Clear Creek in the Snow

Not a prime day

for trekking into the Big Woods,

since

the snow accumulation

has been overwhelming,

but you take the day you're given.

Trails were impassable

to all but snowshoers,

and bushwacking

was out of the question.

I was in the neighborhood

and ended up at

Clear Creek State Park.

Last fall, I accidentally rediscovered Clear Creek

while exploring the southern end of the ANF.

The streamside beach looked strangely familiar,

and it all came back to me:

My grandmother (and favorite adult)

used to take us swimming there.

She called the place "Clear Crick."

That weird rediscovery

and those memories

make Clear Crick

a sacred place for me.

Hiking the gated road

(closed for the season)

back to the log cabins

by the Clarion River

was good enough.

It was great to hang out

on the snowy porches

of empty cabins,

watching the snow fall,

absorbing the silence.

Getting the old Toyota

up out of that valley

nearly killed me. Twice.