text: [Themes: Slice of life, Travel, nature, complex NPC, conversation]
  
  > Go downward
  The trail is steep, and you slide to the bottom. Those silly flipflops don't help, and you nearly come out of them.
  
  Flip flop. Flip flop. Flip flop.
  
  You're on a shelf overlooking a small canyon, apparently carved by the nearby stream and 20 or 30 feet deep. A rocky path enters from the west beside a tangle of blackberries, and dead ends at a ledge overlooking the stream below. Above you, granite walls continue to rise, the pink stones a beautiful contrast to the clear blue sky. An animal trail leads up, too steep to walk, but you might be able to make it in a scramble.
  
  Beside you, a trolley sits suspended from a steel cable.
  
  > look at trolley
  The trolley is an open cage suspended from a steel cable by a pair of pulleys, one on each end of the car. The cable runs through the car itself, which waits patiently beside you.
  
  > pull the cable
  You pull on the cable and the car slowly moves away from the tower and over the edge of the gulch. As the ground drops away, your stomach nearly goes with it, the bouncing and swaying of the trolley exaggerating the feeling of height. Hand over hand you pull, and eventually find yourself at the other side.
  
  > Go outside
  You get out of the trolley.
  
  This beautiful spot is a staging area for many ventures into the mountains, as evidenced by the national forest sign before you. A dense thicket of willow surrounds the landing. A wooded trail heads southeast.
  
  Behind you, a trolley sits suspended from a steel cable.
  
  You can see a national forest trail sign here.
  
  > examine the sign
  The sign is brown with cream lettering, and reads:
  
  "Mirror Lake 16 miles"
  
  The trail leaves to the southeast. Below it is another sign with smaller print advising visitors of back-country etiquette, use of campfires in designated locations, warnings about the hazards of feeding wild animals, and the like.
  
  Overhead, you can see the mid-morning sun peek from behind the clouds, trying to cut the crisp chill from the autumn air.
  
  > Go north
  Someone wanted to hide this trail, you think as you push the willows out of the way. You would never have seen it from the trailhead if you hadn't expected it to be here.
  
  Flip flop. Flip flop. Flip flop.
  
  Rugged and narrow, the ledge you walk follows the rim of the canyon north and south. Below, you see and hear the roaring stream as it makes its way south and turns a corner. As you move north, the canyon narrows to a fissure, its walls rising to funnel you in.
  
  You can see a faded wooden sign here, half hidden among the willows.
  
  > Examine willow
  Dense shrubs as tall as you are, blocking your vision and making passage difficult. You're not sure, but the branches seem a little worn to the north.
  
  > look at the sign
  The sign is weathered wood, its lettering barely legible. It hides among the willows as if tossed aside. It reads:
  
  "Siverson Hot Springs 1/2 mile"
  
  > Go north
  Splish splash. Splish splash. Splish splash.
  
  The canyon rim trail descends, clinging tightly to the stone wall, then disappears entirely as the rocks converge. You have no choice but to wade, the current swift and powerful. Overhead, a small slice of the sky is visible between the two cliff faces, covered with ferns that thrive in the dark moist environment here. The crevice runs northwest to south.
  
  As you step into the icy water, your flipflops come loose and disappear downstream.
  
  > remove the flops
  You step out of your flipflops and pick them up.
  
  You are now wearing a pair of leather work gloves, some shorts and a shirt.
  
  > go to the north
  Splish splash. Splish splash. Splish splash.
  
  The canyon rim trail descends, clinging tightly to the stone wall, then disappears entirely as the rocks converge. You have no choice but to wade, the current swift and powerful. Overhead, a small slice of the sky is visible between the two cliff faces, covered with ferns that thrive in the dark moist environment here. The crevice runs northwest to south.
  
  A dark gray bird flies to a moss-covered rock, pauses, and disappears under the surface of the water.
  
  > look at the bird
  A medium-sized gray bird, of quite ordinary appearance. And quite extraordinary behavior.
  
  > look up bird
  (in the guidebook)
  Latin name: Tyrannus tyrannus
  
  The eastern kingbird is a flycatcher, hunting insects on the wing. It has a large head, whiskers, and a broad-based flat bill. Its head is black, with a gray back and white underparts. They are common in woodland clearings and are often seen near water. They range throughout most of North America north of Mexico.
  
