Why?

From a distance it seems like an innocent enough hike.  Granted, its clear that its a steep slope, and that its quite a ways up the mountain, but perhaps its the fact that its only half way up that gives the illusion that its not really THAT high.  I'm not sure, all I know is that everyone headed off with eagerness from the parking lot, reading the rules of the trail (including that you aren't supposed to walk on the Y itself) but only barely glancing at the sign that labels the 11 switchbacks, with elevations and distances between each point.  Perhaps if they'd slowed down just a moment or two they might have had a bit more of an inkling of what it was they were really doing (especially with a 3 year old tagging along).  Then again, perhaps that might have had them turn around and I would never have made it to the top, so I'm grateful for their eagerness in this case.

There were times when I wondered how this hike compared to my Huyana Picchu in Peru, but it was difficult since that hike had included very steep climbs up rock-formed stairs, and not a wide gravel path that, while steep, didn't seem to compare at all to the former.  The view wasn't exactly the same either, from lush green mountains high above the Urabumba River, with nothing but the ruins of an ancient city below, to the great expanse of developed city in all directions, fanning out to the lake in the distance.  Either way, I felt the tiredness of my friends as they headed upwards, counting each switchback in anticipation of the final one, and grateful that I didn't have to attempt to walk it myself.  I  may complain a lot about being a tiny little bear at the mercy of human escorts, but there are definitely times when it works to my advantage.

The Y itself is huge, and upon reaching turn ten, half the group decided to continue the climb to the top while the other half took the trail along to the bottom, approximately 200 ft lower.  I of course, took the high road, determined to get the best view.  What I didn't realize was that the Y was so big, that you can't really get it all into one photo frame once you are there.  The first picture Clare took of me, looked as if I was just sitting on snow, so we had to take a few shots just to show we really had made it all the way. 

After three hours, we were finally back at the parking lot - yes THREE!  This time Clare did stop to photograph the trail map, and discovered that we had indeed climbed nearly as high as the Huyana Picchu climb (which had been approximately 1200 foot climb, from about 7,800-9,000 ft).  I guess that extra 200 ft and the higher elevation made a huge difference, because even I have a hard time believing they are similar in height!

On the way home, we stopped at a playground because the kids saw a park they loved, and just had to take me up to the top of an Eiffel Tower rope climber (so they could say that I'd been to Paris too, how kind of them).  Even after all the climbing they'd just done, they still wanted to climb some more.  Maybe I should spend more time with these tiny humans; they seem to have more of my kind of energy!  I love them.