Those Who Wander Are Sometimes Lost

Spring 2015

U strikes a pose

I’m sure I’ve mentioned we’ve been having some very confusing weather this spring. Not wanting to waste a bright sunny weekend, we elected to go hiking locally. Picking up U from her digs, we drove down to a lovely till area, whose name escapes my mind. As we walked towards the trailhead, we met a local couple who suggested that we do the waterfall trail, adding that there was plenty of water in the falls right now.

L- R : the husband, me, U

Trails are usually well marked, but to be safe we grabbed a few photos of the maps and valiantly set forth. We followed the green trail like the map said and transferred to the yellow trial. The map says we need to follow the yellow trail, which would lead us to the orange trail. The boards at the trailhead warned hikers of bears. Torn between wanting to spot a bear and not wanting to encounter one hungry from its long hibernation we agreed to turn back by 6:00 p.m. so that we could make it back to the parking lot before dusk. You thought climbing a tree is the best way to outsmart a bear? FYI – bears can climb trees. U and I protest that in the fable of the two friends attacked by a bear one climbs a tree to save his life. The husband quips, maybe the bears read that too!

At around 6:00 p.m., when we are about to turn around, we see markers for the orange trail. U and I convince the husband that there is enough light to allow us to follow it for another half hour. Shortly, the orange trail mysteriously vanishes and the red trail we seek is nowhere to be seen. We force the begrudging husband to trudge along the white and red trail only to suddenly lose that as well. By now the husband has had enough. We are somehow back on the green trail and he marches us straight back on it to the parking lot.

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