Beauty in the Cliffs Sunday, Aug 10, 2008
The car bumped mildly on the not quite paved road. We stop in a small parking lot. The Savage River lay before us like water pouring from a giant's faucet.

"Come," dad says. We march quietly to the other companions. Then we walk over the Savage River bridge. Dad chats with a park ranger for three or four minutes then he says, "Come on lets go on a hike!"

We trudge slowly up the winding cliff before us. For a time I was fearful of bears and wolves... but that fear melted like ice quickly. Its very rare to see tree growing on a cliff, but I was seeing it now... huge beautiful trees looming like golden towers. Suddenly a daze of sunlight breaks through heavens then vanishes. I poise to throw a stone but mom (always mom) stopped me.

'Aw man,' I think. We continue.

Soon the cliff gets too high. We climb slowly down... we climb down a little winding path. Suddenly I lunge at fat ptarmigans, they flutter a few feet in front of me and scuttle. I never catch one but still I want to. We walk longer. We see many ptarmigans and lots of glimses of the Savage River. I thought the trail would go on forever but finally it stopped at a small white bridge. There was another trail leading back toward the parking lot. Me, my brother (Brooks) and my cousin (Ruth,) run ahead... trying to loose the other and be back first. We count ten ground-squirells and forty-eight rabbits. Finally we return to the cars and we had to wait a long time till the others came.