DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Given our recent disillusionment with Annadel, we took today’s hike in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, which is about 45 minutes’ drive from home. (Forgive the sloppy panorama; my camera has unique ideas about color correction, even when the color-correction feature is disabled.)

I was surprised to realize how jaded I’ve become by all these weekend park outings. Today I hiked to the summit of Bald Mountain, 2700+ feet, looked around and thought “it’s not even worth taking a picture.” I see a glorious redwood-forested vista every weekend… this time it didn’t seem that glorious.

It might have been due to the heat. Most of the ascent was exposed; we’d come up on a paved fire road in the mid-day sun. Also, the summit was crowded with more people than I prefer. I was feeling grumpy.

My malaise may have been due to the fact that we’d spent the entire climb bathed in microwave radiation from this antenna array on Red Mountain.

The Bald Mountain climb rises ~2100 feet over 2.8 miles, which comes out to a 14% grade. It did not seem very difficult, perhaps because the (asphalt) footing was so even. But I think I’m becoming a stronger hiker, too. And I’ve learned something about my motivations — I hike faster when I see tourists ahead that need to be passed.

The park rangers have posted great signs at the summit. Each shows a panoramic reproduction of the view from that point, with arrows and names so you know what you’re looking at. The sign facing south claims it’s possible to see the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, about 60 miles away, on a clear day. I find that to be irrationally cool. I will have to return on a less hazy day.