What: Snowshoe Adventure at the Cliffs

When: This Sunday (Dec. 28th), 8:30am

Where: Meet by Subway in Calumet. We’ll carpool up and drive to the north/east end of the Cliffs.

Details: Bring your snowshoes, your dog (taller than the snow depth recommended), a snack/water and join your friends for a few hours of fun in the snow. Plan to be out for 3-5 hours or you can bail to get back sooner if necessary. Jumping off of cliffs on to large mounds of snow encouraged but not required

Questions? Call Bill or me.

See you there,

Lori

I decided that this adventure along the cliffs I’ve admired over the last two years could not be missed. I managed to drag my butt out of bed at 6:30 this morning and packed the following very important items:
• Camelbak full of water
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (two – one for the drive to Calumet)
• Cliff bar
• Camera and extra batteries
• Hammer gel

Thirteen people and five dogs met at the Subway in Calumet for the great journey along the Cliffs. We carpooled to the north end of Cliff Drive and snowshoed up one of the slopes. It didn’t take long for people to begin shedding clothing. I was sweating buckets. Climbing a cliff isn’t easy work.

It didn’t take long for our fearless leader, crazy Bill, to begin jumping off of cliffs. There were little cliffs and big cliffs. If there was enough snow fluff at the base of the cliff, someone would jump. It took a while for me to finally muster up the courage to follow suit. Bill was sending a little peer pressure my way and I finally jumped off the beginner cliff of his choice as we were heading to the Cliff Mine.

Some action-packed cliff-jumping shots:

About two hours into our hike, we stopped on the edge of the cliff for lunch. We followed the cliff for a while and saw some extraordinary views. The choice came to either continue following the cliff to the place where we would descend to the road, or head to Cliff Mine. We chose the mine. I was getting pretty sore and tired at this point, but I kept taking in food and water and catching my breath. Sliding down hills, jumping off cliffs, and taking in the spectacular views made the adventure just fun enough to keep me going. I got a second wind, and a third, and a fourth…

Cliff Mine was great! It was open, hilly terrain, and we had our way with it. People continued jumping off of cliffs. Several of us slid down a steep hill to a chimney. Bill ended up going head first down the hill. It was pretty much a rally point for fun. Some people snacked. Some flipped down hills (literally), and others leaped off of tall cliffs.

We backtracked and ascended the hill back to a lookout point on the cliff. We followed the cliffs to a chute and descended to the road. This was a little awkward, at first. I, being afraid of heights, was the last one to slide down the hill. It was very steep, and since I was the last one down, it was more slippery and I slid quite quickly. Two of the guys leaped off of little cliffs on the way down.

The group got smaller as the day went on. Some people had other engagements and couldn’t stay for the full hike. Eight of us, along with three dogs, finished after four hours. We headed back to Calumet and followed up our hike with Mexican food. It was a typical ending to the usual not-so-typical outing.

The struggle of the hike isn’t over, yet. Each time I get off the couch, my left bruised knee whispers, my quads and glutes speak, and my lower back screams. I moan as I slowly straighten my body into an upright position. I am sore. That is okay, because I get to lie on the couch watching House while eating a muscle-friendly dinner, including dessert. It is all part of proper rehabilitation.