Today our Tour de Central Oregon continues with Smith Rocks State Park.
I have never heard of this place but soon learned that it is a dramatic geological feature here in the Central Oregon Desert.
Smith Rocks is one of the premier destinations for rock climbers of which there were many!
Not too shabby for hiking as well.
As we climb the perimeter trail, views of the Cascade Mountains emerge. In the gun notch and on the right is North Sister, our original climbing goal.
Dramatic!
As we near the top of the ridge, a wide angle shot of the area.
A view looking south.
As we crest the ridge, Brian soaks in the view of Mt Hood.
Wide angle view of Hood and the Cascade Range.
Around the corner, Brian pauses a moment for the view of the Three Sisters.
Around the next corner, Monkey Rock.
We did a lot of this…. looking up and admiring the rock formations.
It is hard to relate the scale of this rock with photographs.
In this image, Tom and Brian stand below the rock and are completely dwarfed.
Brian and Tom climb up around the base of Monkey Rock to check out the east face which you can see in the previous photo is one of the hardest climbing lines in the world.
Yes, people do climb these, including Brian who is an accomplished rock climber. Here, a climber is half way up the face. I am not a rock climber and this looks terrifying to me!
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