Pioneer Ridge

 It was pouring rain at my house and forecast to rain until about 4 pm today. The Valley Wanderers had planned to hike partway up the Pioneer Ridge Trail at least to the first picnic table. It's a very steep hike but always a nice 2000 foot climb. Jo, Jane and I were the only ones who decided to go regardless of the miserable weather conditions. Those two were a little smarter than I was because they came prepared with ice grippers on their shoes. I don't like to wear them unless I'm on snow and ice, plus my hiking shoes do remarkably well even in muddy conditions. They did fine on the way up. It continued to rain, but got lighter as we climbed. But the trail was very slippery and extremely muddy. I really had no trouble and we all made it to the picnic table. But the clouds were swirling all around us and we really didn't have much of a view. Above the table the rest of the mountain and trail were completely obscured. We had our lunch and decided there wasn't much point in continuing higher. As we started our descent, I realized my shoes that had been great on the way up, were not so much on the way down. I picked my way down and slipped and slid and fell at least 6 times. Suddenly I became a strong believer in always bringing my spikes no matter what time of year. I really struggled and was totally covered in mud by the time we got down. But we all had a good laugh. My spikes are now permanent residents of my hiking backpack. My clothes were so muddy that I couldn't even unzip my rain pants to remove them. I had to take off my shoes to pull the muddy pants off inside out. I didn't want any of the muddy stuff touching the inside of my car so I piled it all on top of my inside out rainfly, and drove home in my socks. Hosed it all off and tossed it all in my washing machine when I got home. But all in all, it was a fun yet challenging 4 mile hike and of course a great workout.

Me

Jane & Jo at the picnic table

Jane & Jo