Sat, Jan 11 2020 - Standing Indian Day Hike (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Chuck R Participants: Chuck R, Marie-Felixe, Ray Stewart, Wendy, Lixia, Amy, Steve H

Write Up:
I checked in with the A.O.C. weather forecast for Saturday.... yes Joyce T was hiking. That was my sign to proceed with this hike. I had a few hikers who just got their new D5 badges and were eager to put them to the test! The main storm was for much later in the pm. We made the climb to Standing Indian with success and with a few surprises! I saw the biggest black bear in my career of hiking! Been in a lot of Mountain wind storms but this was furious at least 80 mph gust just above tree line. Some of the open ridge lines could almost blow you over. Our planned of a reprieve was one mile to the Standing Indian Shelter. On our descent from the Mountain on mile 1 something just didn't feel right. I was not pulling data but I knew Steve W was. He was quite a distance back in rear sweeping - we did not have a tight group. The line was spread out - we were trying to keep body heat up. Well, before you know it, a trail sign pops up... it was not the S/I shelter. BEECH GAP!!! Wrong way - this was a TLs nightmare! I calmly announced the mistake and gave the new plan. Perfect place for lunch and bathrooms. We marched back up up up the Mountain and retraced our tracks back down, down, down to the cars. Going over my hike, I was very lucky no one had any major falls. Almost everyone fell due to the extended duration of hike, as we were fighting daylight. ( it starts dusk at 4:30 ) But I'm gonna pull out a few silver linings. On our stops to recover our group... Lixia reminded me on how beautiful the woods were. Marie- Felixe comes up with her bush crafted walking sticks and Steve H with his calm and cool self, which really comforted the rear hikers. I'm real sure they will all get a D6 when we collect our data. Maybe the hiker Gods were watching... maybe it was a good alternative not to take Kimsey Creek Trail. That trail is a Creek trail?? Maybe next time I'm gonna think more about the possibilities and elements that can arise.

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