Yeah, right!! Well meaning intentions are not always followed by the action we desire.
Such is the case I experienced last Saturday when a friend and I hiked to the infamous Pirates Cove on the far northeastern side of the island.
Here's how the day began.....
The tide was super low at 11 am and Patrick and I headed out to the Sand Dollar Beach, planning to hike the beach all the way to Pirate's Cove. Neither of us had been to that point of the island, so we were up for the challenge. Patrick is visiting here and it was great to have a hiking partner with me.
The beach at Sand Dollar is sand stretched out from one end of the cove to the other and was great for walking on. However, that was the last easy stretch of sand we saw until we hit the other side of the island.
The shore line was nothing but these huge rocks and boulders all slick with seaweed and ocean scum. This made the travel slower and a bit more difficult since you had to constantly look down for your next step, and that didn't always guarantee you weren't going to slip and fall.
And boy did I on several occasions.
The grandest was when Patrick leaped across a small creek and uttered those little words to me, "don't worry, I'll catch ya......" Well, the little creek was filled with rushing water full of melt-off from the mountains and yes Patrick did catch me, right before my head went under as I fell back into the creek from not quite making the leap like he did.
My breath froze in my chest as I struggled to stand up and crawl out onto the bank. Oh that water was far worse than cold!! Ringing water out of every stitch of clothes, it took a few seconds before I realized, crap...I messed up again!
But, between the two of us, we had spare socks, spare coat, and even a spare pair of rain pants. So, I was able to shuck some of the wet things and go on with the journey. I mean why stop now?? Thankfully my matches and lighter, camera and GPS device were unscathed and other than Patrick feeling bad, I was not hurt and nonetheless ready to go.
This is the first view we saw as we topped the bank and gazed at the infamous Pirate's Cove.
What a cozy spot back here and it immediately made the dunking seem like such a long time ago.
I've been told at one time there was a post office, store and houses over here, even a processing station.
There is even a lone tree and it looks about as beat up and weathered as my feet feel right now.
The geographical rock formations are quite unique and it was great to explore them and wander the quiet crevices compared to the ones we crawled over to get here.
Not quite sure what the custom built Ford Ranger's job had been, but it seemed to add a little to the scenery around "town."
The only building standing is an abandoned cabin and surprisingly it was in pretty good shape.
So it was reassuring to know if the weather were to change and catch you out here, there is shelter ...........
and even the shelves are pretty well stocked.....
I don't even remember this cereal, do you?? Got milk to go with it???
I hung my wet clothes on drift wood and walked the beach collecting beach glass and treasures while Patrick headed around the next horn to the next cove.
I don't necessarily have a bucket list, but I do have things I want to do before I leave here and now I can definitely mark this adventure off my list.
We headed back to my waiting 4 wheeler at Sand Dollar beach and timed it a little too close as we had to wade through the rising tide a time or two around rocky cliffs.
But, all in all it was a good day, I learned valuable lessons AGAIN and got a few good pictures along the way.
The otters even cast us a playful eye as we trekked past their feeding spot and headed home to our own.
