On a bright and sunny, but cool and windy, day twenty-five TrailBlazers and two canines led by Linda headed for Mt. Judea to try to catch a glimpse of the ghost of Sam on top of his throne. Alas, as usual, the “go tell it on the mountain” preacher was a no-show, but we did not let that spoil our fun.
It actually was not nearly as cold as we expected, only when we were hit by a direct assault by the wind. We started down the trail and then reached the bluff line where we trekked along enjoying the views and catching our first glimpse of Sam’s Throne across the valley. It is always neat to hear the reactions of newcomers who are seeing this for the first time. After a while we hiked down the old rocky road and then picked up the trail again and started climbing. We saw a rock climber swinging back and forth on his rope against the backdrop of massive, towering palisades and a cave in the wall.
Finally we reached the steep, rocky slot canyon that leads to the staging area for ascending the crack up to the throne. Linda and Ed laid the groundwork with ropes. Ed got the big rope in place and Kenya helped set up the smaller rope to be used for hauling our backpacks – a new innovation! One by one we each figured out our own way to clamber up the crack, some with more grace than others! Fortunately there is always someone to offer a helping hand or offer technical advice. We ate our lunch on top and then explored the area on top of the throne. The descent went smoothly, with Don and Dick working a tag team approach to get Zach down the crack. As we looped around the base of the throne we were treated to the unexpected sight of a winter wonderland of all kinds of icicles on the bluffs. We had to watch for falling ice as some of the chunks were quite large and heavy. After a final climb up to the parking lot, our adventure was over all too soon.