Something new

So, occasionally, I get on these wild hairs and things happen. In my opinion, this is preferable to being depressed and unable to move all day but sometimes I wonder. So. Here is my new wild hair.

I'm going to hike the Appalachian Trail.

Squeeee! Yes, I'm exceedingly (and probably stupidly) excited about this. And I want to add all sorts of caveats. But life will add caveats and right now I'm just going to be excited.

To date, every one of my family wants to come with me. This is surprising but good. I originally thought that David and I would do it. Then Rachel wanted to come. Doug insisted that he wanted to go as well. I casually asked Sarah and Abby if they were up for the adventure and they seemed, curiously, enthusiastic. That leaves Keziah, who won't want to come because she's afraid of bears. REALLY afraid of bears. I've told her that she's much more likely to run into poisonous snakes while hiking than bears but she doesn't listen. But since the rest of everyone wants to come, I guess that means that Kez will also have to. Maybe she'll buck up. Otherwise it could be a loooooong trip.

I'd purely LOVE to thru-hike the trail (start at one end and walk straight through until you get to the other). Unfortunately, there are some things that keep me from doing so. 1) I need to be at worship services every Sunday and it's hard to find the appropriate group randomly. I doubt there are many of them within walking distance of the AT (but wouldn't that be COOL?) 2) It would take about 6 months. The rest of my life precludes being able to spend 6 months on a Quixotic quest.

But I can section hike. At this point, I just want to do some of it. I just want to get on there and walk and walk and walk. Here's another issue. The AT is hours and hours drive away from my own personal house. So it's not like I can just get into the car and spend a long weekend there. Bummer.

Another issue? Um, I have no hiking equipment whatsoever? And also I'm tremendously fat and untrained? I'm not overly concerned about either of these, just putting some barriers out there so I know how to knock them down. And I will knock them down.

I hope.

Because I really really really wanna do this thing!

Finis~

Well, I did finish it today, despite the fact that I tried to sabotage myself by bringing my camera and taking pictures every single time something caught my eye. Once I got to the top of Fox Rock, I put my camera away and gave myself a stern talking-to. But I did take some photos today to show a little bit more of what I've been doing these last 5 weeks. The above one is just down the trail from the Visitor's Center.

I had two trails left to do if I wanted to finish hiking all 10 trails. Which I most certainly did. I chose to do the more difficult of the two, the Geology Trail, first and to finish up with the easier Whitetail Trace. Geology Trail used to be called Fox Rock Trail and was the first that we went on when we first started coming to the CNC. I've hiked it many many times. Many times. Yes indeed. It can be quite a killer, especially if you opt to go down the hundreds of limestone steps to the trail, which I opted out of this time. Here is a picture from April, with the children at the base of the dreaded limestone steps.

With all the times I've hiked this trail, I've only gone in one direction. Today I decided to see it from the other direction and it was quite delightful. I also don't generally do the part of the trail down along the stream bed, so that was also new and interesting. I took many many pictures along the streams. I caught myself thinking, "Oh, I need to explain how it normally is because the water is usually not this low." Of course, y'all, not having seen it high, will just have to take my word for it. The streams were pitiful.

That trail of rocks that goes through the center of the picture is usually almost submerged in the stream. I've carried countless children, animals, and backpacks over that stream because of how dicey the path looked at any given time and I've gotten quite wet for my trouble on occasion. This was not an issue today. It is painfully dry here.

The following picture is another one taken along the stream, this one actually from the vantage point of the middle of the dried-up bed. I hope that y'all can see all those cool exposed, intertwined tree roots. That's usually half covered by water and I've never seen it before. This area had an extreme skunk smell going on. I was more than a little concerned that I would happen upon one of the little darlings, the scent was so strong. Happily, I did not and once I left the stream bed, the skunk smell left as well.

On to Fox Rock. This is an outcropping at the top of one ridge, overlooking the ravine on the other side. I don't know if there is actually a rock up there that looks like a fox or if they found a fox den up there (I saw a couple of likely places) or why exactly it's named Fox Rock. But it is and it is quite the monster hike. You start down here and, after taking yourself in hand, start up the staircase. The stairs at this point are very close together. I ended up taking them two at a time because it just annoyed me to be mincing up the mountainside. Or hillside. Whatever.

This is the staircase from about halfway up. There are roughly 4 sets of steps like this to get to the top.

There are, of course, lovely vistas if you were to turn around and climb backwards (or if you were coming down the other way, as I usually do). I was fascinated by the numbers of pawpaw trees in the valley. When I came through them on the trail, they were about chest high and numerous enough to invite comment. Apparently it was a bad year for the pawpaws, a late frost followed by a dry dry summer. They are the trees with the yellow leaves alongside the trail. This picture was taken from the halfway point.

