Rock of Ages exposure?

[arlohike]

I'm looking for advice from anyone who has hiked the unofficial Rock of Ages trail. I travel light and love a good workout, so all the descriptions I've read about how steep it is just make me more eager to do it. But what most trip reports only mention briefly is the exposure. I'm quite scared of heights and have found that hikes with lots of exposure are usually too stressful to be enjoyable.

I found this near-real-time GoPro video of the hike and the parts around the stone arch and Devil's Backbone were indeed terrifying, but I get the impression those are detours from the main route. If I skipped those detours, how much exposure would I still have to deal with?

A drop on one side of the trail, with trees on it, like I find in many Gorge hikes, is generally fine for me. A drop on both sides, with trees on it, is not fun but I can handle it. A drop on one side with no trees is much scarier, but I can deal with it for short sections. I can't imagine getting through any section with drops on both sides and no trees.

FWIW I went as far as the top of Ponytail Falls last weekend and it was fun. I just don't want to get a mile into it and find a section I was too scared to continue with, because walking back down would not be so fun.

Also, is this the wrong time of year to consider it anyway? I went up the Oneonta Creek trail to check out the creek crossing and didn't see a good way to get through that. I've read trip reports of people walking across the fallen tree, or wading through the water, but neither option seemed very appealing. It looked like the creek was narrower and the rocks were bigger 30 yards upstream, where rock-hopping might be an option. A few weeks ago while having lunch in the same spot, I saw someone rooting around on the alternate trail on the other side, but it didn't occur to me to holler over and ask what the conditions were. Last weekend there were several logs piled up at the end of the alternate trail, near the log bridge downstream from this crossing, indicating that someone really didn't want me to try that trail.

[Peder]

Welcome Arlo! Good question! I do the ridge both up- and downward without any concerns, but I once encountered a young couple near the top of the ridge (with a combined age well under my age), who assured me of certain death if I continued my descent! So everything is relative. How do you feel on Hamilton Mountain or Eagle Creek? If you are fine with those, I would assume that you can do the RoA. The arch is on a side trail to the east, and you do not have to go right up to the abyss. There is a short steeper bit a little above here, but if it is dry and the take the easiest route it should be no difficulty. The problem can be that with little experience, a hiker may not be able to see the "easiest" path and get into trouble. The Devil's Backbone is detoured on its east side and should pose no problems, and from there on it is easy going. If you head down toward the Oneonta Gorge, you do not have to cross the ford if the water levels are high, you can just bushwhack 1/4 mile downstream to the bridge.

[adamschneider]

The trail TO the arch doesn't have any exposure at all; it's just steep, rough, and often muddy. You're only on the edge of a cliff when you're at the arch itself; and then it's only on the east side, and there's plenty of stuff to hold onto. You'll only be on a knife-edge with lots of exposure if you climb up on top of the arch.

The top of Devil's Backbone, on the other hand, might pretty scary for someone with acrophobia, and parts of the trail there might be a little unnerving.


(You should be much more concerned about the poison-oak!)

[TJ_T]

You can skirt the side of Devils Backbone in the trees. No need to walk along the ridge.

[Bosterson]

If you head down toward the Oneonta Gorge, you do not have to cross the ford if the water levels are high, you can just bushwhack 1/4 mile downstream to the bridge.

Right before you reach Oneonta Creek, there's actually a pretty obvious user trail heading to the right, parallel to the creek. There are notches cut for going over downed trees and everything. It's rougher than a regular trail, but I wouldn't call it a "bushwhack."

[kepPNW]

If you head down toward the Oneonta Gorge, you do not have to cross the ford if the water levels are high, you can just bushwhack 1/4 mile downstream to the bridge.

Right before you reach Oneonta Creek, there's actually a pretty obvious user trail heading to the right, parallel to the creek. There are notches cut for going over downed trees and everything. It's rougher than a regular trail, but I wouldn't call it a "bushwhack."

Yeah, I was just on that a few weeks ago, and it's definitely getting well-worn in. Far more of a trail than it was even a year ago.

