The Road Not Taken
- by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.


I started off on my adventure, ignorant to the fact that at the end of November in the Utah mountains, one would expect to see snow...

To someone else, this means something.... stay on course? Anyhow, it wasn't bad to start and the terrain looked manageable though slow going.

The trail quickly went from snow ankle deep to something more disheartening...knee deep!

Here is the exact point I turned back. I looked above me on the mountain side and saw a merry group of cross country skiers making their way across the terrain. There is no shame in turning about when one has short hiking boots and ankle socks where snowshoes and skis are the proper apparel.

My very own "Road less traveled." Rather than follow the relatively mild path I ventured out on, I decided to take the higher trail which offered more scenic views. Please note, this ended up being the path that I was knee deep for the last 30 minutes or so of my adventure though the prospect of this is precisely what precipitated my turning back in the first place.

After I realized that my snow filled shoes and surprisingly warm calves (despite being repeatedly dunked in snow) might be a reason for concern, I began a sad attempt to run a portion of the "trail" to get to warmth faster.

The most beautiful cabin in the world! A welcome sight after 2.5 hours on the ice covered mountain side
Welcome home!