Ethereal mist
Mom and I were stranded in an ethereal mist near the top of Cadillac
mountain on Mount Dessert Island last week. We started the hike with
Kitty’s parents and Lloyd as well. We had to stop on the way down
because of an aching knee.
The sky was overcast when we were at the bottom of the north trail.
Soon after we started up the mountain the temperature began to rise. I
was sweating like crazy. We drank our water quickly anticipating the
water fountains at the top.
Before we knew it a thick fog had rolled in all around us. The
temperature began to drop down to about 60 from 80 and the light breeze
becamre a strong wind. The winds must have been blowing at around 40
mph. Humidity was near 100% as we watched thick billowing gusts of fog
streak between us and the trees.
When we finally reached the summit I could not see more than 100 feet
ahead. It felt like twilight. I went from shirtless to sweatshirt in
about 2 minutes. The strength of the gusts doubled as we stepped out
from below the granite boulders.
It was the walk down the mountain that started the knee ache. Mom had
to stop and I volunteered to stay with her. This was mostly because I
didn’t wan’t to hike back day in the atrocious weather.
Lloyd and Kitty raved ahead to the rescue vehicle. I think Mom and I
were sitting on the side of the road waiting for about an hour, but the
time passed quickly. We had a lot to talk about and the unusual weather
conditions created an excellent environment for the meeting of the
minds.
Speaking of meeting, a strange man pulled over on his way down the
mountain in his dodge stratus. He was clearly derranged and I thought I
might have had to kung fu him. Thankfully he drove off after some
disorganized and slurred comments.
What a day for a hike!