When in Doubt, Bring a Map

Workout: 2 hour hike

I seem to be on a roll as far as "setting out to do one thing but ending up doing something totally different" goes. Today, that involved some bushwhacking and a general feeling of "where the fuck am I?"

I set off this morning with Bailey planning to be out for an hour or so. I'm pretty limited in where I can hike these days because my fancy parking pass expired on January 1, so it's going to be a few paychecks before I'm back at Flattop. For now, it's the free lot for me!

It was snowing very lightly when we set out, setting to tone for a disgustingly beautiful walk.

In case you're wondering, I DID just discover the "sutro" filter on Instagram and I AM kind of obsessed.

I made it to my intended destination a lot quicker than I thought I would, so I decided to keep going until I hit a half hour and then turn around. Well, one thing led to another and suddenly I was on a slightly unfamiliar trail (I've been on it many times but always with someone else, which means I obviously paid no attention to what it's called or where it goes) convinced it was going to loop around at some point. I was slightly concerned about the fact that we seemed to have descended much too far, but I was reasonably certain I knew where it was going so kept truckin'.

This is essentially the same photo as the first

Bailey was blissfully ignorant of the situation. She found another big stick to drag around so she was very pleased with herself.

After an hour or so, I had to admit to myself that the trail I was on probably went all the way down to the lowest parking lot (miles from where I parked), so when I spotted Powerline (see photo above) in the distance, I decided to walk straight towards it. And by "straight towards it" I mean bushwhack. I was slightly embarrassed when some people walking by spotted me and gave me a "you're such an amateur" look, but it worked. I was back on the trail!!

Back on the trail and about a mile lower than I needed to be. Fuck. I'll spare you my internal conversation as I trekked back up (picture lots of @^$&@*$^#^$^%&$#s). Suffice it to say I eventually made it back to the original trail.

I love Hemlock Trail. I feel like a hobbit walking through here.

So the main takeaway from this hike was WHEN IN DOUBT, BRING A MAP.

I am ecstatic to report that the snow is really coming down right now. I'm going to settle in and bliss out for a while (I'm not sure what that will involve-staring outside?).