Close Call

On another hike in 2004 I came fairly close to falling off a vertical cliff face on Looking Glass Rock. I've written about it here before (I don't feel like providing a link, sorry). But the short of it was that I wore a really very comfortable pair of boots that had served me well and which were my favorites at that time. Problem was, they had no tread left. Stupid choice. The rock face was really wet that day and sections were slick with algae. I put my foot down near the event horizon of a cliff (not far from where I took the photo below) and my feet went out from under me. It was like stepping on glass covered with motor oil--it was that absent of friction. What saved me was that I just fell flat on my back. I didn't try to keep from falling and I didn't roll. I just let gravity slam my back to the rock and I was basically glued there. Then I very carefully got up.

Close call.

More people have admired this photo than anything else I've shot. I took it with my very oldest digital camera. One which I still own. Only four megapixels, but the thing's built like a tank.

From one of the cliff faces on Looking Glass Rock. Click to enlarge this.

The fiction work goes well. I can't complain. Someday I'll be able to hike and write essays again. Maybe in August? We'll see.