11 mile hike along a mountain ridge

 don't worry, it was safer than it looks.

 nate, a friend of ours & i hiked and hiked and hiked some more. 11 miles, to be exact. this trail was called the royal summit. i thought we would actually reach a summit, wouldn't you? nope. three miles in, i come to find out there is no summit. so why is it called the royal summit? well, it's  because the neighborhood/subdivision near the trailhead is called royal summit. way to falsely advertise, huh? ha. another thing we learned is that this trail doesn't end. it goes on forever and ever. we ended up hiking up/over/down 15 (i think that was the final count) mountain peaks(?). i don't really know what to call them. stephan had hiked a part of this trail before, but hadn't gone this far. at mile four, we stopped for lunch. and every couple of minutes after that, we debated about whether or not we should turn around. "still have enough water?" yup. "ok, let's keep going." "feet hurt yet?" nope. "ok, let's keep going." we really wanted to find an end to this thing. ultimately, the (pouring) rain made us make up our minds to turn around... very quickly. the dirt became mud, and it got slippery and dangerous. we didn't want local newspapers to write about three hikers gone missing in the mountains (no joke, this happens frequently). i didn't get any pictures of the rain and how drenched we were. i thought it was a little safer looking at where my feet were landing than what my phone was taking pictures of. but just imagine jumping into a pool with your clothes and shoes on, then coming out and going hiking.

we. were. soaked. 

and obviously, we made it home safely because here i am, talking about the experience three-and-a-half weeks later. :)

oh, and i will find the end of this trail someday.