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| Bridge Mountain |
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| The Bridge and The Gang (Nice Vaganova 3rd, George!) |
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| The Shaky Ride Up Rocky Gap Road |
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| Snowy Spring Mountains from Approach Trail |
Mike OC, Laszlo and Jerry sent photos and narrative for this entry. (Steve sent a GPS track but there was already one in archives.) This group always does such a great job of putting an entry together that work required by the blogmistress is minimal! Enjoy.
The elusive, 7000’ Bridge Mountain is now in the books. After two
weather cancellations in as many months, the third day of May dawned
delightfully crisp and unbelievably clear.
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| Starting Down the Bench |
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| Easy Does It! |
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| Climbing the Crack |
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| Another Exposed Climb out of the Bridge Well |
All systems were go as 14
hikers piled into four all-terrain SUV’s for the 70-minute ride to the
top of Rocky Gap Road. Never mind the Class 3 terrain encountered on the
hike, the biggest challenge of the day may very well have been the
4.6-mile drive up the treacherous, pockmarked Rocky Gap Road. Tough go,
for sure.
It’s
always exciting to get a newbie on the Bridge climb. We had five today.
Yum-yum. When the steep, exposed route was finally pointed out from
below, five hearts beat a little faster and a few seeds of doubt crept
in.
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| Circling Around the Hidden Forest |
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| Relaxing Lakeside on the Summit |
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| Starting Down |
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| Using the Bridge for Descent |
Not to be deterred, trepidations were cast aside and the entire crew
moved onward. And upward. Nothing would dissuade this determined group
from attaining the summit. Seasoned mountaineers all, it was a gutsy,
admirable performance.
The
day wasn’t all sweat and toil as László was constantly positioning us
all over the damn mountain for pictures. It felt more like a photo shoot
for GQ or Vogue than it did an AtBF hike. Lots of posing and pearly whites.
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| Down the Crack |
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| Finishing the Crack Descent |
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| Crossing the Bench (Crack - Top Left) |
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| Starting Bench Climb (Fern Canyon in Background) |
Hey Paul, László, Brian, and Steve: Thanks for taking your vehicles. Your driving skills were nonpareil. Well done, gents.
~ MOC
Vitals: 6.6 miles, 2930’ vertical, 4.5 hours
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| Steep Sandstone Climb up Bench |
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| One More Selfie/Group Shot at Fern Canyon Overlook |
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| Passing the Old Sign on the Way Back |
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