hiking up the river bed. We spent the afternoon climbing over big boulders and getting our feet very wet and we started actually talking. Our family has always been close and we spend a lot of time together, but this was the first time I remember having a real conversation with him. I don't know if it was because I was 20 and had spent the previous 7 years wrapped up in my own life, or if it was because he was a teenager, but we hadn't really spent much time really getting to know about each other. While we climbed over the rocks (scraping all our exposed skin, and stinging ourselves with poison ivy,) I remember him talking about his friends and things that bothered him and I began to understand my brother. I don't think we even talked about anything too profound we just talked.We didn't see anyone all afternoon, it was if we were in a remote part of the Forest. When we reached the waterfall there were 30 or 40 people playing in the water. We were surprised to see families with small children and wondered where every one had come from. We knew there was no way they had braved the rugged way we had just come. We realized that there was a well used trail that passed by the bottom of the waterfall and everyone had taken the easy way up. We had a laugh and took the trail back down. It took us about 1/3 the time to get down. I think it was a beautiful sunshiny day and I enjoyed spending time outside. But the part I remember most is the time I had with my brother and the friendship we started that day. Happy Birthday little brother
