TAUM SAUK TRAIL

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! But before we ring in the new year, there is one last 2010 story to tell. On New Years Eve, Kristen, Chris, Rachel and I went hiking on the Taum Sauk trail in Southern Missouri. There were isolated storms forecasted for later that day but we left a bit early and made the hour and a half drive down to the highest point in Missouri. We drove the back roads and finally got to the trail head.  There were signs that said rugged terrain but we thought, hey, its Missouri, how rough could it be. Basically what it meant was that the trail was a rocky path that led us over boulders and almost tripping over stones. It was a great hike for  the first 2 miles. It was cloudy but the vistas were spectacular. (I know, its Missouri, how great could they be? but trust me, it was pretty great) It started to drizzle but having been hiking out in the Pacific Northwest, its wasn't anything we couldn't handle. We made it to the Mina Sauk Falls, and the rain picked up. We decided to continue the loop back to the car instead of taking a small offshoot to another geologic feature. Then the rain hit. And I mean it hit hard. Within seconds the sky was black, the wind was gusting over 30mph and the rain was so intense we could barely see. The trail became a river and we had to climb up rock that were now waterfalls themselves. Needless to say we were drenched! The photography lesson for the day is to always have a waterproof storage place for your camera. In this case it was inside Chris's coat. The rain picked up and it got loud. We ran. Rachel and I got ahead and Kristen and Chris had fallen behind. We couldn't see more that 30ft. 20 minutes later and a lot of running, Rachel and I made it to the trail head shelter and waited for what seemed like forever for Chris and Kristen. They got there safely, and of course the rain stopped. We changed into any dry clothes Kristen had in the car, and got in the car to find out that Iron County was under tornado warning. We were hiking in a tornado basically. There were like 7 others in the area. Glad to be alive for 2011 but have to say that was an exciting hike. And now for the pics...