I feel … corrected?
Not in the way that I correct grammar for a living. No, it’s like the way you correct a shot of espresso with a shot of ouzo.
For quite some time, I’ve confined myself to the city limits -- maybe venturing as far out as Fox, but never straying too far from that highway.
But today, I knocked the dust offa my hiking shoes and got the hell away from Fairbanks for a bit.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m taking baby steps in these hiking shoes. I took Chena Hot Springs Road to the Angel Rocks loop trail, a 3.5-mile hilly walk that is a staple of the local hiking scene. It certainly made me feel novice as I passed 18-year-old kids who earlier were blasting bad punk music in the parking lot.
Still, I managed to tromp down some rocky side paths and satisfy my urge for forsaking the main trail. A little detour I took led me to the left of a cave at the top of Angel Rocks while the main trail veered to the right, but I found markers quickly after and began following down the opposite side.
I was a bit apprehensive taking this path, though. The loop trail branches out to a 8.9-mile hike to Chena Hot Springs in the middle, and it wasn’t clear which path I was on.
It wasn’t a big deal. There was a family camping at the top so I could easily get help if I injured myself, and I had about six hours until the 10:45 p.m. sunset so I wasn’t short on time. With that in mind, I bounded down the hill, skidding on my heels and bracing myself on any tree limb in arm’s reach.
About 30 minutes later, I was becoming pretty dehydrated. My 1.5 liter of Aquafina was finished by the time I had reached the top, and it wasn’t going to satisfy my thirst much longer. So I pulled an about face and killed my calves on the steep return climb.
Naturally, When I reached the top, I noticed that had I gone to the right side of the cave I would have seen a sign telling me that I was on the correct path all along. Oh well.
The drive out there was something in itself. I’m no road warrior, but I do enjoy the occasional several-thousand-mile cruise. The minute I got more than 10 miles out of town, I reverted back to my Diagonal self, doing things like stopping and snapping odd pictures:
Like I said, corrected.
3 comments:
Nice post bro, thanks for the dose of perspective...and the beautiful pics.
Well sir, I am off to Europe. I will rty and follow in your footsteps and be the wine guy in the hostel. I'll call you when I get back. Have a good one. We all miss ya.
Beautiful pics...(new camera,heh?) I especially like the one of you smack in the middle of that expansive panoramic landscape! Always breathtaking from 6,000 miles away.....Still looking for shortcuts and sliding down hills....I seem to remember you sliding down a hillside in France a year ago! Miss you. Tibbs says "meow".
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