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The Trough, Going Down (pg.1)... |
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by Jerry Cates |
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Standing on top of the large boulder at the top of the Trough, looking down, I was reminded of the fact that every step would have to be placed with care to avoid an ankle injury. The couloir is filled with large, loose, angular rocks, from top to bottom. The two photos below make a stereo pair, in case you know how to relax your eyes so that you can take advantage of them and view the scene in 3-D (let your eyes relax, so that the left eye swings to the left image, and the right eye swings to the right image; one way to do that is to try to merge the boulder in the lower left of the left image with the same boulder in the lower left of the right image; once they merge, you will be viewing the scene in 3-D). The size of the rocks in the Trough means they are "talus," rather than "scree," which is loose rubble of (smaller) angular rock that tends to shift while you scramble across it. In the Trough the large rocks were pretty stable. Still, I knew I couldn't count on that.
Sometimes one or both rocks moved underfoot, and I prepared to jog with the movement, if necessary, to avoid a dreaded ankle twist. Hikers in the Trough also need to worry that any loose rock they dislodge might roll down and injure a fellow hiker. Today, though, there were not many other hikers in the Trough, and only a few of the rocks I stepped on moved at all. None of these appeared on the brink of being dislodged. All in all, the trek down the Trough was unremarkable. Next: The Trough, going down, page 2... Longs Peak Menu ... Bugsinthenews ... Books About Longs Peak |
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