Comfort level: 2

Yesterday was the day of another great hike for Cari and I.

We headed out to see Moonshine Falls. Named for the men that used to make moonshine in the cave near the falls. The more than three mile hike in wasn't that bad. We were able to see some animal tracks in the mud as we went. We identified two seperate tracks. We think one was a skunk or similiar sized animal. The other set seemed to belong to a medium size cat animal. We aren't experts and I didn't take pictures of the prints today.

Roughly half way into the trip, we came to a river. The water was flowing fast over the rocks. There seemed to be only one way to cross.I was a bit nervous as I crossed first. My hands and feet slipped on the wet cables. After I made it about half way I calmed down and started enjoying the scene. Cari didn't appreciate the cable bridge like I did. She threatened to wade through the river on the way back out.

At the falls the first thing you see is the cave holding the rusted out moonshine barrels.Climbing down a bit further allows an awesome view of the falls from the bottom.

We sat and ate the lunch Cari packed for us in this beautiful setting.

After we ate, I took my pictures and we looked around for a while.

Then we began our hour and a half hike out. We found another set of prints on the way out.
We are certain these were bear tracks. I looked at Cari and asked her, "What was your comfort level five minutes ago?"
She responded, "about a 9."
"And what's your comfort level now?", I asked.
"2.", she answered.

The prints were pointed in the same direction we were now heading. We didn't notice the tracks on the way in, so we felt like they were made recently. The print was a little bigger than my fist. What size bear does that equate to? I have no idea and I wasn't prepared to find out today. Unfortunatly, my fear prevented me from snapping a picture of the prints. After walking about five minutes, I started calming down a bit only to come across yet another set of the same bear tracks.

As we were packing the car at the end of our journey, I told Cari I wished I had pictures of the bear tracks. She offered to wait in the car while I hiked back for that shot.