June 27 – Bear’s Hump Trail

First I had to get a picture of the amazing very old original Winnebago RV. It looks in great shape. I wonder how old it is.

The Bear’s Hump is a round point partway up the mountain that looms over the town. This is the view from the cruise the other day.

The trail climbs 225 meters or 738 vertical feet in 1.2 km, which makes for a very steep trail mostly made up of very tall stone steps. I did this one by myself as Jennie would not have been a fan of the steepness, the tall steps or the cliff edge at the top. This also means no wildflower pictures as I just motored up, mostly head down breathing very heavily.

You really had to pick your window to do anything today. It was very windy and rained rather hard all night and this morning. The forecast said it was going to clear around noon and amazingly it was. Then just as I was leaving it started to sprinkle again but it never amounted to much. I had mostly clear skies during the climb, my time at the top and most of the way back down. At the top I could see more rain coming so headed down and made 2/3 of the way before it started. I did bring a raincoat so it was not terrible. By the time I got back to the RV it was sunny again. Then during the mandatory nap it poured again. Then sunny and repeat.

Here is the sign board at the start showing the trail.

Up I go, with the target high above me on the left.

When the trail is wider than the steps, as above, I always avoid the steps. It seems easier on the knees.

Looking down on the hotel.

The end is in sight.

It is a pretty great view. You can see the rain down the lake.

Wider.

widest

And of course a photosphere.

It was extra windy here with it blowing up the cliff edge. It was tough and a bit scary to stand near the edge as you really had to brace yourself. I saw only a family with 4 very young kids climbing up and warned them to be very careful. The winds could easily knock a young child over.

For some reason you are not allowed to climb higher.

Off to the west I could see the rain and the wind was blowing it right towards us so I decided that it was time to exit stage right.

Still sunny part way down.

Then not so much.

I’m glad I had the rain jacket.

A photosphere from on the way down. No more long distance views.

And back at the parking lot.

The view up when I started.

And ended.

And then once I was back at the RV it had cleared up.

As I said, the rain and sun cycle has continued for the rest of the day.

As so ends this trip. It could also possibly be our last trip in the RV. Sigh!

Tomorrow we start the 5 day drive back to our cottage.

The blog will resume when we head to Iceland for 3 week on Aug 25.