After our daily morning dive today, someone suggested that we go hiking. People were willing enough, and thinking that a leisurely late afternoon walk might be just the thing, I joined in as well. But somewhere along the way, someone had the genius idea to hike straight up the slope of the mountain-hill pictured below. It doesn't look that steep in the photo, but my quads were telling me very differently by the time we were about 15 minutes into the hike. By the time we were close to the top, it was a little closer to a rock scramble than a hike.
So much for leisurely late afternoon walk.
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| Snapped a shot of the slope post-climb |
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| People making their way up slowly |
Being me, I was too busy scrambling up to really pay attention to what I was grabbing. Which is how I ended up grabbing a fistful of cactus instead of the rock I thought I was going for. I take back every condescending comment I ever made about people who complain about splinters.
The trail was actually covered with Prickly Pear Cacti, which are native to Catalina Island. By the time I was at the top, there was even cactus splinters in my shoes (not sure how I managed that one).
When we finally reached the top, we were feeling pretty sweaty and pretty accomplished.
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| Group shot at the top making scuba hand signals
Wrigley Institute looked pretty small from all the way up there. Bernie tried to duck out of my shot of the view from the peak, but failed miserably:
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And just as a little side note, I'll pay homage to this little fox that's been hanging around our campus. It's an endangered species endemic to Catalina, and a pro at begging for food. Unfortunately for it, I don't think the cookies and churros we've been eating are going to be making their way into its mouth anytime soon.
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