Michelle Leiva

Michelle Leiva

Echo Mountain and Inspiration Point Loop

06/26/16

Originally started the hike to Echo mountain at 7 am with my dog. It took us about 40 minutes - an hour to reach echo mountain. Once we were done relaxing at echo mountain we started our hike to Inspiration Point via Castle Canyon. It was amazingly shady but there were tons of bees and other flying insect which made the hike slightly unenjoyable for both my dog and I but hey that's nature for ya. For the Echo Mountain trail it was a pretty easy hike and for a Monday morning I felt was pretty busy with other hikers, but for the Castle Canyon trail there was literally no one in sight to the point where it felt like my dog and I were really lost in the woods. ALSO BE WARNED THERE ARE SNAKES ON THIS TRAIL!!!! Due to the trail being empty I decided to let my dog off leash as I usually do on empty hiking trails. Bad idea. My dog and I were playing fetch when out of no where I just hear an extremely loud hissing noise by my feet. I immediately knew i was going to see a snake so I quickly grabbed my dog and jumped on top of a huge rock. Luckily the snake didn't attack us or anything but ya never know so stay sharp!! It isn't until the last 1/4th mile of the hike where it stops being shady and you can finally see the inspiration point telescopes as you're hiking. I honestly almost gave up 3/4th of the way on the hike due to having ran out of water for my dog and I and having no idea when we were going to reach our destination. I'm extremely glad I didn't end up giving up though because the view was amazing. I would definitely do this 10 mile hike again but not in the summer time. Just remember to be careful about the bugs and snakes and bring extra water with you even if you think you might not need it!!

4.0