First, I don't think I've ever seen a pink cactus flower with pointy petals like this:
On the way up the mountain, I stopped in an area called the Sea Cliffs climbing area. Parts of it have the worst, most crumbly rock you would dare to set hands on, as it crumbles in your fingers like shale, but traversing the narrow but solid western ridge was fun. Definite pucker factor for me, and although I tried to cross the gap in the upper right, it was maybe a class 4 with significant exposure and I'm really not up to that yet. I did some very minor scrambling in the area before continuing my run.
Due to the heat lately, I've seen more than the usual number of snakes on the trails cooling off in the evening. So, as I'm running around the southeast corner of the mountain, this critter was stretched out on the trail. After the false alarm in Salida, a real rattlesnake:
On the home stretch, I bit the dust after catching a toe for maybe the fifth time, scraping my right elbow, leg, and so on ad nauseum. That's fall number three in about a month. That can happen with a quicker, more relaxed foot strike (i.e. lower to the ground) and some fatigue. When I got back to my car, I realized I couldn't find my new Smith sunglasses; they must have fallen off my head when I fell. So, I re-traced my steps, but failed to find them. I figured someone must have grabbed them. If they were gone, that'd be $130 down the drain. Damn. To be continued...
Distance was 10.83 miles, time 2:38 (moving 2:11), elevation gain/loss 1,387 feet, avg. pace 14:40 (moving 12:09), and best pace 8:12.
