72 Sky lift Adventure
Sky lift Adventure
On May 21, 2021, in route to a ManKind Project elder retreat near Natural Bridge State Park in eastern Kentucky, Mike Fallahay and I decided to take a detour to visit this arch. Arriving at the parking area, we saw a sky lift taking people up to the Natural Bridge rock formation. I thought we were going to ride up to the top, but Mike expressed an interest in hiking the Low Gap Trail instead. I noticed that the sign said a mile and a fourth and I egoistically decided that I could manage such an effort. It did not occur to me that Mike is in good physical shape as he normally walks about 4 miles a day and exercises regularly. I probably manage that amount in one week but accepted the challenge anyway.
Map produced Alex Thor (DOP). KENTUCKY STATE PARKS 9/02/2020; Notations by Rick Bein 2021
The trail was somewhat steep but doable, and I managed to keep up with Mike, who did slow down to accommodate my lack of preparation. This trail was unimproved dirt with occasional stone steps irregularly placed, tree roots haphazardly located, trapping soil upon which to place our feet. We started up and it was not long before it became steeper. Mike pulled me up some of the more difficult places, while I had to crawl on hands and knees to negotiate the more slippery sections. Many interesting rock formations bordered our path.
Image from Natural Bridge State Park 2019.
After an hour, I was exhausted! We rested and then found that we were only halfway there. I did not know how I was going to make it up the rest of the way, but I was determined. From somewhere within me I found a second wind and charged on after Mike. We finally reached the top and walked exhaustedly across the top of the span overlooking the expansive Red River Gorge.
My exhausted appearance on top of the arch after completing the hike up the ridge forming the natural bridge. Photo by Mike Fallahay 2021
I was too tired at the top to appreciate the natural beauty of the place, and I told Mike that I had no intention of returning down that trail, which I perceived to be too dangerous! We headed over to the top of the sky lift to pay our money and return the easy way. When we arrived there, we saw the lift was functioning, but no one was managing it. It was roped off with a sign stating it was closed and would not reopen until the next morning. It was 6:05 PM; we had just missed the closing!
Top landing of the sky lift. Photo by Natural Bridge State Resort Park. 2019.
Well, I was not going to climb down that hill and since the seats were still moving, we decided to jump into one of them. I did sense that the system might shut down but hoped it might keep running well into the evening or at least until we arrived at the bottom!
I felt some relief as the lift proceeded carrying us down. It was descending smoothly, and we could see the landing at the bottom. Then the lift dipped into a small valley where the landing was hidden. It was there that everything stopped!
Stranded on the sky lift by Rick Bein 2021.
Silence took over, leaving us suspended forty feet above the ground! The next support tower was thirty feet ahead, too far to reach and the cable overhead appeared too difficult to access. The trees were 50 feet away on either side as the sun was approaching the western horizon. Spending the night hanging there was not a pleasant thought! It was also a major concern that anyone at the bottom landing could not see or hear us!
We were going to miss the first night of our retreat! I had my cell phone and called Ernie, the retreat organizer; no answer, probably no WIFI there. Of course, there was WIFI here! So, I googled the park office, and a woman answered my call.
“Oh, they left you up there! The manager probably did not see that you were still on the lift and has gone home. I will call a ranger and see if he will come back and start the lift again.” It did not seem to her that we broke the rules! The ranger might not be too happy about all this. Maybe he would arrest us!
About five minutes later the woman called back to say the ranger would have to track down the sky lift operator and that “It might take a while.” Hmm! To pass the time I started telling Mike a story of a dangerous situation from my time as a Peace Corps volunteer almost sixty years ago. Mike told me later he wished I would be silent but that the story was entertaining and calmed his nerves.
After about twenty minutes the lift suddenly started. We slowly crept over the rise that had blocked our vision. What a relief! Now we could see three people on the landing. As we came closer it seemed they might be angry, and Mike told me not to joke around with them as they might not appreciate my type of humor in this situation. Even closer, we could see a young man operating the lift, a woman, and a park ranger with a gun on his belt. After the operator ordered us to lift the bar, we gratefully disembarked. The woman looked angry, probably because we interrupted her quiet supper with her family. At the landing, the friendly park ranger greeted us with an apology about stranding us up there, probably because he felt sorry for these two old farts and said nothing about breaking the rules. Having thought that they were going to fine us, we were greatly relieved that they only wanted the 10 bucks each rider fee!
As it turned out, we were only an hour late for the retreat, which was hardly noticed as three other men arrived even later.