Another weekend, another winter hike. This one was in Hocking County, where Gourdo is originally from. Due to the severe cold (and my unwillingness to climb cliffs anymore), I told my family I'd accompany them, but only if they went on a very short hike, not the entire six-mile jaunt.We drove to Ash Cave, which is where the annual, organized winter hike ends. It's a short, flat hike, and you get to see a spectacular frozen waterfall. Although I was impressed by the ice formations, it's my understanding that some years there is a column of ice from the top of Ash Cave to the bottom. Amazing.
Also amazing was the "moustache-cicle" sported by one hearty hiker. I saw many hikers with moustaches or beards, but only one with a moustache-cicle. I was too polite to take a picture, and, truth be told, it rather repulsed me. When we caught up with another relative later in the day and shared our impressions of the hike, he said, "Man, you should have seen the frozen moustache on this one dude!" And we all knew he was talking about the same moustache. The more he described it, the more certain we were. On a hike where everyone looked like everyone else--parka, scarf, hat & eyes--and you had to look twice to make sure you were talking to your own kid or spouse, it is no mean feat to stand out from the crowd. The icicled hiker certainly earned his "15 minutes of fame" this weekend as the hundreds of hikers who encountered him will all remember seeing him. That's how impressive I believe it was.
Sorry. It's kind of gross. I hope the beautiful photos I did take make up for the icky image I've painted with my words.
You are very brave to go out in such cold. The waterfall must have been amazing with the frozen stalagtite (stalagmite?) growing upwards like that. I am so glad it has warmed up to 0C, 32F today and raining to lower the big dump of snow we got yesterday.
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