Made it to Heaven!

Whew! I took on the challenge of going the back way to "The Stairway to Heaven". I didn't want to risk the $1000.00 fine trying to go up the stairs from the bottom. The trail was definitely challenging in some parts, but slowly but surely I made it to the top. Took a break for about 45 minutes, eating my lunch and going down the stairs part way to get some great pictures. Ran into a few people that risked getting caught coming up from the bottom, but they made it. Hope they didn't get caught on the way back down. Took me 4 hours up and 3 hours back. I just barely had enough water, as I ran out about 1/2 way on the long foot path at the end. Well, that's what I thought anyway. Silly me. When I got to my truck, I realized I still had one bottle left, buried at the bottom of my backpack. Man oh man, I would have enjoyed that water!! It was a great day and well worth the effort to see the stairs!