February 1 Trouble at Rogue River Park

Monday:  I had a few extra hours of "free" time Monday, late morning, so I quickly drove over to Rogue River Park. There are so many trails I need to explore over here!

The sunshine was wonderful! I knew I could get some good pictures today.

This is a beautiful piece of land with a lot of hills and side trails ...

This is the main path that takes you back to the fisheries ...

Isn't the snow SO pristine down by this little stream? SMART people have stayed out of this area because ... they are NOT stupid enough to go where there are swampy, boggy places ...

But as for myself? I just really couldn't get any good pictures of the stream from way back on the path, so I ventured on down, making footprints along what used to be perfect snow ...

Isn't it SO lovely?

I didn't get into a single bit of trouble down here next to the stream ... until a little later ...

Here are the fish ponds where the Department of Natural Resources raise fish.

I very badly wanted to go down a path that would take me to the shores of the Rogue River so that I could get some reflections ... but no matter which path I chose, I always ended up being a little bit turned around (imagine that) ...

 

Isn't it so nice and woodsy in here? It was about at this point that I met a nice German lady (!!) ... she reminded me so much of Angela! I asked her for directions to the Rogue and she pointed me in a direction that I felt confused about! I never DID find the river.

My time was running out, so I decided to turn around and head back the way I came. This is when I got into trouble ... In the picture below ... I got off the main path (on the left) and walked DOWN the small hill to a little crevice--can you see it? It's on the right and looks like a faint angled line. The snow was about 10" all through this area. I decided to just walk along that little crevice--NOT a good choice ...

The second step I took .... DOWN went my foot SUPER deep, through thin ice into sticky yucky MUD. And do you think I could get my foot back out? I took a few pictures while I was stuck, trying to figure out what I should do. My other leg was free but I was afraid to sit down in case my whole body sunk into the mud--but as hard as I pulled, my stuck leg was not going anywhere. 

Sigh. What to do? I began using my gloved hands as shovels and dug around. Can you see the mud that I pitched onto the snow? I worked at this for a full 10 minutes (at least) while wiggling my foot and leg, hoping to get out of there some how. THANKFULLY, I had not twisted my ankle or anything. My foot didn't seem to be in any pain--it was just really really stuck in the mud. I finally cautiously sat down and continued digging myself out, asking God for this to work ... finally!!! My foot came out. My boot was caked in mud, but they did the job of keeping my foot dry at least. 

I was so relieved to be out of that mess I had gotten myself into! NOTE TO SELF:  Do NOT walk near a bog on the pristine snow! What is underneath is UNKNOWN, you moron.

Yes, moron! Sigh. I at least got a 2.3 mile walk in ... so that was good. And I DO like some of these pictures.