Christmas Eve and New Years hikes

First, the annual Christmas Eve hike. (It was actually on the eve of the eve of Christmas Eve this year, but whatever. The tradition continues, even if my days are a little off this time.)

It was ridiculously foggy at the top of the gorge that day, but it cleared up quite a bit down low. It was chilly and damp, and the water was flowing everywhere.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/y9...Q=w712-h949-no

This was a tight squeeze:

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Looking down and up the creek from a swinging bridge:

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A few minutes after crossing the bridge and hopping over a small, wet-weather feeder creek, I heard some water splashing a ways off trail. About 20 minutes later at a different place on the trail, I heard the same sound again. It's always a wise move to follow your ears:

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The second of two great swinging bridges on this trail:

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And the obligatory "Merry Christmas" American holly pic:

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Now the New Year's Day hike. Same small trail system as the Christmas Eve hike, but I explored different areas this time. Lots of this is off trail.

Oh, and it was colder than balls. It was around 20 at the trail head at the top of the gorge, but I'm guessing it was closer to 15 or so down by the creek. And lord knows what the wind chill was. When I was done, there were chunks of ice in my beard.

Huge rock formation as the trail descends into the gorge:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zV...g=w712-h949-no

When temperatures approach and descend below freezing, Rhododendron leaves droop and eventually curl up. (I actually use the ones in our yard as rough thermometers. If the leaves are down, I'm going to need a coat.) Well, this day the rhododendron leaves were like freaking cigars:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NW...g=w712-h949-no

The temps last night hit single digits on the mountain (it was around 15 when I drove to work this morning), so I bet this stream is even more icy today:

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At one point while I was back on the trail, I saw a bunch of ice up toward a rock face near the top of the gorge, so I scrambled up to take a look. Not only was there a bunch of ice, but I found a cave, too. Panorama followed by close ups of the scene:

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Woops, about to exceed the pic limit. I'll post the last few from the New Year's hike separately.

Near the spot with the cave was another huge wall of ice. And next to it was a cool hole in the rocks that came damn close to forming an arch:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EW...w=w712-h949-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aq...w=w712-h949-no

Before you reach the second swinging bridge on the trail, you cross a small feeder stream. (It's near where I took the pic of the holly tree the week before.) I noticed a shiny bright spot through the trees upstream, assumed it was a wall of windows, and thought, "Oh, I didn't know there were any houses this close to the trail." Double take showed me that it was ice. Scrambled up the gorge (and through some pretty thick undergrowth that would be damn near impassible during the summer) and found a nice seasonal waterfall at a hollowed-out rock face:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_n...g=w712-h949-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hQ...g=w712-h949-no

All in all, two solid holiday hikes this year, especially under the circumstances of being limited on time with two toddlers at home during the holiday break. Hopefully I can get back to some of my other favorite trails later this winter that are farther abreast.