I had been up there once before back in September of 2009, it was the biggest hike I’d done in years and it reinvigorated me. I loved the ruggedness of the pass, and that was right before the landslide opposite the trail coming down one of Lafayette’s shoulders. Perhaps more than the ruggedness and the amazing view of Cannon Cliffs, I loved the moss that seemed to grow everywhere. I tried capturing it with my camera by changing settings but none quite did it justice. I also found some neat talus caves to explore and even got footage going through one of them. A few years later I lost all the video and photos except for four pictures and have always planned to go back.
Today was that day. And Jaime accompanied me, always feeling like she’d missed out on something. I knew it would be difficult for her and probably me as well because it sure kicked my ass last time but I was out of shape then. I was also excited because I fixed Jaime’s camera by pulling the lens when it popped out while turning on. That had happened to my camera once before a few years ago when I fell on it climbing Georgiana Falls. So I have to pull lightly on the lens every time it powers up but it works so that’s all that matters. Not quite sure how it got damaged in the first place. But at least I had the better camera for my return trip to Eagle Pass.
We parked at the former Old Man Of The Mountains viewing area which isn’t really used anymore since he fell back in 2003. By parking there and using a herd path through the woods to connect with the trail, it cut out a good 0.4 miles of the hike. We found the trail easily as I had done this once before while exploring the area, not knowing the Greenleaf Trail would literally be right there. The trail was steep and eroded, like every other trail in the notch, and just seemed to go on and on.
Jaime stopped and had me go ahead to scout out the trail and see how far ahead our destination was. I left my pack with her and ran ahead. The running stopped pretty early on but I was still moving quickly. A couple times I decided to call it quits but seemed to remember it being right around the corner. After seven right around the corners, I finally popped out in Eagle’s Pass.
It was a little less rugged than I’d remembered as I’ve been to some pretty crazy places over the years. But it was still amazing. I climbed up the giant boulder on the ledge to get some pictures and a little wind. I recaptured the photos I was missing of the pass, the view and the moss and even climbed through the cave I’d videotaped last time, this time I only took a picture though.
Then I ran back down the trail, yes this time I ran all the way, making my way back to where I left Jaime and tell her not to bother because it was still such a long way. But she’d been climbing up the whole time, headphones on, carrying the pack, taking breaks along the way. She decided she wanted to go on and we continued up the trail, me for the second time.
After a few more strenuous tenths of a mile she needed to stop and considered turning back. I couldn’t quite remember how far to the top because I was running on my way down so I went up ahead again to report back to her. This time the news was better after I once again reached the start of the pass and turned around. She only had a couple tenths to go so she pushed on.
With a final burst of energy, on both our parts, we reached the pass. It looked like there’d be some good views from the ledges towering above us and since they sort of went up in layers I thought about trying to free climb up to the first ledge. Jaime egged me on and next thing I knew I was climbing the cliff, just fifteen feet or so. It was tough going but there were solid cracks in the rock to hold on to and tiny footholds big enough for just the tips of my shoes. But I made it up to the first ledge and could have continued but the view was obstructed by the massive rock cliff so I carefully picked my way back down with Jaime guiding me as to where there were good footholds.
After my free climbing adventure we went to the top of the boulder for a snack and drink. Jaime stayed up there while I went down to explore some more caves. A couple of them went nowhere, too small for me to fit into, caves we have come to call squirrel-lunking, a play on spelunking. Then I went down to a cave I’d been to six years ago when I was there, beneath the giant boulder on the ledge. I’d wanted to explore it more but didn’t have a flashlight that time and could only see by the flash on my camera. This time I had a flashlight and realized that if I crawled through a small hole at the bottom of the cave it appeared to lead into a deeper cave. I folded up smaller than my body should be able to and squeezed my way through the tiny opening. It opened into an amazing chamber directly beneath the boulder Jaime was sitting on, large enough for me to stand up in and walk around a little to check out the other smaller passageways. One of them lead down under another boulder to a crack in the rock that I possibly could have squeezed through but didn’t try it this time around. With the flashlight off it was pitch black in the cave except for tiny bits of light coming from the small entrance I crawled through and the narrow crevice on the other side that might have just been big enough for me to fit in. I don’t know what it is, I just love caves.
We made our way back down, making good time but knowing we were way too sore to even attempt Greeley Ponds. When the rockslide came into view through the trees, pretty low on the mountainside, I slid down the damn near vertical embankment while Jaime continued along the trail. Holding onto exposed roots and tree limbs, I powered myself down to the rockslide. The slide itself was insanely steep with almost nothing to hold onto. I passed two trees on my journey and only a couple boulders big enough not to slide down the scree when I touched them.
The view from where I popped out on the slide was amazing and I probably could have hopped right off of it and gone back to the trail but this is me. So I started climbing, making my way to some boulders about twenty feet up that I thought would make a good spot to take pictures from. The new vantage point was incredible, with views of Cannon Mountain’s ski slopes, the thousand foot cliff where the Old Man Of The Mountains once clung to, the dominating Eagle Cliffs above me and the Eaglet spire and Watcher to the left, a spot I visited and loved last year. I also found a couple cool rocks on the slide, one of them being a good sized chunk of quartz with some green and blue in it, something I’ve never actually seen before so despite its size, I carried it back down the slide, up the steep embankment to the trail and back down the trail to the car. I still don’t know how I made it up the embankment with only one hand considering I needed both to grab onto roots and trees to pull myself up but I did it without much difficulty.By the end of the hike we both looked drunk as we stumbled through the woods and to the car, but man was it a good day. I find that the more you limp, the better the hike. My bruised shin and cuts from yesterday were killing me by the end so I didn’t mind not going to Greeley Ponds next.
We picked up lunch for Jaime at the bagel place and got me a slouvaki from GH Pizza then came back to the hotel to eat at the picnic table by the brook. I barely hobbled down the steps to the river, my knee is sore as hell from walking on it awkwardly after yesterday’s fall.
Jaime stayed at the hotel while I went back into town to go to the thrift store. After not buying anything which is normal for me, in fact I’ve never purchased anything there but still love going, I went over to the Remax office next door. The woman there was very helpful, giving me information on some of the homes and condos in our price range. Yesterday I thought moving here was doable, today I know it is. Apparently most of the listings sell for less than the list price, many of them considerably less. Also the property tax is rolled into the mortgage which I didn’t know so that makes getting a house possible since it’s not an added cost. She also told me about a new listing that isn’t even listed yet which if I had enough for a down payment I’d probably buy right now, a $54,000 trailer on a slab, fully furnished in immaculate condition, only problem is its in a trailer park which we really don’t want to do. If it were on land we’d probably be buying it on the spot and finding a way to get the down payment. Now we just have to decide what type of property we really want and begin saving for it.
For supper Jaime got Subway instead of the McDonalds she originally wanted and I went to Price Chopper in hopes of some pasta that I’ve had there before but they haven’t had this trip. Today they had it, ziti, so I grabbed that and some mashed potatoes. Only ate half of each but they were good and the leftovers will make it home since we won’t really be stopping anywhere along the way due to the rain. We loaded up the car after eating and are pretty much ready to leave as soon we get up in the morning. I still have too much I want to do and really am not ready to leave. The ‘now hiring full time and part time’ signs at every single place we drive by are sounding awfully intriguing. Hopefully just one more year.
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