EDIT: It occurs to me that despite the title, this thread may be closer to general discussion than watch talk. Mods, please feel free to move if that's a better home for it. "
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My wife has a cold and because she works in healthcare she had to call out of work. Being an opportunist of a husband, I thought "Sweet! The kids can stay home. And since I won't have to drive them to and from school, I'm going to take a personal day and go take a hike (literally)." I decided to check out the Button Rock Dam trail. I've tried and failed for the last 2 years to convince the family to hike it with me despite the fact that it's only 30mins away.
I have a rich and storied history of doing very stupid things when I'm out by myself. Once, while on break from college, I spent a summer in Colorado. Shortly after arriving from New York, I decided to take a little stroll up the side of the mountain...you know, just to check it out. I finally emerged about 9hrs later after the sun has long set. Somehow, miraculously, this city kid remembered to follow the river downstream. I found my way back to the B&B by about 10pm and good thing too because I had a job interview the next morning. Then there was that other time I took a weekend drive by myself from Denver to Lake Powell (Utah/Arizona), broke down in the middle of nowhere, relying on the kindness of strangers for lodging and missing a week of work. Then, once the car was fixed, I drove back to Denver by myself in the heart of one of the worst snow storms in Colorado history.
Anyway, coming back to the present...
It started to snow before I even got there, but since I was close to civilization I wasn't too concerned. I was the only one on the trail (really a dirt road) except for one guy that was fishing in the creek. It was actually quite nice to get away from the crowds and not have to worry about wearing a mask. For that little while it felt like things were back to normal.
As I walked past a cave I recalled the video that was making rounds on the internet a few months back of that hiker in UT being stalked by a mountain lion. I decided not to temp fait and turn back. In the end, I spent more time taking photos than hiking...
