On the Lava Trail

Some more scenic lava, for your viewing pleasure. However, the first three pictures are to give you a flavor for what following this trail is like. In each one, the next guidepost is visible. Can you find it? (I thought about circling them in red, but I decided it would be more fun if I didn't; in the second picture, the near guidepost is also visible :^)
Anyway, finding the guidepost is only half the battle, sometimes. Then you have to figure how to GET THERE. In some cases, this is easy. In other cases, it involves casting around looking for an easy route. If the guidepost you've spotted is, in fact, the next one in the sequence, the easiest path is usually straight towards it from the previous guidepost. There was at least one exception.


In some cases, due to elevation differences, a later guidepost was easier to see. Then it was easy to head off in the wrong direction and wind up in a "how the devil do I get a across that?" spot.


I did this on the way out to the vent trail from the loop.


Basically, I saw a guidepost clear across the loop and headed for it. It was doable, but it would have been a lot easier going on the real path. My route was shorter, but I doubt I saved myself any time. I also got into trouble second guessing myself when I was nearing exhaustion.



I knew I was getting close to the parking lot, and was convinced that the next guidepost would lead me back away from the parking lot and into the desert again. Uh, no... I was one ridge back from where I thought I was. That little...confusion had me scrambling up and down rocks frantically, convinced the trail should be there.


Which is why on my next expedition I'm planning to get there MUCH earlier, and bring much more in the way of caloric refreshment (i.e. food). The guidebook suggests that this trek is difficult enough to require an hour per mile. I was making 30-35 minutes per mile.




So...4 mile trail, plus maybe a mile to get to it... I need to allow 5-6 hours. If it's as hot as it was last Wednesday, I'll probably give up sooner. I suspect I was nearing heat exhaustion. Oh, and, yes that is my shadow in the picture to the left (unless your browser has shifted things around; then pretend that the picture with the obvious qalmlea shadow is directly left of this paragraph).













Tomorrow I may go for a harder but easier hike (easier but harder?). Gibson Jack. Harder in the sense that there is much more in the way of elevation gain.



Easier in that it won't be across lava rocks that absorb and radiate heat constantly, and in that I won't have to negotiate huge cracks and loose shards.