First hike: ✔️
And what a great one it was. Perfect for the first hike of RTXXII. We’ve always made room in our spring schedule to get some hiking training in. We were too busy this spring with each weekend filled with previous commitments or covid. Yep, we all got it. We had done such a good job masking, getting vaxxed and boostered, and being aware of social distancing. I’m pretty sure I got it at work, while quickly removing my mask to sip coffee. Despite my isolation efforts I gave it to Zak and Zoe, while Ellie wore a mask 24 hours a day and isolated in her bedroom. That worked for her then, but she got it at the 8th grade dance. It wasn’t easy for any of us, but we all recognize how much worse it would have been if we hadn’t taken precautions. In addition to the time of actually testing positive, the fatigue hit us all really hard and it was weeks before I had the energy to do much else other than work and sleep. Hence, no spring training this year.
Having just arrived two days ago, the girls and I aren’t totally acclimated to the elevation. We’ve all had headaches today, so that added an extra challenge to the hike. Given the challenges of being fairly unprepared, it was still a great hike. At almost 5.5 miles and about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, we found it challenging, but not overwhelming. We hiked down into a canyon, followed along a river, and then back up. We found a huge boulder protruding into the river and had our first pbj&c as we took in the sounds of the rushing river and the sights of butterflies of all colors flitting around us. For those of you new to the blog we survive our summers on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Cheetos. We’ve learned that we need the salt from the Cheetos and they don’t crumble to bits in our packs.
On our way to the trailhead, and as we were leaving the small parking lot, we encountered time sucking traffic jams. You see, the cows thought the road belonged to them and took their sweet time crossing it. The only reason I’m not bitter is because forest cows, like these, are my favorite animal in the world. They always have a gentle demeanor full of curiosity, yet are these massive beasts of meat. I love them so much.
After the hike we drove back to the house, got cleaned up, spent the rest of the afternoon doing some of our favorite things. Ellie played games with the rest of us, Zoe worked on a summer school class she’s taking, I read, and Zak did something with a hammer. BLTs and curly fries were dinner and we’re going to follow them up with old fashioneds and s’mores.
For all the reasons it was a 5 mountain day. (Highest rating.)
