Iron Mountain Valentine's Day Hike

I hadn't planned to take Valentine's Day off work, but due to contractual issues with the government, I was forced to take a day of vacation. So what better way to spend a day off than to climb Iron Mountain on a beautiful, clear, sunny day? I was surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot considering it was a work day. Also, for some reason, there quite a few school-aged children with their parents on the trails, so they most have taken some family time off. There was a mother hiking down with her two small kids and as the 4 year old boy saw me he said "Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy your hike." How nice! Apparently he was saying this to everyone on the trail. His mom seemed to tolerate it and his sister accused him of steeling that line from her.

Butterfly or alien in center.

Even though there were more hikers than I expected, there were a lot less than my last hike up. And to avoid the horrible blister I got on that hike five weeks ago (that are still healing), I put blister pads on before hiking. I didn't plan to hike very fast, but somehow made it up in 55 minutes.

Along the way I saw a poor women being helped down by two people. She twisted and sprained her ankle and was making very slow progress. In fact, I passed her on the way down, about 45 minutes later, and she had only made it maybe 1/8 of a mile! At that rate she'll be lucky to get down by sunset. Hope she is OK.

Looking East

Once I made it to the top I saw how crowded it was. There must have been 20 or more people, including a large group of what sounded like British citizens. After stretching, eating a snack and taking these photos, I headed down. My timing was bad because I left a few minutes after the large group of hikers left. So I had to pass them all on the way down, trying not to run them off the trail (they were all in their 50s or 60s).

Looking West

Speaking of trails, I noticed that the trail had been improved since my last hike. Many of rain-induced ruts were filled in with fresh dirt, making the trail much safer. As I neared the new trail junction, I saw about 15 people in bright red coveralls hiking up. I assumed they were headed up to do more trail improvements. And back at the new trail junction, there was a bright red truck that belonged to the California Department of Corrections. So they were low-risk prisoners performing services for what ever crime they committed. They were not wearing chains, so I assume they weren't from Arizona.

It was a good hike and I plan on another one soon, perhaps Mt. Woodson on President's Day?