David, Esa, and I hiked up and down Mount Bliss on a recent fine Sunday morning. The drive took us to an equestrian center and, after we bravely walked past several horses and a NO TRESPASSING sign, we found the trail and began the upward trek. We had known that the hike was up a mountain, so we should not have been surprised that the trail kept climbing up and up and up. But it did, and we were.
We made it to the top, rested briefly, and then made our way back down the mountain to the horses and Esa's car. We went fast. The hike was about 9 miles and we completed it in a little over 3 hours. That's fast. The trail was a fire road, so it was broad and well groomed. It also was deserted--we encountered a man in a pickup truck, but no hikers or bikers or other mammals. We did see lizards.