  > look up dipper
  (in the guidebook)
  Latin name: Cinclus mexicanus
  
  The American dipper, occasionally called the water ouzel, is common along fast-moving mountain streams. It is a round, gray bird with a short tail and large yellow legs. Its voice is a trill in flight, and sings at rest with cheeps, buzzes, whistles, and warbles.
  
  A distinguishing behavior, making it a most interesting bird to watch, is its ability to walk on the bottom of the fastest-moving stream, apparently unaffected by the current. Then, it will jump out of the water onto a moss-covered boulder, and bob and curtsey in place, with aquatic larvae, snails, or tiny fish in its mouth.
  
  It has enormous oil glands for waterproofing feathers, flaps to seal its nostrils, and heavy nictitating membranes (transparent extra eyelids) which aid in its regular dives. The dipper breeds in the early spring, building a domed nest of ferns and fine mosses, which it hides in a rock crevice in a streamside cliff. Often, nests will be placed completely out of harm's way under an overhang behind a waterfall. They lay usually 4 to 5 eggs, which hatch in 16 days. Lifespan is 2 to 5 years.
  
  The dipper jumps into the water with hardly a splash and walks along the bottom.
  
  > Go north
  You can't go that way.
  
  The bird flies quickly downstream, dodging rocks and roots, and disappears.
  
  > go to the north-east
  You can't go that way.
  
  The dipper jumps into the fastest part of the stream, and returns a moment later with a small insect in its bill.
  
  > Go northwest
  Splish splash. Splish splash. Splish splash.
  
  Ferns and mosses of luscious green hang from the walls of this cozy grotto into which a misty waterfall plunges some 60 feet. Spray fills the air to mix with the wall of rising steam from the west, almost hiding the thermal waters of the hot spring. A narrow fissure leads through a crack in the rocks to the southeast.
  
  The dipper flies low to a nearby rock, and curtsies. Then, so fast you almost don't notice, he ducks behind the waterfall and disappears.
  
  > go behind waterfall
  Bracing yourself against the sting and the cold, you step through the falls. The cold water fills the bucket. It also soaks you and your clothes from head to toe.
  
  Behind the waterfall is a narrow space protected from the splashing by a rock shelf overhead. You've barely enough room to stand, half hunched and awkward. Blocking your view southwest is the waterfall, whose icy needles sting when they strike. To the northwest is a watery tunnel leading into the mountain itself.
  
  At waist-level is a bird's nest on the cliff face among the mosses and ferns, hidden from all eyes but yours. From what you remember, this looks like a dipper's nest.
  
  > remove the pants
  You remove your shorts, stepping slowly out of them.
  
  You are now wearing a pair of leather work gloves and a shirt.
  
  The dipper jumps into the water with hardly a splash and walks along the bottom.
  
  > remove the shirt
  You fumble with your shirt, but the gloves are in the way. After those come off, the shirt is easy. Up and over your head it goes, and drops at your feet.
  
  You are now completely naked.
  
  > go behind the waterfall
  Bracing yourself against the sting and the cold, you step through the falls. The cold water fills the bucket. It also soaks you from head to toe.
  
  Behind the waterfall is a narrow space protected from the splashing by a rock shelf overhead. You've barely enough room to stand, half hunched and awkward. Blocking your view southwest is the waterfall, whose icy needles sting when they strike. To the northwest is a watery tunnel leading into the mountain itself.
  
  At waist-level is a bird's nest on the cliff face among the mosses and ferns, hidden from all eyes but yours. From what you remember, this looks like a dipper's nest.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a glass canning jar (which is closed)
  a handful of washers
  a mason's brick
  a spruce walking stick
  eight ripe blackberries
  some picked avens
  a matchbook (which is open)
  a match
  a scrap of paper
  a bucket (which is full of water)
  a note
  a guidebook
  a pair of flipflops
  
  You are completely naked.
  
  > look at the nest
  A small nest, expertly crafted of interwoven mosses and pieces of fern.
  
  > look in the nest
  The bird's nest is empty.
  
  > get the nest
  On second thought, you decide to leave the dipper's nest where you found it.