Despite being relativley short (6 miles) Cathedral Peak is one of the more difficult hikes in the Santa Barbara area. There is over 2000 feet of elevation gain, which didn't seem too bad. With high spirits, my housemates and I set off for an early morning adventure.
6:00 a.m. The hike begins
We quickly realized that the hike was much more difficult than we had originally thought. The trail was narrow, hard to follow and frequented by massive boulders or steep ledges. We had to rock climb about half the time, which quickly tired out our upper body.
7:00 a.m. The first wrong turn is made.
While hiking up the rocky "Dragon spine" we took a wrong turn. The trail became more and more faint, but we were still going up. Eventually, we were inching our way along a steep rock wall with a sheer drop to almost certain death behind us. We decided this was too sketchy and backtracked.
7:30 a.m. The boys recover the trail
Once we were back on trail it was back to the same, careful climbing that we had grown accustomed to. The top grew closer, but so did the boulders.
8:28 a.m. We reach the top. After taking a quick breather and some pictures we start hiking back down.
2ish p.m. Brandon realizes he left his phone at the top of the hike. We cut our losses and head home.