Weekend Hike Waaay back in June

Good Morning Friends,

Last night while Joe was on the phone with his brother Jason I remembered the blog. I realized I haven’t updated in a long while. Summer sure does get hectic. We made it out on our weekend hiking trip and then I made it out on to the AT.

Our weekend trip was plagued with rain storms and vanishing trails, it was a really good time despite complications. We took a chance on the “Wilderness Area”. This is a place where the trails are neither blazed nor maintained, apparently. We started on one side of the creek and followed the trail on our map. Unbeknownst to us the trail, at some point, crosses the creek and continues on the other side. The map does not reflect this pretty important modification. After hiking for about an hour we were tackling the side of the mountain. The majority of the family thought this was super fun. Joe and Baylee loved it. I thought it was really hard and I liked it less. I also envisioned newspaper articles about a lost family missing in the wilderness area. Of course, now that we have been back to the area several times I no longer harbor this fear.

We took a foil packet of chicken and veggies to cook over an open fire. Supper didn’t go as planned. Our foil packet fell apart and Joe and Baylee found great joy at sharpening sticks and spearing the chicken like cavemen. I am pretty sure they ate it a little bit raw. I am glad to report no one suffered any salmonella or other such food poisoning. They are a tough bunch.

We learned a valuable lesson about conditioning your pet for outdoor adventure. Poncho is fearless and nothing is going to keep him from a swim, not a cliff he has to jump off of or the fact that there is really no way to get back up. I saw muscles straining in his legs that would give Arnold a run for his money. At the end of the day, Poncho laid in the forest floor un-tethered by a leash with no threat of running off. He was making old man groans and couldn’t have chased a squirrel if he wanted to.

We made it home waterlogged and undeterred from going out again. It was a good learning trip. I learned that there is no exception for Reynolds Wrap. Baylee I think learned that she would much rather walk without a pack. Poncho learned that even he has limitations and Joe just reconfirmed that he prefers to be off the beaten path.