The Last Hurrah

Born June 9th, 1979, Big D's Gall ladder did her well. Her G.B. shared many memories with us and was always a trooper anytime we decided to have junk food at our camping site or at the cabin. When her G.B. grew into our twenties with us it let Big D know that cheesy salsa is not a good idea anymore. (My G.B. agrees).
After many tests and false self-diagnoses Big D learned it was time to leave her G.B. behind and lay it to rest. Quite frankly when the doctor said that your G.B. has "too many stones to count" and has stretched itself out because of that....well, that's a very bad sign.
So - before G.B. is laid to rest this week Big D wanted to do one last hike. Rain, or snow, or shine.



It was pouring out - I look at Big D - "I'm not so sure about this." But her enthusiasm is contagious. Besides - the woods have a different smell to them in the rain. We took advantage of the less than ideal weather by doing a nice hike that's usually crowded on any other day.

***See Pet Peeves #54: Overly popular hikes***

Anyway - it's a nice moderate hike with enough elevation gain to earn our burger and a beer afterwards.

Strike a pose Big D!

Did I mention that it was wet & cold? Cuz it was. I left my camera in my coat and thought to myself "I don't need any pictures..."



But then we came to the waterfall. Gosh dangit, I *have* to take a picture of this! And it was too high to get one full shot so I split it up!





There were a series of stairs that they built so you can get directly in front of the falls. Which is super nice because both Big D and I have a habit of just staring at waterfalls. Or is everyone like that? Water hypnotism. Is it more common than I thought?



Oh, and it's still raining, were super wet - but it's a great secluded hike today! But at this point it'd only be about 3 miles round trip.

Big D: Shall we go further?
Me: Yeah, let's just keeping hiking until the trail stops going "up".
Big D: Sounds good.

(Check in with us 30 mintues later regarding how much further we'll go...)

Can't you just tell this is a family friendly hike? You can't see it too well but this path leads to a bridge that goes over the falls.




And that's me standing on it so you don't have to take my word for it! It started doing snowy rain here and I thought I was hallucinating from the cold when a couple walked behind us with umbrellas. Something we don't see a lot when we hike. Think about it. Umbrellas. On a trail. Just seemed odd.

But I digress...

This is a view from the bridge and you can tell that Winter is putting up a good fight before her season is over! See Edward in that tree on the left? I do.



So at this point the rain is turning into snow but Big D and I are both so wet. There are waterfalls running down our legs - this rain is penetrating!



So there's no top. There's only wet. Let's turn around.

And wouldn't you know? Once we get back to the trailhead the sun comes out. It's all good - nothing better than changing into warm clothes, getting a garden burger & a beer while planning our upcoming Colorado trip.



One last thought though: What does this look like to you? I've been playing the cloud game with this tree - it looks like several things to me. All clean things - keep it clean!!



R.I.P - Big D's Gall Bladder.
June 9, 1979 - March 20, 2009.