An Amazing Friend and Adventure Part II

 

The day grew darker and a bit more dreary when we got to the south end of the ridgetop. The Hogback Ridge opened up into a larger and flat plateau like area. At different times, the State Land had been rented out as farm land. 

We walked around this field and entered the old oak forest. Jason kept looking for an old trail he knew he'd used a couple of years ago.

He said that he hadn't done this part of the hike alone because he didn't feel safe in case something happened to him. He has trouble with his knees and had surgery last year.

This type of landscape is something I've hiked in for the past 28 years. I often scramble up and down rocky and dirt dry runs. Looking for handholds while climbing over roots and rocks is something I don't even have to think about any more.

I took this shot below after we had an incident with Jason's older dog. While negotiating this animal track on the hillside, Felix lost his balance and rolled down the steep incline. He rolled into a log. Jason was upset. Felix got up and shook while Jason called to him.

Felix had decided he wanted nothing to do with that trail and did not want to follow us stupid humans. [In the mean time, Charlie and Jason's other dog Piper sat and watched]

Jason called and called. Felix ignored him and started slowly started to climb the steep hill with a slippery bed of oak leaves up and away from us.

I'm a fast scrambler, so I took off after Felix. I used trees, rocks, and balance to get ahead of Felix. Jason warned me not to grab Felix by the collar. He'd bite me. Felix is a pretty laid back dog except when he is upset. He is a rescue 'off the street' dog. Jason calls him his High Dollar Doggy for all the vet bills they have had.

I positioned myself on the trial so that Felix couldn't get by me except by climbing over a huge log. I offered him one of Charlie's dog cookies to interest him while Jason came up to put him on a leash.

As expected, there was quite a tussle getting Felix leashed. We eventually made it to the main attraction.

We took several minutes to just chill out, get the dogs some water, and sit quietly on the floor of the cave.

Jason suffers from PTSD and Anxiety so I understand his need to be able to just sit and breathe when something happens. He has to process things differently than I do. He just recently had doctors diagnose him with borderline autism. His life long struggles with processing information and relationships now make a bit more sense to him. That said, he is a brilliant geologist that no longer works in that field. He is smart and articulate but needs different rules for conversation and friendship.

Let's say, we get along just fine.

I pulled out two Lego Minifigures and set them up on a rock shelf to take their photo. I presented the one minifig as Jason, one as me...and one little Charlie.

Jason pulled out something from his backpack and handed it to me.

I quipped with delight: You are so prepared! You brought along Guardians of the Galaxy in case we needed Superhero's!!!

With things settled down we had some fun. Jason tried to crawl back to see how far the holes in the rock extended. The shot below is an infrared shot in black and white. I really love how one can see the details of the rock that was washed and eroded by underground water flowing millions of years ago.

And after that, silliness happened.

Jason wanted a photo of himself doing silly things. Jumping up and down...

A silhoutte.

And the last bit of fun silliness. Charlie and Jason's dogs were curious when Jason started jumping up and down. Charlie wouldn't get out from under Jason, so he scooped Charlie up and continued to jump!

We found a better trail to climb up and out of there and started back towards our vehicles. With Jason, I never have to think of something to say as he is always chatting. That's fine, listening is a good skill to have.

He says he enjoys my friendship and hiking with me because he doesn't have to worry that I can't handle myself. I bring emergency gear like he does and have some good knowledge of woodcraft.

On our way back Jason had to take a few rest breaks. Apparently, Charlie adores the heck out of him!

We got back to the parking area as it started to drizzle. Both of us were a bit sad that the hike ended but I had to get home to hubby. Jason had a two hour drive to get back to Madison.

Lots of hugs and promises to get together to explore together again with our dog pack.

Until the next time....

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One last bit.  
While standing on the top of the ridge, Jason explained the development of the historical geology of this particular area.

Direct, copy and paste from his FB post explaining the Hogback Ridge.

This is the floor of a formerly underground sandstone cave that was exhumed and eroded away including the ceiling and walls. The sandstone has various dissolution textures (vertical pipes, polished surface, lots of eroded fracture sets) than can only happen by groundwater. It’s a very unique rock and unlike the weathering textures seen in sea or ice caves. There’s more of this a few other places. I like this spot the best.