Yesterday my wife and I took the physically fit dog (the other resembles either a barrel, or a potato, depending on the moment) out for some off trail exercise.
The plan was to head up a draw to the left, wrap around the ridgeline in the photo, and then descend a steep but known hill. The problem was that what you see in the photo is actually a very long and somewhat steep sided draw, that we'd have to cross. I knew this, but did not know that it would end up being 4 miles and around 2,750' of elevation gain. I figured that out later when we got back. But we had all afternoon:
Sitting just below and behind the far side of the left most peak (behind the tree) from the first photo, we still had some negotiating to do before we found a spot to cross. This is the place we left the dog's extendable leash. We will not be going back for it. From here we'd need to find a path down and back up to the far ridge, and then head right and eventually down:
Looking back at where we finally crossed. There was a stream running down there, which was good because we were almost out of water and the dog was pretty thirsty too (not that we don't give him water when we have it to spare). I almost always carry a filter, and certainly on hikes like this:
Another shot from a slightly different angle. The original peak we climbed up to is still out of view to the left. The farther left in this shot is where we lost the leash, and we crossed to the right of the rock out cropping in the center:
From that point it was a steeper descent than I remember ascending on a different day. And possibly the hardest part of the hike, despite now going down not up. But it all worked out in the end.
This shot nicely encompasses the start of the ascent, (going left), the highest point (the peak), and the end of the descent (the rock wall). Plus, I think it's a good picture.
Was I packing? You betcha! I'm glad I didn't take a rifle. But in a Safepacker on each hip, I carried these:
Credit to my wife for the skull. This was on the descent and I wasn't too interested in including it. But also too tired to argue.