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Death by Icicle, a Hiking Adventure

Its always good to be prepared for everything. I particularly pack to be prepared for being really, really cold. Or wet. I hate both of those things. Or hangry I guess, too. Nobody wants to be around me when Im that hungry.

Todays weather was in the mid 40's, sunny and leftover snow on the ground. So, here is how I packed for my hike to Natural Bridge today:
-An extra sweatshirt
-A windbreaker (or rain jacket, however you look at it)
-A cliff bar, a mojo bar, a nature valley bar, granola in the car, an apple.
-Bottle of water
-Camera
-Small first aid kit
-Two plastic bags for wet feet
-Extra pair of wool socks
-Sunglasses (Wasn't sunny when I left)
-Various other things that are already in my backpack

What I was wearing:
-Fleece lined leggings and water resistant, Prana, outdoor pants
-Fleece brushed long sleeve shirt, Marmot zip up, Colombia Fleece
-Cheap gloves, scarf, hat, two pairs of wool socks

So I get to the trail and its just up. Lots of stairs. Thats nice cause I get warm right away and take off some layers. I also decide to attach the plastic bags to my feet because it was very slushy. I bend over to start taking off my shoes and my apple falls out of my backpack. It slams down on the trail and I think "bummer, my apple is going to get a bruise..." But then it starts rolling and I think "Oh, the bruise is the least of that apples problems right now... stop rolling there please... no, stop!" The apple starts to very, very slowly roll away from me. I am standing on the trail with my shoe slightly off and am just watching it. It stops at one point, not too far away from me and I say "ok stop" out loud and a second later it continues its decent. At one point Im almost certain that Im going to lose my apple all the way to the bottom of this hill but then it reluctantly slides to a stop after becoming a small snowball. I watch it for a second to make sure it has actually stopped and then finish my plastic bag application on my feet. After I get that all situated, I study the landscape to figure out if I should leave the apple or rescue it. Its an organic apple, I have to get it, it is worthy of rescue. As I half walk, half slide down this steep hill, I think that this is probably a bad idea and Im going to slide all the way to the street below. But I get to the apple, pick it up, wipe off the snow and start heading back to the trail. I only slip once and dont eat it at all. Success. Im hiking up a little further and Im holding the apple so it doesn't try to escape again and figure I should just eat it. The first bite that I take is SO sweet and I thank my past self for taking the adventure to get this apple. So delicious.

I was paving my own path for the first leg of my journey. The snow clearly told the story that I was the only one on the trail this morning. I left my tracks behind me and looked ahead. Now, its hard to figure out if you're on the correct path if you're an inexperienced hiker but here are some tips. Look for human involvement. This could include erosion on a hillside (where the path is), a sawed tree that fell over the path and the ground isn't squishy or soft. its usually harder and more clear on the path. To a seasoned hiker, following a trail is as easy as following a paved road. So even though the ground was covered in snow and the trail wasn't marked well, I was pretty certain I was headed the right way. At one point I was following dog prints along the trail. Then I realized that I didnt see any human tracks, was that a dog?? Probably not. Animals use the trail too! I saw deer and smaller prints probably from a fox as well. Its cool to hike in the snow!

Because of the snow and warm day, the snow was really melty, and slippery. I had to really take my time. One part of the trail was under some beautiful overhanging rock. Icicles were attached to these overhangs and dripping madly. There were some remnants of previously fallen, massive icicles and I could hear some falling in the distance. This was the most terrifying part of my journey. Some of these icicles were as large or larger than I! The trail went right through these treacherous pathways. So, I would walk as close to the wall as I could until I had to pass under the icicles. Then I would run as fast as the snow would allow so I wouldn't get impaled by the potential falling ice! I could say that I wasn't scared but that would be a lie, these were some huge pointy killing machines right above me! But I did make it without even any close calls.


When I got to Natural Bridge I exclaimed out loud "There it is!" It was massive and pretty dang cool.

I explored around a bit, sat in the sun and ate some foods and then took WAY too many pictures at the top but the lighting was so perfect as was the backdrop. 

Then I continued my journey. I took a different way back hoping not to have to hike under falling icicles. But I took a side journey which would have been really really cool had it not been icy and melty. It was straight up some steep, narrow stairs in the rock and then back down some other narrow stairs. The hike up was in a narrow cavern called Devils Gulch. First there were wooden stairs which were not too slippery but then came the stairs cut out of the rock and under some death-cicles. Before I ascended, I told myself to just keep hiking, as fast as I could, without looking up. There was ice from past icicles smashed on the stairs and I almost ate it many times but managed to stay on my feet tanks to a metal (freezing) handrail that I used to practically pull myself up. Once I got to the top, I took a big breath of thanks and looked behind me. This was the treachery I saw:

I continued the small loop only to have to go down some slippery, narrow carved stairs. I took my sweet time and wondered why I thought this detour was a good idea...

I made it down the stairs and navigated the trail, this time following a set of footprints and eventually found my set of footprints. I was amazed at all the prints of animal life all around me. I also soaked up all that sunshine. It was coming through the trees at the perfect angle to make my surroundings look absolutely perfect and tranquil. My feet got pretty soaked and I was happy I had the plastic bags on my feet to keep them more dry, even though I looked like a doufus. Sometimes being warm and dry is more important than looking cool. But only sometimes. 


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