Sierra Nevada Hike

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Today is the day that both Steve and I have been looking forward to for a long time. Hiking in the Mountains. We left the hotel at 10:00 or so, and drove for about hour into the Sierra Nevada . We passed through a town called Cumbres Verdes a cute little mountain town that looked very much like a Swiss Village. We drove to the trail head and got our bearing and starting hiking. Steve found a great hiking stick to use. We found the hiking trail to be in great condition. So wide in fact that a car could drive up the mountain. The scenery was incredible. We had to walk around one mountain in order to see our intended destination, Cerro de Travenque. We decided earlier on that we would attempt to reach the top. The Mountain came into view and we were mesmerized by the beauty and its height. Overall the trail was not that steep. The climb was very gradual until the big push up the Scree (loose stones and gravel). At two different points during our hike we saw deer. Very cute and gave out small screeching noises to warn the others of our presence. Once we got to the Scree the experience of hiking changed to climbing. The climb was very steep with slippery slopes down to the left and right. We both got to the point where we had reached our uncomfortable zone, and assessed where we were in the climb. We were perhaps an hour away from the summit, and with no real path to the top, we felt a little uncertain. It seems we could reach the top with our finger tips. Both of us wanted to continue but we knew that we still had to still hike back out, not that difficult, but long. We could also see dark storm clouds moving in. We decided that we would turn around and start heading back to the car. We agreed that our safety is more important then getting to the top.

Once back at Ithaca Villa we told Jeremy how far we had gotten and learned that we were only 25 minutes from the top. I cringed at bit when he said that. We could have made it!

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