end of the trail, marked as such too.

Off to the right was a ledge so I walked out there and posed.  Looking back across the gorge....

....wow, what a great scene as a dozen or so people gather to enjoy.

We began the descent.

Here is one of the flat sections prior to another....

....steep section.  This type of "hiking" is so much fun.  Note, no one wore a mask and you are sharing many hand holds so we applied the hand sanitizer upon returning to the car.   I'm a bit of a skeptic about mask use.  I have a cousin who worked at the CDC for 3 years, sequencing viruses and developing DNA vaccines. at a BSL3 lab.  Yes, washing your hands is good, maintaining distance is good, don't stick your fingers in your orifices is good but the cloth masks are worthless.  In his words, "you may as well wrap your head with pantyhose".  I never delve into politics, here and won't ever but in this day and age, I trust my cousin and his experience far more than any health agency.  Well, on to another hike!