Not long after noting the sharp switchbacks in front of me I was on them myself. When I say "not long" I mean distance not time. 1.5 to 2 hours is the recommended time for a "safe and leisurely round trip hike". I took every bit of that and a few ticks more. "Not long" can not be applied to any portion of my climb and I don't recall any of it being leisurely, either. There are a couple tunnels and several set of steps. This set of 99 is the longest and most intimidating. Thank goodness it wasn't a hundred.

The return trip wasn't nearly as strenuous but it still took some effort and careful attention to foot placement. In both directions I now and then stepped aside for folks traveling faster than me which was just about everybody. But not only were there people traveling at a "normal" pace but there were several folks actually running up and down the mountain including some who looked old enough to know better.

The actual distance was 0.3 mile. I decided I could walk that far, see if it was for real, play one game if it was, then catch the bus. It was real and after informing the gang back home of my find, I learned that all locations were now synchronized on the bigger games and that, in just a couple of hours, with the sun still high in the sky, I could be playing what was normally my last game on a Tuesday with friends who were sipping their last beer of the day.

I don't believe that beer has mysterious feet rejuvenating properties but it does have judgment altering properties. From Rivals, which really does have Buzztime trivia, to the brewery was just a half mile. That didn't seem worthy of a bus ride so I walked. Then I walked back, played an exciting game of Glory Daze, and walked on to my hotel. That means I walked to and from two points 0.8 mile away today. The walk with the brewery at the turn-around was much easier than the one with the volcano crater.