Yesterday I posted my pictures from the way up to the summit of Smith Rock, these are those taken on the way down and around.
We had taken the Misery Ridge trail up the rock and rested along the summit to take pictures for about an hour before deciding to head down along the backside. We continued to follow Misery Ridge down around Monkey Face (another rock formation) and along the Crooked River. Our trip down was not quite as steep, but it was a little unnerving since we were walking right along the edge and could see the river far below us. This side was also covered in shade and was extremely muddy and slippery. Once we got around Monkey Face we took the Mesa Verde trail the rest of the way down with only a few slip ups and near falls. Towards the end of this portion there was a small cave area with several unique rock formations that people had added to by placing pebbles in stacks along it. Me and Tony added our own before continuing on along the River Trail, which took us next to the river all the way around to the front of the rock where we had started.
We were pretty tired and hungry by the time we had looped back to the front and were excited to grab some dinner. Unfortunately we still had to hike up the trail called The Chute to get to the parking lot, which was an additional 500 feet up. I was so exhausted that this part was pretty much torture... The entire trip took us about four hours to complete. Overall it was an amazing day, and I can't wait to go back!
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| [[ misery ridge trail. taking a rest along the edge. the crooked river. monkey face on the way down. tony attempting to climb. the rock shrine. colorful rock formations. walking along the river. rock climbers. climbing the chute. mt washington and the sunset. ]] |
