trekking through the wilderness

This past Sunday, we had a chance to revisit the trail at Henderson Settlement that we had previously hiked (or tried to) with Mark and Mike. Mark and Mike and their [grown-up] children had been able to finish the trail while we were home for Christmas, but this was the first time that Eric and I hiked the whole thing. There were five of us this time: Mark, Mike, Eric, Ken (from church), and I.

For those of you who are interested in maps, here's what the trail looks like
(I think that if you click on it, you can see a bigger version):

We started on the right side of the map, at the reservoir that was the scene of the crime. You might be able to tell from the picture below, though, that on Sunday there was a layer of ice on the water, so there was no danger of a repeat of that event.

I'm not sure who staked out the trail originally, but there are some areas that are named. We saw some evidence of something that had rustled up the dead leaves on Sasquach Blvd--Mark said it was just turkeys, but who's to know......?!

Here are the guys (from left to right: Mark, Mike, Eric, Ken):

There were some pretty amazing views once we got around to the back of the ridge--the rocks were enormous! I'm not sure this picture does it justice, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

The trail continued, though, and to get back to the Settlement side of the ridge, we had to do some tricky maneuvering:
This picture was taken after we climbed through this crevasse. At one point, I couldn't have fit between the rocks if I weren't walking sideways...my shoulders were too wide to walk normally!

When we got to the top of the ridge, we were taller than the trees! (No, my bangs aren't THAT terrible--it was just very breezy.)
Then we plowed pretty much straight down the mountain and ended up in the cow pasture in the valley below most of the Settlement buildings.

According to Mike's hand-held GPS, we hiked about two and a half miles. It was a beautiful day and a great way to enjoy God's creation! Maybe when it gets warmer, we'll venture out with the tent and spend the night on the mountain...who knows?