Daily Doily: Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy, Busy, Busy

Can I catch my breath??? Wow. October has been packed full of funness.

This seems like F-O-R-E-V-E-R ago:

Once we got to Fall Creek Falls, It was sprinkling + getting colder...We weren't sure if we were going to do the overnight hike or not. We decided to stop by the nature center + check things out. You can see some of the falls (Cane Creek Falls) right by the center. We asked this lame girl park ranger if she would go out there in this and she just sorta smiled + giggled. That was helpful. Then she says it MIGHT be a little slippery in the gorge. That was an UNDERSTATEMENT haha. I was already feeling disappointed if we didn't go, so we decided to go. The first part was easy. I enjoyed looking at all the mushrooms + mosses. Things changed real quick when we made the 400 ft., 1 mile descent into the gorge. It was steep, slick + had lots of obstacles. We made it to the bottom in about 2 hours!!! This is where we encountered the first swinging bridge...It was so slippery!!! I caught myself falling on camera :] We had to take our packs off and crabwalk it across. Then we had the 400 ft. ascent over about .9 miles which took about 2 hours too!!! We were exhausted + crawling up this thing on all fours. We finally made it to the campsite + I dropped my pack + laid on the ground. Once we stopped moving it started to get cold quick. I knew I should not have let my hair get wet! We immediatly set up the tent + tried to get a fire started. Everything was soooo wet. We had fire while we sipped on hot chocolate + ate ramen noodles, but we were ready to change into dry clothes + get in our sleeping bags + try to stay warm. It never stopped raining. I started to get scared. I didn't know it was going to get so cold. We were prepared for 50-60 degree weather, not 30-40...the missed the forcast BAD!!! I talked to mom + scared her so bad she called the park ranger. She then scared me more + I started shaking uncontrolably + freaking out. She said the park ranger said "No one is out there in this weather"...She said "Yes they are!" and He said "In the backcountry???"...She said "Yes!!!". He called us + was super nice + made sure we had everything we needed. He made me calm down :] It rained all night + the wind was fierce. It was a very strange feeling being out there with NO ONE. I woke up about every hour + for every noise. It was scary outside the tent in the darkness.
The morning was very peaceful + relaxing. We listened to my campfire playlist + drank hot tea + made oatmeal. Then we started the hike back (a big 12 mi. loop total). We saw lots of waterfalls, lookouts + swinging bridges that day. We also started running in to more people as we got closer. They were all looking at us like we were crazy for having overnight packs + for hiking that long :] It make us feel good + proud of ourselves. I was dying the last mile. My sweetest of all sweethearts carried my backpack the very last part :( I felt so bad but I was barely making it. (flickr set)