So, hiking yesterday was an adventure. Of course, it was. When we began the morning I had absolutely no clue what I was in store for. I'll start off by saying that I haven't been on a real hike in about 2 years. I've been specializing in "happy hikes" as of late. Kelly, Judith, Lindsay, Kristin, and myself began our tour at 7am...we reached the Raven Cliff Falls trail at 8:45am beginning the trail at 9. It started off lovely for 4 miles when we began our descent down the mountain to the falls. We ran into a gentleman who advised us to turn around because the trail was completely iced over. Not ones for defeat, we decided to continue. Down ladders and across streams we went. Needless to say, it was breathtaking. Huge icicles hung off the side of the mountains...20 in a row. Then we saw it. The entire side of the mountain was nothing but a sheet of ice. Where the trail should have been was only ice. We decided to hike around the ice and find the trail on the other side. We had to slide down the mountain on our bums and then cross a half frozen stream. I, of course, busted it and almost died. Luckily, Kristin grabbed my foot and Lindsay grabbed my hand. With shaky legs we crawled up the mountain back to the trail. Oh, did I mention that we crossed a suspension bridge earlier? You know the kind that go up and down and side to side. It was awesome. Anyway, we made our way to a lunch spot. We had to cross the river again, but this time on wire. Feet on one, hands on the other and shimmy across. I felt like I was on Fear Factor. My legs were still shaking from the near death and they doubled their tremors as I made my way across the wires. Taking a 20 minute break, we enjoyed lunch and then continued on our excursion. The trail we hit next was dismal...no really, it was the Dismal Trail. It was a mile and a half straight back up the mountain. I mean straight back up the mountain. By this time, I could feel blisters forming on my feet. Worsening with each step, I begged the others to continue. I hobbled up the mountain. Finally, I said "forget this" and took my boots off and finished the last 1/8 of a mile in my socks. Six hours and 12 blisters later we finished our trip. Taking my socks off...everyone gasping an "eww," I discovered that I had a blister on each toe, 2 on my pinkie toe and a blister on top of another blister on my big toe.

All in all, a great day. Beautiful. It was worth all the pain. Besides it's not everyday that you get to pretend to be a mountain goat.

Thursday, December 30, 2004 | 1:04 PM | LINK |