Raven Cliff Falls hike

A couple of days last week I was on the major struggle bus. I told Mike that I was having a really hard time and he asked what I needed.

"To be in the mountains!" I said. Well, actually, I probably whined and moaned.

And my gracious husband told me to take one day this weekend to head up to the mountains.

Its been ages since I've done a difficult hike or trail run...and I haven't exactly been running a lot either. So, naturally, I decided to do one of the most difficult hikes around (according to the reviews on AllTrails).

The drive up to Caesar's Head State Park was the perfect way to start. I was already feeling better just listening to music, drinking my favorite tea, and driving up that winding road.

After getting all my gear together and filling out the trail card, I hit the trail at 8:30. It was calling for thunderstorms around 1pm, so I knew I had four and a half hours to do the loop.

After some quick math, I determined that I needed to keep my pace under 30 minutes miles to finish in time. Which, you know, is a pretty generous pace. However, I knew that I had a pretty difficult hike with stairs and ladders ahead of me, so I kept up a decent walking pace so I would have more time when it came to the obstacles.

A couple of weeks ago, I had purchased a Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area trail map and I'm grateful that I did. It was a comfort to have with me. I never actually needed it, but I did reference it a few times. 

Once I got on Dismal trail, it was so apparent that it was not nearly as popular as the hike to the Raven Cliff Falls overlook. That's a quick and easy trail, so has very heavy traffic. There was also plenty of poison ivy on the trail, so I'm pretty glad I'm a pro in recognizing that!

Dismal Trail wasn't bad at all! Granted, I was going downhill. I'll have to go up it next time to see. While I was on Dismal, I was getting covered in spiderwebs. Just absolutely covered. Even doing the stick trick, they were everywhere! I even found a little spider crawling up my arm. I heard a couple of women behind me on the trail. I simultaneously wanted to make sure they didn't pass me and wanted them to pass me so they could have the spiders.

They never did pass, though. And around 3.45 miles, after I had crossed Matthews Creek, I finally came across another person going in the opposite direction.

"Yay!" I said to her. "I'm so happy to see you because you've cleared all the spiderwebs for me in that direction and I've cleared all the spiderwebs for you!"

I didn't know Cathedral Rock was coming. I've never seen a photo of it. I came up to it and had to pause and take it in. It was an incredible sight to behold and probably my favorite view. My photos absolutely do not do it justice and you should totally go see for yourself.

There were quite a few off-shoot trails that weren't actually trails. Some were cut throughs, and some were dead ends. I inadvertently went off trail a few times. Once, I was like, "Man, this trail feels not too different from bushwhacking with my dad! Then, I came out onto the actual trail and said out loud, "Where did that come from?!?" But I swear I had seen a blaze! And it was apparent that several other people had done the same trail.

Another time, I took the wrong turn but ended up at this view. I knew I was in the wrong place but I was happy to be there!

About half a mile after Cathedral Rock, I made it to the suspension bridge. The view from up there was so pretty and I hope to go back when the leaves have a bit of color. I suspect it will be so beautiful!

It was kind of cool to look down the falls and know that my dad and I had hiked to the base, which you can't even see from the suspension bridge!

After the bridge, the hike was pretty easy. There were a few stairs but it was pretty wide open. I did have to take another Gu because I definitely needed some fuel. (I had my first gel around an hour in.) I didn't realize that the rest of the hike would be smooth sailing. I thought it would get harder but I was so wrong and Gum Gap trail is pretty flat.

In the end, the hike took me 3.5 hours, less time time that I had planned! I was really pleased with that and I felt so mentally refreshed from my time in the mountains. Mike said I should go for a big hike every weekend if that is what I need to get through eLearning.