[pct-l] After falling

[danielcthornburg at gmail.com]

After falling, the third time flat on my back, dropping into upper Hellhole Canyon from over the ridge north of Pena Spring, bleeding from both hands and arms scraped by granite boulders hugged fast upon falling the first and second time, I sat on that steep incline and took

stock…. I was 63.  The promised waterfall, situated in a tributary entering from the north, was a long hard mile hike away, and the canyon floor had no trail. The 100 yards that separated me from that rocky bottom looked no easier than my previous exertions

which have led me here, 63, shaking on a rock on the side of a cliff, the waterfall sounding just far enough away, and the reality of facing a climb on all fours just to regain the ridge.   I had to abort my mission due to exhaustion halfway down another damn upper Hellhole Canyon. 

-Daniel Thornburg February 19, 2016