We pulled off into a parking lot, and were directed to a 4-wheeler trail off to one side. The guy said it would take us down to the river. From there, we thought we would just follow the river upstream until we got to the falls. Good plan, Good plan....
"A vertical log. It's a tree!"
Here is Jake a couple hours into our journey. You can see the sky is a little gloomy looking, but we paid no attention to it, and carried on. The underbrush you see in the photo was pretty typical, and the going was a little slow. There were TONS of thorny bushes everywhere, and we ran into lots of "briar patches" that we had to go all the way around because there was just no going through them. Trust me, I tried... and paid dearly for it it in scratches, pokes, and yes... in blood! :)
Then there was the MARSH! When you get within a certain distance of the river (especially this year with all the flooding) the ground tends to be a little squishy. We tried going the high road to avoid it, but the trees and branches were just so thick--- So we ended up traveling by way of the wetlands. I should have planned my route a little more cautiously, because all it takes is one wrong step and you are suddenly thigh high in mud!!!
Yes, the mud sucked me down in an instant and I am sure the look on my face was priceless. I was sooo surprised and it was soooo cold, but quite hilarious all in all. Jake of course laughed boisterously, but then suggested that we head back to prevent my wet feet from becoming blistered. I was disappointed at the thought of not reaching the waterfalls, so I pouted until he let me continue. In his defense, he really does try to take good care of me :) But it was to my delight that we stayed the course --- and how can he resist my delight? hahaha. And besides, if we would have turned back we never would have found these amazing purple mushrooms ----
Well, at this point it had been about 3 or 4 hours since we ventured off the 4 wheeler trail and with every bend in the river we think "The waterfall HAS to be close." We had kind of been taking our time, but seriously? We should have been there by now. Jake makes an executive decision that we should make our way back because we don't have another 4 hours before the sun goes down. We wouldn't get to see the falls, but we have had a good adventure - and we did not want to be hiking in the dark.
We deduce that the river we had been following is on one side of the mountain and the road is on the other, so all we have to do is hike up to the ridge and the road will be on the other side. Then the road will take us back to our car nice and quick like. A short cut! We saw a big side hill entirely comprised of boulders - kind of like a rock slide. (Must be from an old lava flow or something?) Anyway, it looked like the best way to the top so we would not have to fight the fallen trees and thick foliage. Genius!
It was really fun to climb the rocks, but a little scary when you found a loose one. We took our time, as we did NOT want to tumble backwards down the boulder slide. So here we are near the top of the vast mountain of crumbly stones. We referred to this place as the Cliffs of Dover (although we realize they were nothing to compare with the actual site, we enjoyed our disillusion of majesty.)
This cave/overhang had some really neat natural coloring. Bright yellow, orange, red, and bright white from the mineral deposits. We enjoyed exploring for a bit then it was out and around the cliff to the summit where we would see the road.... or so we thought....
When we reached the place where we could view the terrain - we were baffled. There was forest as far as the eye could see and --- the river? Yes, the river was on both sides of us. How could this be? We never crossed a bridge, and we certainly did not swim the river - so how could we have come to be in the middle of two rivers..... ah phooey.
Another couple of hours had passed while we had been climbing boulders and exploring, and now we weren't quite sure which way to go. Should we go back the way we came (which we really didn't have time to do) or press onward hoping to reach the waterfall? Ah man!
I have no pictures past this point because we were a little too worried to be taking snapshots.
So we tried to get our bearings by following the ridge for a while. The more we saw, the more we were confused. About a half hour in that direction we saw a huge bend in the river (where the river on both sides of us met in front of us.) It turns out that we had been following the river in a giant circle instead of a straight line as we had supposed. We were turned in the completely opposite direction and so the short cut was correct in theory, but incorrect in direction. uh... woops! I guess that's where a compass comes in handy. At least things kind of made sense now. We stopped for a water break.
As I sat there I looked over Jakes shoulder and saw the sky begin to unload in front of us --- a white wall of HAIL! And then we heard it whooshing toward us! Ahhhh! Then it was pounding on our hats and we were laughing and running and thinking --- adventure? This is an adventure and a half!
It continued to hail as we made our way (a half hour back) to the "Cliffs of Dover." The boulders were increasingly difficult to maneuver now because they were very wet and very slippery. It was hard to grab on to them with my frozen hands, but I felt kind of hard core because I just did it anyway. I was still a little scared inside because I felt like we were going back to where we started - It was all up hill - and we could still be a long way from anywhere--- but Jake seemed to be pretty sure about where we were now. And in spite of being quite wet, really cold, and a bit tired, we were still having a good time for the most part. The storm turned to snow and rain briefly but then stopped - leaving the air fresh and glorious. From the top of the hill, we could smell the wild mint plants and the strong scent of pine. We could see mist moving all around us and the sunlight penetrating it every now and then. It really was refreshing and majestic. :)
"It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that a man finds some of his supreme joys."
It wasn't too long after crossing the cliffs that we found a marked trail! What a beautiful sight. It put my troubled mind at ease, because I knew it was now only a matter of time, and no longer a matter of where to go. We made a lot better time on the trail because we did not have to plot a course and struggle through the wet trees. Walking along we joked about how crazy it would have if we would have had to spend the night, and how grateful we were that it did not happen that way. We laughed about the fact that Jake had wanted to go back when I got my foot stuck in the mud hours ago. And we commented on all the quirky things that had just happened to us - including the ferocious hail storm that came out of nowhere!
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
Further up the trail, we came across a father and his son out hunting bear. We stopped to chat briefly. After they questioned us about our wet-raggedy-condition, they reassured us that we were going the right way and we would intersect the road soon. It still took us a little while to get out of the thick of things, but it did indeed take us to the road!
The view from the highway had it's own scenic qualities. We saw the remains of an old ski resort, and read a sign with information about it. Who knew there had been a ski lift there in the 50's? But to be completely truthful I didn't exactly study the sign --- my attention span was short at this point. My pants were so wet that they were falling off of me and I couldn't even stand putting my hands under my armpits to warm them up, because they felt like big chunks of ice! hahaha.
When we made it back to the car Jake told me I couldn't get in his car looking like I did! How rude! Too bad for him, I got in anyway :) Turned the heat up full blast and blazed our way out of there. We stopped at Big Jud's in Ashton and got us some burgers, and hot chocolate. Mmmmm. I've never gone into a public place looking like such a raggamuffin in all my life --- it was very liberating.
And when we arrived home, and we had basked in the glory of a hot shower, and dressed in snuggly warm clothes, we said --- THAT WAS A GREAT DAY!
"We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character."
1 comment:
What a fun hike!! I didn't know you were into all this sweet stuff that I am too! :) haha!
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