We had 31 hikers on our Sunday hike, about twice our normal number, which was surprising because the temperature had dropped below freezing. There wasn't any rain or snow though, and the air had a crisp feeling to it. Once you start moving, the freezing temperatures really aren't that bad. Clothing starts coming off in layers, with gloves and hats coming off first, and then jackets being opened.

We went to a gorge area that had some old paved roads running through it. The effects of the flash flood we had a few weeks ago were very impressive. Instead of raising the level of the rivers, this flooding seemed to have more of an impact on small streams. A colleague of mine who lived high on a hill almost had the lower level of her home flooded when a nearby creek spilled over its banks and came dangerously close to her home. In this gorge, huge amounts of rock came loose and tumbled hundreds of yards downstream. At several different places, the paved roads were seriously damaged. In one area, about 1/4 of the road had tumbled down the hill. In another area, large sink holes formed, making the road totally impassible for cars. It was strange to realize that just one night's rainfall had done this. In July, we had a lot of rain over a short period of a few days, and that caused a lot of flooding. In this case, we had less rain, but it was concentrated in one evening, and that seemed to have made a big difference.

I've signed up to help clean up this particular gorge. I'm not certain when they will call me. I figure it will be a good opportunity to get some exercise.

Oh, another big highlight of the walk was a redtailed hawk that was sitting on a log about 15 feet away from the trail edge. It was bigger than a chicken. It didn't fly away because it had just killed a squirrel, and it wasn't leaving until it had eaten. It did sit very still though, and it was so well camoflaged that 25 hikers walked right past it without noticing.