Time for the hike!

Having picked up our food at the local co-op, we started working our way through town to get to the trail head which was near the local aquatic center and park. Of course, the whole way, the questions started flying... are we there yet? Do you know where you are going? How long will this take? I’m hungry? So a quick turn around and a “we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to” was of course met with a “no, whatever you want to do is fine”. This could be a very long day! Soon though, we were at the trail head and as we watched two 12 year old kids with their packs take off up the road, we were energized and ready to head out! We had set a limit of about 5 to 6 miles for our hike - many in the area were 10 to 12 miles - and Denise wasn’t really interested in doing any “hard” trails I had found in my app. So I had chosen a trail that was a little over 5 miles, went to the top of a nearby hill so we could get a view of the lake, was rated medium and seemed like a great day hike as it came back down along the old rail tracks that used to come into town. What I didn’t count on was that the first 2 miles was pretty much all up hill, and some of it was quite steep. We all started off smiling and bundled up but it didn’t take long for layers to be shed as we tried to cool off our huffing and puffing bodies. Taylor, as she should be, was leading the way for most of the journey, with KK in close proximity. Then there was the Mr and Mrs Stay Puff Marshmallow bodies bringing up the rear! The views started to open up as we got into the grassy fields towards the top and were so beautiful. Denise and I even found another gear, although only second, but took off up a steep short cut to catch up with Tay and KK. After a little over an hour and almost 2.5 miles of uphill climbing, we were there. It was so worth the effort!Read more