[BigBear]

Rock of Ages
I do have issues with exposure and the only place I recall being concerned is immediately after the rock arch. The trail skirts close to the edge of the cliff as it ascends. The area is roughly 20-30 feet of trail, and if the surface is dry and firm it's not an issue. If it's muddy, I tend to favor vegetable belays through the poison oak and other ground cover in this section.

At the Devils Backbone, I actually enjoyed the view. True, it's a lava spine but the trail skirts the forested end and I found myself willing to take a dozen steps out onto the rock formation to take pictures.

Ruckel Ridge also has a few concerning rock formations, including the famous Catwalk. However, this formation can be down-climbed at the beginning and then re-climbed at the upper end using the multiple hand/foot holds. The true challenge of this route is finding Ruckel Creek in the snow (if done in spring).

[arlohike]

How do you feel on Hamilton Mountain or Eagle Creek? If you are fine with those, I would assume that you can do the RoA.

Eagle Creek is a hike that I probably won't do again. It was very beautiful, and my wife loved it, but I was too anxious to enjoy it. Another comparison is Angel's Rest ... I've stopped there for lunch a couple times, but was relieved to get back to the "mainland."

I do have issues with exposure and the only place I recall being concerned is immediately after the rock arch. The trail skirts close to the edge of the cliff as it ascends. The area is roughly 20-30 feet of trail, and if the surface is dry and firm it's not an issue.

Okay. Even if there are some hard parts, it helps a lot to know when they're over and I can relax.

You'll only be on a knife-edge with lots of exposure if you climb up on top of the arch.

LOL ... that's not going to happen!

Right before you reach Oneonta Creek, there's actually a pretty obvious user trail heading to the right, parallel to the creek. There are notches cut for going over downed trees and everything. It's rougher than a regular trail, but I wouldn't call it a "bushwhack."

Ah, very good. I'd seen that trail but had read something about it being too overgrown, so didn't try it.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment. I'll plan to try it in the next few weeks and will report back afterwards!

[airoff]

It's steep, but I can't see why exposure would be an issue unless you sought it out. The worst part will be creek crossings and maybe navigating the trail once it flattens out above Devil's Backbone.

I hate the downhill switchbacks just before Oneonta so I haven't done that loop in awhile, but I know exposure is easily avoided. Just stay to the left (east) and low when you get to Devil's Backbone to avoid the spine. But it's not bad at all you'll find if you go up there.

Going to the Arch is a side trip. The trail to it is actually more harrowing as I recall.

Have fun!

[arlohike]

I finally did this hike with a more experienced friend a couple weeks ago.

The worst part for me was the tiny little path out to the arch, which I would have skipped if I had been on my own, but my friend encouraged me to venture out there and I did. The bad part was only a few feet of very narrow path with a steep cliff on one side and a shorter drop with some shrubbery on the other. After getting across that, I saw what appeared to be an alternate trail coming up to the arch. The trail below the arch split and rejoined a couple times, so I suppose further exploration could reveal a route that avoids that scary part.

At the Devil's Backbone, what appeared to be the "default" trail went along the bottom of the backbone, which is a rock formation about 10 feet higher than that trail, but another path went straight up the backbone and from there you could walk along the top or very close to the top, parallel to the lower and safer trail. Again, I would have taken the low road, but my friend convinced me to climb up, where I basically crawled the entire length of the backbone, maybe 50 or 75 feet. One could also take the low road until it rises up to the level of the backbone at the far end, then walk around on the backbone there, where it is broader.

I had no fear of heights anywhere else, and no problems following the trail, although around the high point of the route we passed through 1-2 miles of constant spiderwebs that became annoying. We saw one other party on the Rock of Ages trail and the spiderwebs started just after we passed them, so I guess they had been catching them for us for some time before that! Oneonta Creek was lower than I've seen it and we were able to hop across the rocks, with no need for the alternate route on the east side of the creek.

Overall I was happy to finally do this, but it probably won't become a regular hike for me. I like to get a workout, but the scrambly parts were more a strategy challenge of how to actually get up it than a legs and lungs type of challenge. If I do it again I'll most likely skip the two famous landmarks and just enjoy the relative solitude of the area.