I Dun Did It!

What did I dun do?

I am a person who needs a challenge each year or some sort of goal to achieve. Sometimes my goal was learning something brand new like Infrared Photography, Still Photography, or things related to activities.

One year it was the KVR trail challenge. The challenge was to hike all of the trails in the Reserve and do it within a calendar year.

It took me 3 tries over a 3 years before I actually finished and completed all 69+ miles of marked trails at the Reserve. I'd had many many side trips while hiking with others during those years. 

One can't complete just the 69+ miles. You have to mix and match the trails to get them all in.

Anyway, I checked my 'yearly' hiking miles this year in November. I hadn't much thought of adding up how many miles I did. But my smarty-watch helped me keep track. 

I had a distance in mind but wasn't sure about how it would work out or if it was even possible. 

My hiking/walking was simply for looking for things and enjoying fresh air along with movement.

I missed many days due to heat, rain, BUGS, and of course the 9 days of gun season. So I was surprised that when I checked things again a week ago, I realized I could reach a goal of 1,000 miles. I mean, I was good with anything that I had. I thought I'd just establishing a baseline for future years if I decided to keep track. 

[Dang, that is a baseline? What should I set for another goal???]

I did the math and distances are an  accumulation of about 2.7 miles a day.

To get those last 5 miles in...

I decided to head to Weister Creek to check on my favorite Ice Formations. Rock Shelters with ice curtains.

Everyone calls them Ice Caves.

Over the years, visiting as many ice caves as I can is always to do in the winter. Let's face it, the land is unique and so are the 'caves'. They are just plain cool to see.

Below is a wide angle shot of the first set of caves. This spot is unusual in that it has several rock shelters and a lot of water seepage. By February, if the weather cooperates, these will become ice caves.

You can slip behind the sheet of ice and look out at a curtain of ice.

In this shot, Charlie and I are in the top right corner 'cave' in the photo above.
 

I'm about 5' 3' so that can give you an idea as to how tall that ice really is.

The trail [cough cough] -- not really a trail, a faint deer path... isn't marked. It is demanding, steep, and requires one to walk on a steep incline over obstacles. 

Climbing down to the caves is another adventure entirely. 

But when the ice sheets are full its so beautiful. 

It is worth the trouble of putting on ice cleats and trudging up into the caves.

What it can look like on a good winter from behind the ice.

There, I got in one pre Christmas Hike to visit the Ice Caves and accomplished something.

Let's see what happens next year. I have a couple of long distance challenges I've been thinking off.

The shot below is at the area where I generally stop in the winter and turn around.

This is what makes the hike so special ... so much cool ice!

It's hard to get to and find, but worth the difficulty. 

Generally in February there are guided tours given by staff of the Reserve to visit this area.