Hiking among the Fallen

Our latest hike took us back into the mountains in search of another waterfall. The trail was heavily covered in fallen leaves. The smell of fall was strong in the forest of red, yellow, and orange. We talked about revisiting some of our previous hikes during the winter to see how things changed. Some places would not even look familiar with the bare trees.

There were a lot of fallen trees along the trail. One particular tree fell over a valley between two hills. It was a bridge! I talked about climbing up and walking along the top of the log for a photo. Cari laughed, saying I would fall, and we continued our hike. Only a hundred yards past the log, I turned us around and got the camera out of the bag. Something inside me wasn't going to let that "bridge" go unchallenged.

I walked about thirty percent of the way out and realized the top of the log was not as flat as I thought. I felt like I was walking on the top point of a triangle. I took baby steps trying to get farther out for the picture.


My feet felt shaky after a few pictures. As I stood there I realized I was not going to be able to turn around. I threw my walking stick down and sat straddling the log. Of course, Cari was there to snap more pictures of my weak moment. I was between six to seven feet off the ground and did not feel good about turning around, even in my sitting position. I scooted backward hugging the log. I'm sure this was funny to watch. At least that's what Cari said.

After an hour of hiking, we arrived at the falls. There wasn't a tremendous amount of water flowing, but the scene was gorgeous. A rock wall of about 60 ft was in front of us. Many jagged cliffs stuck out from the face causing the water to dance it's way to the ground. Someone had made a bench from some stones and a half log that we used to take a break. Cari told me that this was now her favorite one. It was funny, because she says that almost every time.On our hike out, we came across another "bridge" of a fallen tree. I challenged Cari to climb up there for a photograph. Just like the first time, we kept walking. About a hundred yards up the path, I stopped and looked back. There was no convincing Cari that walking that tree trunk was the right thing to do. Maybe next time.