The event at Red Robin had a good crowd — about 20 folks, many of whom I'd not
seen in a while. Friend Diefenbaker (a.k.a. Scott) decided he'd
meet us on the trail a bit later. Once done at the event, Ms. B.
and I drove down to the Deep River Trail and commenced to hiking. Indeed, after a
while, Diefenbaker arrived on the scene. The trail is gravel-surfaced and makes for a
generally easy trek, though once you go off of it, the terrain can get pretty
hairy. Between two legs of the trail, a stream joins the Deep River, and
there's no actual crossing there — just an array of old pylons that present
more of an impediment than an aid to getting from one side to the other. Scott
and I found a partially exposed log near the pylons that allowed for a
somewhat precarious crossing, but we made it without mishap. Ms. B. didn't
care to follow in our footsteps, so she remained on higher ground on her side
of the river.
However—uh-oh!—she took one step too far on the muddy bank
and—whoosh!—down she went. Not all the way into the water, but pretty
damned close. Worst of all, the bank was steep, the mud slipperier than ice.
It took her a hell of an effort to get back to the top. And since this was an
unexpected mishap, she had brought no spare clothes. Gracious! Fortunately,
friend Beth, whom she immediately called, had plenty of clothing she was happy
to offer on loan once we arrived.
On our return trek, Scott and I found a much dryer though potentially hazardous river crossing — a fallen tree about 15 above the water. We decided to brave it, and since I'm here to write this blog, as far as I can tell, we made it safely across.
On our return trip to the car, we ran into friend Tom (a.k.a.
Night-Hawk), whom we'd seen at the Greensboro event, having trouble finding one of the caches. Happily, we were able to
help him. Then
Kim and I departed for Kernersville, where she was finally able to change into some cleaner,
drier clothes.
The party was fun, with many friends, good eats,
and some of the best wine I've enjoyed in ages. All in all, fine day indeed.
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| Caution! Winos present! |
