By the time my brother, Alan, and I finally arrived at the trailhead parking for Auxier Ridge Trail, my car was covered in dust. And as soon as we stepped out of the car, we too were covered in dust. It was a dry, hot day—which was strange because storm clouds rolled overhead intermittently, and we were graced with a few episodes of sprinkling rain. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day to hike, as what seemed like an innumerable number of others thought, judging by the overflowing parking lot.

This was the first time I'd ever hiked Auxier Ridge Trail at Red River Gorge, but its cliff-top views and odd mix of grassland and forest vegetation enraptured me. Our hike was marked by lizards scurrying through the undergrowth as we walked by, half-burnt stumps and cracked charcoal limbs mysteriously dotting the landscape. The orange sand stuck to my legs and toes, but was soft underfoot. There were sandstone boulders to scale and plateaus to rest on. What more could you ask for?