My little adventure

The trailhead sign

A beautiful autumn day - sky blue - trees a glowing amber - perfect day for a hike, no?
Early this fall, hubby and I, both retired, made a pact to get ourselves out in our beautiful Adirondacks as much as possible before snowfall - litttle hikes, climbs, walks etc (in addition to my kayaking excursions).  Because once winter sets in, I'm not so excited about the out-of-doors.  So yesterday we picked the nearby Pilot Knob Ridge Preserve, a climbing trail that would bring us to a gazebo overlooking picturesque Lake George, after a hike of 1.2 miles and an elevation climb of 650' from the trailhead.  There was also an option to continue another 1.5 miles to a waterfall after arriving at the gazebo.  Sounded perfect for a sunny afternoon!

 Here's what it looked like on the way to the gazebo.  Hubby took the two photos below; the rest are pretty much mine.

We've reached the gazebo!  The climb was strenuous and steep, loaded with tree roots, rocks, and vines, but we did it, and the view is awesome!  Other hikers we encounter at the gazebo say the waterfall usually doesn't have a lot of flow, but currently is wonderful, due to recent rainfall, and that we should continue our hike.

view from the gazebo - nice, huh?

beautiful view from the gazebo

Note the dark cloud in the photo below, also shot from the gazebo.  It did not look threatening.  So, bellies full of granola bars, we decided to head on to the waterfall, according to the advice of other hikers we had met.  Maybe not our best decision ever.

Along the way, we passed a couple of groups of hikers on their way back to the gazebo, and all said "the waterfall is awesome!  Keep going!"   The last group we encountered told us we were almost there.  Yeah!  So we kept hiking.  Then suddenly - black sky - and BOOM!  Thunder!  Hubby felt a raindrop and we decided, even though we were in spitting distance of a supposedly beautiful waterfall, we'd better scrap the idea for now.  We turned back and the sky let loose with a pelleting downfall of driving rain.  All those leaves on the ground got wet and slick, and the ground turned to mud.  My glasses (prescription, so I couldn't take them off) got rain smeared and fogged.    Wet tendrils of hair dripped into my face.  The wind kept blowing my hood down.  I couldn't see, and we were charging our way back toward the gazebo when I slipped and and went crashing to the ground.  But we still had almost a mile to go, so hubby helped me up and we kept going.  As we got back to the gazebo, the rain and thunder stopped and the sun came out brightly again.  Someone else at the gazebo shot these pics of hubby and me.  Notice  his wet sweatshirt, and look at all the dirt on me.  But we are smiling.

After gathering our composure, we proceeded down the steep trail.  I gripped my walking stick tightly and we navigated over the shiny wet leaves, rocks, and tree roots.

Ah! An orange trail marker (below)!  I was so happy to know that we were still on the trail, since the wet leaves on the ground had made it harder to see.  My leg was  hurting, especially since the trail was so steep.  But crazy me kept stopping to take pictures anyhow.  The rain-washed woods in the late afternoon sunshine were so pretty.  Everything was glowing.

 Hurray!  We are back at the trailhead!  I was so excited to see our car, but STILL, I stopped and took more pictures..

Trailhead - where we had signed the log book about 4 hours prior

still smiling!

I didn't look at my leg until I got in the car.  My pants were soaked with what I thought was  mud, but much of it was actually blood.  I had punctured my leg somehow when I fell.  My heavy support knee-high socks had  helped contain it, I think.  Got home and cleaned and bandaged it, and dear hubby ordered and picked up a pizza so we wouldn't need to stand and cook dinner, and then I curled up on the couch and watched TV.
So here I am at home today, not leaving the house at all, but instead relaxing with a bandaged leg and some bumps and bruises and aches and pains.  Hubby is tired and muscle-sore too, and just woke from a nap.  I think later I'll make some soup: kale, white beans, and diced tomatoes.  Sound good?