The Hard Trail

 

   Yesterday was a wonderful day, but I wouldn't have known that from how it started.

   We decided to ride the Cannon Valley trail. C loaded the bikes onto the car and I stayed inside to fill the water bottles and tend to other things. Then we headed out. We were on the highway toward Hastings when C noticed a black pick up truck had pulled up even with us. It stayed right by our side until we noticed it. The passenger gestured to the back of our car. We looked back and instantly noticed that only one bike was on the rack. I gave a thumb up to the driver and they passed us. We both felt sick. My bike had fallen off somewhere and neither of us had noticed.

   We turned around and backtracked. We would have to turn around again once we saw the bike so we could go get it. I was afraid we would find a mangled mess on the road. A semi could have run over it and crushed it. Hopefully no one ran over it and ruined their car. I noticed the bike just past an exit, on the side of the road. C found a place to turn around and we went to retrieve it.

   We found the bike and picked it up. The wheels were bent and the tires completely destroyed. There was a tear on the seat and the handlebar grips were ruined. Other than that the bike looked to be intact which was a miracle as far as I was concerned. C put the bike on the rack and we took it home. 

   Once we got home I changed clothes and we took the bike to a local shop. As long as the frame was not bent the bike could be salvaged and repaired. I was fairly sure that it was fixable but that would be up to the professional to decide. 

   Poor C was beside himself. He was fairly certain that a strap had given way which caused the bike to fall and he blamed himself for not double checking everything. Usually he did. I tried to comfort him as best I could but was a little angry myself. Bikes are not cheap and if I had to replace mine it would be an expensive proposition. 

   I thought it would be a good idea for us to go to Red Wing as we had planned, but instead of biking, we could hike Barn Bluff. I had wanted to do it ever since Helen had told me about it. C thought it would be all right. 

   We stopped at a Mexican restaurant to eat. Both of us were still a little upset about the bike, but were also trying to get past it. I was excited to hike the bluff. 

   After lunch we drove to the bluff. There was a park at the bottom of the bluff with information about the history of the Bluff. It was very interesting to me that it is a spot sacred to the local Native American tribes.

   We walked up a set of stairs and were about to consult the trail map when I saw a man wearing and NDSU T shirt. I called out "Go Bison" to him and he stopped. We chatted for a bit. I found out that he was a graduate of the pharmacy school like me. His class was 1969. He suggested that we take the trail to the left. There were two lookouts on the trail and it was a shady walk.

   We took his advice. As we walked along we noticed people in rappelling gear climbing up the face of the bluff. Not something I would do but it looked as though they were having fun. About a third of the way we came to the realization that this was not the trail we wanted to be on. We were on the North trail, the most difficult trail on the bluff. The trail became narrower as we walked and rocky. To our right was a steep drop off the side of the bluff.

   Fortunately there was a rope off to the side and C clung to that rope for this life. Trails like this scare him and his biggest fear is that he could slip and fall. I ran my fingers over the rope. I wasn't worried about falling as long as I was careful, but I wanted to at least be able to grab the rope if I needed to. We walked and walked and walked.

   As we walked both of us were reminded of a similar hike on the Eagle trail in Peninsula State Park. That was another time when we were on a trail that was much more difficult than we wanted. It was also a narrow trail with a steep drop. On that occasion the trail was wet from a recent rain. It was a dry and sunny day on Barn Bluff. We would not have to worry about slipping on a muddy trail or on wet rocks.

   Finally we got to a small overlook where we could take a break.  There was a long flight of cement steps that would lead us to the top of the bluff. We walked slowly up the stairs. At the top we were rewarded with a wonderful view of the city and warm sunshine. There were benches to sit on and a few plaques to read. 

   I was so proud of C. It was a scary walk for him. I watched him clutch the rope as tight as he could while we walked up that bluff. I patted him on the back and told him how proud I was of him. I knew it was hard. He did it.

   That's one of the things I love about him. He is able to show his fear and uncertainty about things. He also is capable of getting through hard things when they come his way.

   We walked to the other edge edge of the bluff. It was a much wider and flatter trail,. I could see small holes in the dirt where people had walked using walking sticks. The sun was warm and I rolled up my sleeves a little bit. We took a selfie with some trees behind us. It looked good. I put it on my Facebook page.

   The walk down was much easier. It was the trail we had originally planned on using to ascend the bluff. The only thing I didn't like was the loose gravel. C slipped once, but was able to catch himself and didn't fall.

   We drove to the local bakery and rewarded ourselves. I got a chocolate chip M&M cookie. C got a chocolate chunk salted caramel one.  We ate our cookies as we drove home basking in our accomplishment of walking a heard trail.