Our goal for the day!

We would hike from here...

.....and wear our raincoats most of the way!

If there was a view.....we would not be seeing it today.

Our first mile marker on the OHT

A view of Stack Rock Falls

...and some of the recent trail maintenance

Yuko was not smiling......yet!

Our new friends Tonya and Steve celebrating their wedding anniversary...

When we arrived at "DRY CREEK" we found it to be very wet!

and me wondering who would do that out here?????

And would not be able to cross it.

Fungi

The bluffs of Dry Creek

The Ice Storm of 2009 will make this bushwhack a doozy?

Danny and Yuko

A few shots of Dry Creek on our way to Punchbowl Falls

Guess who had to tie her boots?

....and finally we ready Punchbowl Falls

It was 1:30 P.M. before we got here and still had not eaten lunch...it was time.

Spring was popping out everywhere....but it was 39 degrees...what happened?

Tree hugging.

This is where we would part company with Steve and Tonya.

Yuko and I would take a "shortcut"  up Stack Rock Creek and hope we could find the trail. 

Tonya taking a picture of a side waterfall...I wonder if she knew where she was standing?

Yuko was not too sure this was a good idea.

....and Steve and Danny wondering where exactly they were!!!!

We had down trees like this all the way up. Not even counting the steep incline.

I wasn't too sure either!

We made it to the top, found the trail and the old Stack Rock Homestead

A cut off Devil's Stick trying to re-bloom, they were everywhere.

Mile Marker 153 on the OHT

We re-entered the fog as we got higher in elevation, but that meant we were closer to the trailhead.  Steve and Tonya made it to this spot 1 1/2 hours later.

We started to call off the hike, it was cold, it was raining and it was going to be

a difficult bushwhack part of the way...but it was worth the scramble.

By the time we got back to the trailhead, we were wet, muddy, cold and exhausted but satisfied we could tackle anything, in any weather, under any circumstances.  You had to be there!  So why weren't you?