After a week of short hikes and walks,
we decided to try the full West Rim Loop Trail at the Cloudland
Canyon State Park to view the vistas we had seen from the
easy-access, other side of the park. We were camped just a few
hundred yards from the wide path that led to the rim trail and if
push came to shove, and we felt we were over our heads, we could exit
the rim trail at several points and walk back to the campground on
the paved road that crosses the loop near the western-most top of the
mountain.
We did a leisurely Sunday morning
breakfast and watched the huge tent city consume itself and disappear
into a myriad of car trunks. By ten o’clock, we were ready to hit
the trail, and except for one remaining tent, the one with the
snarling dog that stood between us and the trailhead, the campground
was empty.
“Great!” we thought, “We’ll
have the trails to mostly to ourselves.” Compared to the number of
hikers we met on the trail Saturday, we were almost correct.
We locked up the camper and took the
long way around our aggressive neighbor and started down the quiet,
shaded access path in a beautiful, cloudless day and mild
temperatures. We had a taste of the west rim overlooks from the other
side of the park when we first arrived. People on the west side of
the canyon waved at us as we stood a few feet from the main parking
lot, and of course, we waved back, thinking “Gee, what does it look
like from where they are?” Today would be a great day to find out.
We began meeting other hikers as soon
as we started the trail, including two couples hiking together –
one of the young men precariously carrying a baby on his shoulder –
and a young girl who ran past us like a rabbit. We also met several
young couples with dogs, all on leashes. As we manipulated the often
narrow path along the top of the canyon, we became adept at passing
techniques with the dogs. One girl even pulled a traditional dog
waterdish from somewhere in her backpack to give her young, four
month old puppy a drink. We showed her our combination doggie
bottle/waterdish we carry in our back pack and I think she may have
actually been somewhat interested in something us old folks had to
say. Well, maybe.
Several couples had young puppies, and
just like our thirteen year old dog, Taz, too worn out and tired to
be aggressive. The temperature stayed in the mid eighties, but we
were sweating as if we were at home in Florida’s southwest coast.
The dogs obviously felt the same.
Parts of the West Rim Trail have been
“re-pathed” - their wording, not mine – and we found several
markers to be misleading, or just plain meaningless. One marker had
crude arrows scratched into it with car keys or knives, or something
sharp, to add directions inadvertently or thoughtlessly left off the
marker. You can’t wander meaninglessly forever as you either cross
the paved road or you fall off the cliff, but it is an afternoon
saver if you know where on the trail you are. Still, the West Rim
trail, marked as moderate/strenuous, is visually rewarding with
several great lookouts, and a few interesting caves, along the root
and rock strewn trail.
We headed back from the scenic
overlooks at the end of the canyon and decided to head for the
walk-in campground via another supposedly marked trail. We stood at
one unmarked junction and stared at two identical flashes, the
markers nailed to trees to mark a trail, that marked two divergent
trails, one to the left and one to the right. As we stood trying to
decide which path looked more worn, two women appeared from our
right.
“Oh, you aren’t far from the
walk-in campground,” one said as she brushed past, her chihuahua
pulling on a leash, “Just keep going, it’s just up the hill.”
By the time we were back at our RV
camping loop, by way of the paved access road, we were both drenched
in sweat. We stripped, threw our clothes into the laundry bag,
grabbed towels, flip flops, quick covers and headed for the empty,
spotlessly clean showers. Even our pain-in-the-neck neighbor dog was
gone. We shower not just because we get sweaty, but to also avoid the
curse of trail hiking: chiggers! If you don’t shower and isolate
your clothing, you may remember your hike long after the thrill of
the scenery is gone.
Next - Extended Camping - Laundry Day, at:
http://sleepstwo.blogspot.com/2017/08/laundry-day.html
George
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