Sun, Jan 25 2015 - Mount Yonah - A Different Approach (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Dan Hildebrand, Mark Participants: Mark, Dan Hildebrand, Nick Knowles, Mark P, Tracy, Deb R, Andrea T, Greg Walling, Rodney R

Thanks for coming out everyone!  We had perfect weather (bright blue skys, plenty of sun and we even managed to mostly avoid the impending wind!) and got to see the picturesque Yonah cliffs from a different perspective.

We started at the western parking lot and quickly worked our way up to the first vantage point and on to Mark's least favorite part of the hike (it's also the steepest, coincidence?)  After reaching the training ground, we continued up to the boulder for an extended snack before working our way over to the bottom of the cliffs.  Since it was such a nice warm winter day, there was plenty of ice melt flowing down the rocks, which made for a couple of slick scrambles while we worked our way around the base of the cliffs and toward the top.  Once we had made it up, we worked our way back around the iconic cliff top, ate even more food and paused for selfies at the spot where everyone takes a photo :).  Stuffed, well photographed and ready to head home, the group tagged the summit and briefly hopped off trail to find some clear overlooks just north of the gravel road.  It didn't take long to book it back to the trail head, so we had plenty of daylight left for our communte home.  While the hike was short but strenuous, the group agreed that even a Yonah Burger didn't sound good after our frequent snack breaks and decided to make a break back to the city.

All in all we spent less than 2.5 hours covering a hair over 5.5 miles and 1500' of elevation gain.  I'm also happy to report that we spent 1.5 hours admiring the views and eating trail mix!