Roosevelt National Forest, Gray Rock Mountain

Conor got me motivated for a hike, so after getting my work done for the day we hauled ourselves up Hwy 14 to a hike that he had partially done a few months back, Gray Rock Mtn. This trail is a 2300 foot climb in 3 miles, one way, so I was not expecting to complete it.

I had not done much hiking in the past 4 months. Heck, not even much working out with the toe injury, then back injury, then tooth… (excuses, excuses eh?) so once we got started Conor was having a hard time slowing to my pace.  After an hour or so Conor was well ahead and waiting up for me as I huffed and puffed my way to meet him every 1/4 mile or so. He continued to push me forward, “just to the next ridge” until we finally got to the massive rock mountain 3 miles from the trail head.

Once there I was happy that I kept going, though i was cursing Conor the entire way up. Still, while a nice sight to see the rock ahead, the true accomplishment would be to crown that baby! So  I quickly accepted when Conor asked if we should go another 3/4 mile and 600 feet higher. It was a massive climb, but once there it was worth every ounce of energy.

We were only able to spend a few minutes as it was already past 5pm with the sunset scheduled for not far after 6pm. We still have 3.5 miles to descend and I only brought my sunglasses (doh!). We moved quickly, but by half way I handed Conor the single head-lamp I had in my pack so at least one of us could see. The final mile I had to remove my glasses, taking blurry over dark, but the final half mile were done nearly blind with blur and darkness. A few time Conor forgot to look back after stepping over a rock and I tumbled down them, but we made it to the van and back to his place to revel in the accomplishment.

180 degree view from the top