A good crowd turned out for the hike, given the rainy weather forecast. We stopped at the fish hatchery so all could partake of their Cadillac plumbing facilities. It started to rain heavily and continued until we arrived at the trailhead. Then there was divine intervention and we hiked all the way to the Blue Grotto without any rain to speak of. We hit one spot on the trail where the hill had fallen apart a bit and we hiked around it with no problem.

Jeff Wyatt and Leslie hart decided to descend to the Grotto and Liz Landreth was right behind them. When Liz heard you could walk behind the waterfall, well that was it. Wait till I tell George about this!

We descended to the Blue Grotto sign and once we had shed some clothing it started to rain, but it only lasted 5 or 10 minutes. I put my poncho back on knowing that would stop it. Leslie Hart, who really likes Lichen, (who knew) gathered a bag of the stuff and should have enough to make die to paint a good sized barn and a privy.

With the new starting point I had worked out it made for a hike of about 7.5 miles with a good measure of ups and downs. The oak trees were striking with all the moss. Our Monday photographer missed the hike so I was glad I had brought along the camera I found in a box of Cheerios.

Most of us headed for Buffalo Wild Wings in a joyous mood which became soon became more joyous. We left before it became ridiculously joyous.

John