The Walk Out

Now here's the part nobody writes home about: the walk out. You've still got a little over a mile and a half to go, and I'll keep you company for some of it.

At Waters Meet, don't start up either canyon. Follow the signs downstream along Kitchen Creek, the same path you climbed this morning, back toward Route One Eighteen.

This is where your knees start talking. You've done nearly a thousand feet of climbing on wet stone, your legs are tired, and tired legs are how good hikes end badly. Take short steps down past Harrison Wright and the Reynolds falls. Keep your eyes on the trail. Drink the rest of your water if you've been saving it.

There's a reward for going back the same way, because everything looks different from above. Those falls you looked up at this morning, you'll now see from the top, where the creek gathers itself, goes smooth, and slides over the lip. Stop and watch that for a minute. That dark, smooth water just before the edge is one of my favorite things on this whole trail.

One more thing. The park asks everyone to be off the trails well before dark, and down in this glen the light goes early. If the sun's getting low, keep moving.

Boone's got one last tale for the walk, about how close all this came to being something else entirely.