Cell Service at the end of Yellow Rock Trail. Come Hike With Us.

The first Saturday morning in October 2014 promised to be an absolutely gorgeous day to hike.  And Devils Den State Park has any number of trails to pick from.  We knew the campground was full so it was a good thing the park had so many options.
 

We're dressed in layers - 4 for Megan and 3 for Dwain.

Eating our hardy Lumberjack breakfast hot off the campfire, we contemplated the trails.  There was Yellow Rock Trail, three-miles.  It was close enough for us to walk to the trail head, so we decided that might be fun.  Devil's Den Cave trail was also nearby, but we were pretty sure we had explored that trail once before several years ago.  

And, no, we didn't find anything in the Devil's Den.

The problem was, we had no idea if the Yellow Rock Trail was moderate, easy or difficult because the map did not say.  We should have guessed from some of the sites the map pointed to as "scenic" along the way.  There were at least two overlooks.  We were in a valley. 

Dwain packed two bottles of water in a small insulated backpack cooler (he got it FREE as a thank you from AARP when he renewed his membership -- although the one pictured as an incentive looked much nicer with more pockets to hold things and so forth than the one that came in the mail) and of course, a couple of cameras.

Megan carried a third camera.

We visited the restroom a last time, locked the door to the RV and set off.

The Lumberjack breakfast was truly our most important and inspired meal of the day. We both agreed on this by the end of the hike.  
Megan's biggest complaint was that nowhere along the way was there a bathroom of any sort.

Megan gets a kick out of posted signs. They are, of course, posted for a reason -- Someone has done the very thing that the signs warns NOT to do.  This one says,"Rappelling Not Permitted. Trails Open from Dawn to Dusk."  Consider us warned.  This is also a clue to what awaits us along the way.  Rocky ledges.  Steep ones. 

Saturday morning temperatures started out in the low 40s so at the beginning of our hike, jackets felt good. 

As did gloves.  Megan is wearing a pair of Dwain's (thank you, Dwain).  Megan forgot.

Midway through the hike, though, we pulled the jackets off.  Dwain tied his around his waist. 

That blue coat sure adds interest to  his profile.

Dwain!! I know it's tempting but No Rappelling. Remember the warning signs. 

  Don't make Megan come up back there!

The trail, in many places, twisted and looped, kind of like a car climbing a mountain. That eased the level of intensity.

We were rewarded with many gifts of nature along the way -- wildflowers, which continue to bloom even in October.

The first time we ever saw these beautiful purple berries was at Petit Jean State Park.  At time time, neither of us had a clue what they were.  We found out later that they are appropriately named, Beauty Berry. 

Makes us wonder if we would be transformed if we ate them.  Hum... might turn us purple.

We wondered if a bear might suddenly appear.  Knee-jerk surprises were still to come, though, as we meandered along the trail. More on that later.

And delicate moss that grows like a soft carpet in the leafiest and dampest parts of the forest, it seems. We'd give anything to be able to grow moss like that. 

Nothing is more intriguing along a trail than a cool wooden bridge. Dwain took this panoramic photo just so you could take in the entire scene.

This is a close up of the bridge.  Hey, someone had to build this thing and the park keeps it maintained.  There is no telling how many people cross it as they hike this trail every week.

AND here in this very spot was a HUGE surprise in the land of absolutely NO CELL SERVICE.  Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.  Dwain's cell phone was binging to beat the band.  We had been concerned about the fact that we could not contact family -- I mean, what if something happened?  Isn't that always the worry? Sooooo... Dwain took this momentary opportunity to contact some VIPs -- especially the ones who were caring for our pets. 

Naturally, trails usually have a destination and overlooks seemed to be popular.  Yellow Rock Trail was a popular place to be on Saturday morning among the human and canine set.  We enjoyed meeting such a wide variety of dogs happily pulling their owners along. One young lady was being tugged by a very large pup -- 11 months old. She was thrill to tell us all about her very friendly one-blue-eye-one-brown-eyed Husky/Shepherd/Wolf.  We forgot the dog's unusual name, but his fur was very thick and soft. We will never forgot those beautiful eyes.

 

Are those last two dogs - German Shepherds - we passed about to fight?

We had wanted to take Alice Ivy camping with us, but we couldn't leave Pup without her.
We were glad she didn't make the trip, because our rescue dog is a bit timid and doesn't like strangers, whether people or other dogs.

We promised a surprise to come.  As one of our friends so aptly put it, "she bet we were scared of the wildlife."  What wildlife? Dogs?  When we left the overlook, we rounded a hairpin corner.  As we pointed out earlier, the sun had warmed enough that we had to remove our coats (and Megan's gloves).  We ran smack into two young women who were in the process of frantically shedding their heavy sweats. One of them had taken off her sweat pants in such a panic (she announced that she was very, very hot) and she feared that she had forgotten to wear shorts underneath. To be honest, at first glance, we were worried about the same thing.  Megan wanted to put her hands over Dwain's eyes to keep everyone from being embarrassed. We were all relieved to see that the shorts were in place.  

The next overlook was actually another starting point for the Yellow Rock Trail and also a high enough spot for cell service.  This well built rock and log pavilion was constructed by the CCC in the 1930s. 

It was so well built that it was nominated by the National Park Service for an award.

We took the opportunity to take several photographs and of course to use our momentary cell service to post this very picture to Facebook so that our extended network of family and friends would know that we were alive (in case anyone wondered).  It was at this point that we returned to the trail and hiked back. Our hardy breakfast sustained us wonderfully.  However, and this is a BIG however.  Nowhere along the trail was there a simple Port-a-John, so...

We never drank the water.

Until next time, 
Dwain & Megan