On the Trail

A Journal Entry
By CJ
Cousins' Trip Through Rock State Park, Maryland
Photos by J.J.W. and K.O.W.

We pass an alligator. Lots of us hold up his mouth.

We walk through trees and on rocks. It's like walking through an Indian graveyard.

My knee joints get tired as we walk through every obstacle in our path.

We step over leaves to find a jungle gym of rocks. We walk into a crack and hoist ourselves up onto a rock that could easily send us flying into Death Valley, with only a jacket for a parachute.

Then we walk into another crack that leads us up to the King and Queen seat. It's too crowded, so we head up a crack to the Death Valley ledge again.

Then we get off, only to find a cave. Where does it lead?

Two of us go in the cave. We find a risky path that leads back to Death Valley Ledge.

I don't go, but my cousin takes a risk and survives.

We later go to a safer ledge to get our picture taken.

We say goodbye to the jungle gym and walk back down the winding rock staircase that leads to our car. As I run down it, I say to myself, What a short hike!

What if there was another trail....?

* * *

This is actually the "before" shot.
We were not all as energetic as this on the way down!

But, I felt the same way CJ did about the yearning to hit another trail sometime.
Awesome scenery and great exercise!

(Maybe next time without RJ2 pulling me down the trail....)