However, looking towards the west on this day was not a pretty sight. This is somewhat to be expected in hiking the southern parts of California. Usually, to avoid something like this you have to wait until just after it rains.
I continued up the road after that big switchback. I kept thinking, "How much further?"
There were a lot of burned out trees up here. There were some ravens flying over me. These types of bushy trees were becoming more common as I made this turn.
It started to level out a bit. At one point there was a patch of snow in a shady part of the road. Make no mistake, it was very dry, but I was still feeling okay at this point. I kind of knew I was about to reach my goal. My problem was I was not sure of the exact area I was looking for. The trees started to blot out what you could see ahead.
I was almost a bit unlucky on this one. I kept thinking I had passed the area I was after. As I went through the final half mile I finally saw a split in the road. I could continue to my right, but to the left is the final short ascent to the top of where I was going.
If you look closely in the picture you can see that there is a monument. That was what this whole hike was about. I will wrap this up next time with revealing what the story is behind this place.Edit (May 2012): I did this hike again in March 2012. The following is the video from it, and a little tribute to my cat as well.
The Small Mystery of Monument Peak (Youtube Version)
The Small Mystery of Monument Peak (Vimeo Version)
Music used from Incompetech.com: Discovery Hit, Expeditionary, Tenebrous Brothers Carnival- Mermaid.
