so there i was last week hiking in capitol reef n.p. went on the "strenuous" hike so not so many folks went that way and the trail was hard to see. hiked along, eventually went up up up. lost the trail. no big deal. went down down down. found the trail going back. but saw a cool bunch of rock formation and decided to go over to them instead of heading back to the trailhead just yet. dropped down into them, now in a bit of a canyon type thing. cool.
well, i get to a drop-off. look down, seems like i can jump it--only 6 and half feet or so. probably can't climb back out the way i go in, but i can tell i'll be able to climb out the other side. so i jump. oh ouch my knee. not the one that's been clicking all summer, but the other one. fortunately the pain doesn't last too long though. now i climb up the other side and oh, what do you know, there's another drop. duh, what an idiot.
ok, this jump also looks doable, except now i'm hesitant to jump because i'm worried about my knee. plus, who knows what's beyond that drop? maybe something worse. so i go back to see if i can climb back up the first jump. hmmmm. it's an overhang, out of reach. i try it a bit, but my rock climbing skills are not top form. maybe i could have worked out the problem after a few hours but no spotter, and what if i fall back and hit my head?
right. i go forward to the second drop and check it out some more. if i jump down it, i won't be able climb back the way i came, but who cares since i can't climb out the previous one? i can hear people on some other trail some ways ahead of me. so it's not a life threatening situation, i could yell for help. but how humiliating would that be? actually it looks like i might be able to climb up the wall on the side if i do carry on and jump into the second drop. ugh, but my knee. oh whatever, just jump. so i do. oh good, this time no pain.
i go on a little ways more, and of course it's a dead end. of course. there's a huge drop off. many many many feet high. and down there is a trail--the "easy" one that takes hikers to the base of a natural bridge/arch. i'm treated to a lovely view of it from on high. cool, but how to get out? no way to go down. maybe i can get out the side? yes, i am able to climb up and over the side wall. phew. and with only a skinned knee and some nervous sweat.
now, by "number 3" i don't mean over the course of a lifetime. only so far this summer while in utah. oy, what's up with that?
1 comment:
don't do that again.
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