Well, it’s been two weeks since I got outside, and I could
not take anymore! I got out to Brandywine Falls, Ohio. Except this time, I put
my waders on to traverse into the gorge and hike up the creek. Now first and foremost
this is very dangerous folks! A lot of the ice has a lot of air in it and is
very brittle.
I have a great pair of trekking poles that I use and took my
sweet ole time to get to the falls. I accented 375 feet into the gorge. I
created my own switch back trail to get down to the bottom. I waded through
some anchor ice. Anchor Ice is formed by super cold water and as the ice chucks
come down after being dislodged for else where this is where they come to rest.
This will lead eventually to a solid ice sheet across the creek and that’s providing
it does not thaw.
Like a prospector I probed each step through the ice. If the
ice has entrained air, it will be brittle. This is a huge safety concerned for
what I was doing. I worked up the creek
and although I have been here several times I had never bee on its creek
bottom.
I wore my waders and my wading belt because you never know
when you’re going to fall. My great grandfather always said to me. There are
two types of fishermen those who have fallen and those who will fall.
I worked my way up to the partially frozen falls. I saw some
enormous ice stalactites. I got into the gorge before the sun had a chance start
her melt. With all the shale this would be a Nantucket Sleighride type of issue
(minus the whale and harpoon) if there was a flash runoff / flash flood. I was
in the most dangerous spot I the bottom of the gorge. I spent thirty minutes
down in the bottom taking photos.
I began my traversing out of the gorge bottom. The total elevation change was 352 feet, and it was not pretty! I used tree roots and counterbalancing my own weight. I even had to even know it’s been a while use a hand and arm lock to climb some rocks in waders also!
I hope you enjoy the photos and video.
Sonder
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