Winter gets a bad rap when it comes to time in the outdoors.
For a great number of folks, hiking, biking or camping come with a steadfast
caveat: weather permitting. Fortunately I have never been one of those people.
Cold temps, snow or rain…these are some of my favorite elements to be out in.
Obviously, most people are not like this and I understand.
But I also know that winter lends itself to certain activities more than any
other season. With a little research and planning, your cold-weather outings
can be as enjoyable and comfortable as any.
My top winter selection is the wonderful act of arch
hunting. Because of the proximity to the Red River Gorge, Kentuckians have an
endless well to go to here. The Red is home to hundreds upon hundreds of arches,
official and unofficial, and the word is there are new ones discovered all the
time. And I’m not talking about the big arches that everyone knows, the ones
that you only have to follow the prominent road signs to visit. Those are great
and if you have never seen them, please do so. It’s worth it.
But those aren’t the arches that one goes hunting. And it
really is “hunting” at times. The first time someone took me was nearly 20
years ago. When they described what we were going to do, I was more than a
little suspect. Here were the steps he described:
-Search for arches in the Gorge (there are many
sites with list/pictures)
-Choose one and get the coordinates
-Plot the coordinates on a map (or in a GPS)
-Go out and see if you can find it
That first time, he listed three that we were going to try
and find. It seemed odd to me to think there was a chance we wouldn’t find
them. I mean, we had the coordinates and pictures! How could we not find it? Of
the three chosen, two were ones my friend had never been to before. So, we went
to the one he knew first. Then we spent six hours trying to find the next one.
We finally decided to head back, regroup and try again another day. I left
tired, dirty, and with a full understanding of how the activity got its name.
Mind you, these arches typically have no real trails going to them and often,
they are very hidden away. It would seem like we were headed right for it
(according to the map) before the way became impassable or a cliff caused us to
have to reroute.
More importantly, I emerged from the woods that day with a
greater appreciation of just how wild and beautiful the Red can be.
Two weeks later, we returned and found both of the arches. It
felt tremendous and I was hooked.
Obviously, it is not always this difficult. There are arches
that are pretty easy to find or whose routes are shorter. There are big ones,
there are small ones. There is something for everyone. My family has been many,
many times. My son went on his first arch hunt when he was five.
It will definitely add some excitement to your winter walks
and hopefully, get you out in the cold season more often. I prefer arch hunting
in the winter because the bugs, snakes and poison ivy are all gone. And the
cold that people are most afraid of in the winter, it tends to be a non-factor.
As long as you are dressed appropriately, you’ll have more trouble trying to
keep from sweating than trying to keep warm.
The greatest payoff: seeing the beautiful, magical places
hidden back in the depths of the Red, places very few people go and places
regular trails just won’t take you. You can’t imagine the things we discovered
over the years, most of which were discovered on a cold, crisp winter day.
-JW
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