Sunday, November 11th 2001

[ Home ] [ Up ]

Sunday, November 11th 2001
Bald Knob, near Shingletown Gap
Up the Cliff

I took this hike with Pedro Andia who sometimes accompanies me on hikes. It's amazing the way he floats up the hills. This is probably due to the fact that not only is he in excellent condition and much younger than I am, but that he's from Peru where the air is thin and the mountains high.

In any event, we decided to climb up Bald Knob the hard way, scrambling up the rocks on its western edge. This is a little hard to find if you've never hiked it from the other side, but I have some photos on my various sites that show you where it's at.

Climbing up these rocks is a lot easier than climbing down, and we made good time, taking in the views.

Near the top of the hill, Pedro spied a couple wild turkeys, and I was lucky enough to get a few photos of them.

After you reach the old knife edge, you start to see blacked out blazes where an abandoned trail used to be. Following this to the blue and white-blazed trail, we headed down the length of the hill to where the old radio tower ruins are. The views from the top are nice, and I wish somebody would chop down some of the trees in a spot or two to allow for a vista. After all, who would it hurt? the thing is called *Bald Knob* for a reason!

After getting to the radio tower ruins, we heated up some MREs and enjoyed a good lunch. Pedro had never seen an MRE before, so he was thrilled.

After lunch we headed down the Sand Spring Trail and took the Shingletown Path back to our car, parked near the gates of Shingletown Gap.

Click here for the full photo gallery!