Although this shot of Dan was taken on the way down, it gives you a good idea of how steep Hobb's ridge is.
We reached the Bench (2300') at about 10:30 a.m and took a snack break there. We have gained 1700' since beginning at 8:15 this morning. The top is somewhat over 3100' so we still have 800' of elevation to gain. It would take us another 2 1/2 hours to get there because of the heavy brush on the trail over 2800'. There were also a few times on the way up where Michael had to break out a 20' nylon strap that we doubled up and used as a climbing aide. Of course Michael had to go up w/out the aide.
