Rough Going but so amazing...Part 1

 

Heading out...Charlie in the lead! 

Even with those short legs, he loves to still go, go, go.

We got to the river and walked along its eastern bank under the bluffs. I was struck this time by the roots of the pines along this spot. 

They reminded me of Tree Ents from Lord of the Rings.

I swear, they were whispering when I took their photos. Or were they? Was it the Ents or was it the breeze in their boughs?

They do look as if they are marching down the slope towards me. 

I looked at these trees and decided that they were not Ents but Rock Grabbers. Yeah, it is crazy how my mind works. 

I mean their roots DO grab the rocks don't they? It is almost as if they are crushing the rocks slowly. Or are the rocks just putting up with the trees?

I get fascinated with things like this. The rocks, the bluffs, and the tree roots are just so incredible to see. 

There was more ice in this one spot when Charlie and I visited in December. It must have melted and is now rebuilding in this spot. 

See the where the trickle of water is coming right out of the rocks???

January 16th:

December 7th:

So I didn't expect to see much ice in the valley I wanted to hike through.

The tiny creek that meanders back and forth across this little valley was frozen in some spots with water trickling in spots over or under the ice.

In some spots so many trees have fallen over the past couple of winters, it made walking east in the valley difficult. I had to make several detours around downed trees and climb over many logs and branches.

But the effort was worth it. I can't think of another place as unique as this spot in the entire area.

One spot of the valley floor was entirely covered in Cinnamon Ferns. I do have to come back and visit this valley in each of the seasons!

Just the stream itself held my attention.

This trip I just followed the stream to the end of the valley.

The north facing hillside had several dry runs in it. Each had tiny ice falls and some had rock shelters with developing ice.

When I reached the end of the valley, I decided we'd climb the north facing hillside and explore the dry runs and make a large circle back to the original trail.

Well, maybe this will make it clearer. I didn't get a chance to explore the south facing portion of the valley which is littered with so many rock formations and shallow caves.

That's it for now. 

I don't want to overwhelm anyone with all of my icy adventures.

The rest of today will be doing all those mundane things to get ready for a few days of dangerous cold.