Stairway To Heaven...

Stairway to heaven. Wowza. This hike consists of 3992 stairs straight up! It was used in WWll as a lookout point. The hike has been closed down for a few years now because apparently its "unsafe." The stairs felt sturdy.. enough. So maybe a few of them were only half way connected to the ridge. Minor details. So anyways, the thing is closed and guarded by a security guard who gets there at 3:30 in the morning. Meaning, we were to wake at 2:00 in the AM to get on the trail by 3:00 and slip past him. So we did. We got there right on schedule, and with the help of headlamps, we dipped through the hole in the chain link fence, through the bamboo forest, and through another one, passed the guard tent, and through another fence and on the stairs we were. Up and up, through the fog, rain and mist mix, we climbded blinded. The only things visible were 3-4 stairs ahead of us and a silhouette of what seemed to be steep ridges on either side. Two hours later we reached the summit. One empty, wet cement structure stood. We had an hour to kill until sunrise. Brendan and I plucked a few arms full of brush, leaves, and stalks for a sitting area as we all huddled together to keep away from the howling winds and rain. 

A short cat nap, and I found myself waking up in a cloud. Literally. The thick weather didn't clear as we hoped, eliminating all chances of any photo ops. We decided to descend to try to get a peak of what we had accomplished in the dark. The views were impressive, and at some points I was glad that I couldn't see what we were hiking up. We reached the base and were greeted by the guard, who didn't seem to mind that we were up there. He just turned his head and acted as if he had seen nothing. 

It was an epic hike and couldn't have been happier to have Brendan and Erika with me. I managed to catch a few photos through the fog on the way down and nobody got arrested.

As much as I try not to toot Erika's horn, I must hand it to her. She's a trooper. She doesn't miss a beat and doesn't skip out on anything. She's always right there with the boys, with no complaints, for the most part. I try not to tell her this too often for fear that her head may get a little top heavy.. 

B.

Confusing photo at first. Even more confusing in real life. This is the sun in the clouds reflecting down onto the ocean. 

Heaven. That way.

The trail head is located just under the highway. Few stairs away.

Some steps were too steep to descend forward, and we were required to back pedal down them.