Once you almost reach the top, you're faced with another challenge/opportunity. There is another set of steps that goes down and around the rocks that stick out over the valley. I knew the view was lovely but was wondering if I even cared at that point. I decided to buck up and go back down yet another set of steps to catch the view from beneath Fox Rock. Here are the steps. I didn't bother to take a picture. As you can see from the above photo, it is impossible to capture the majesty and sheer beauty of a large scene without the proper equipment.

I'm sure that you can now commiserate with my hesitation at going down yet another set of wooden steps that led ever ever down (then led ever ever up on the way back up!).

So, at the top of Fox Rock, I declared that I would take no more pictures, at least for a good long while. I walked, wrote down info from benches, and sketched interesting leaves that I saw along the way. The Nature Center has a leaf identifier and I found out what leaves I'd sketched (they were different from the usual oaks and maples that I see around here) but I've forgotten now what they are.

Whilst in the middle of sketching one of the unusual leaves, I heard voices behind me in the woods. Eventually, two men with loaded backbacks walked out of the woods. I was ahead of them for some time, then they passed me when I was writing down bench information. We all met at the bridge across the rapidly drying stream and I took the opportunity to ask them if they were training for something. Turns out that they are going to Philmont with a group of Boy Scouts in the summer and they were getting in shape for that. They carried between 25 and 38 pounds' worth of weights in their packs. They were the only people I've ever seen on the trails who were sweating more than I was. They said they didn't want to go ahead of me up the staircase back up to the trail near the Visitor's Center because they figured that they'd slow me down. So I said goodbye and hefted myself up the steps without stopping. That is not to say that I was not huffing pretty badly by the time I got to the top but as we were going in opposite ways at the top of the steps, I'm reasonably sure they didn't hear it.

Whitetail Trace is billed as an easy trail and it was. It took me across many many bridges and looped through a little over a mile of new woods. By new, they mean not old, but the trees were still pretty tall (30 feet or more). The woods up here smelled different than the woods down below. I didn't know if it was the difference in the trees (beech versus oaks and maples) or the higher altitude allowing the leaves to thoroughly bake rather than baking some and composting some. Anyway, it was interesting to realize that the woods even smelled different on different trails.

I walked part of Whitetail the first hike I took, back at the end of August, because Whitetail is the feeder trail for Redwing. It was here that I noticed the really cool things that people could do with benches. I read this inscription on one: "Two roads diverged in a yellow /wood and we chose the same one/ John and Sherrie/ Martha's Vineyard, 1989" Then below, a newer inscription, "Nicky" with a date after it. I just thought that was so cool and I was glad to happen upon it again today so I could write it down. (I didn't take pencil and paper on that first hike.)

I thought a lot on Whitetail. I thought about how walking and hiking the trails had, at first, been a way to escape the responsibilites at home, to get some fresh air and exercise, and to try to quiet my troubled spirit. They still are that but I've also come to appreciate the trails and the woods for what they are, themselves. They are all magnificent in their own ways and I've enjoyed coming to know them a little better. I've also come to admire myself just a bit. Most of the time, I just flat out don't like myself. But when I get out in the middle of the woods and know that I'm going to be out there for hours, something changes. I can see things a little more clearly. I can appreciate what I've got, what I'm doing, and who I am. If nothing else, I admire that I've managed to hike all of these silly trails in 5 weeks. But there is something so freeing about being out there and just walking and walking for miles with only your own thoughts to keep you company.

And, at the end, I thought about the end of the trail hiking thing. I won't be able to hike the next couple of Saturdays. Next Saturday, we're planning to meet Justin and Hollie at the Bob Evans Homestead and have a nice little visit. I hope that the 20th will find me in Greater Melvin, visiting with a bunch of Swedes and reconnecting. So I was kind of sad to think that the woods would not be in my immediate future. And I wondered what I would do without the goal of finishing all 10 trails. I do want to just walk and wander at my own sweet will, taking whatever trail looks good at the time. But I fear that, if I do that, I'll lose steam and quit walking. I also wonder what the winter will bring. I'm not adverse to walking in the cold. I've done it in years past, all winter long. But I don't know if I'll still want to walk in the woods in the winter.

Anyway, these are a few of the random thoughts I had running through my head today. I also thought that I should bring a laptop up while I hike so that, when all the ideas were rampaging through my head, I could actually type them out rather than hoping that my spotty memory would keep them all. Despite the positives I see in that, I won't do it, though. I just wish I could remember half of the things I was thinking up on the ridge.

So, I'm finished. I am now the proud owner of my very own Camelbak water bottle, courtesy of the Cincinnati Nature Center, and a completed Thru-Hiker's book. Who knows what comes next. Whatever it is, I hope it will be just as splendid.

Hiking in the hollers

I.  Am.  So.  Tired.

Yes, I went hiking today and stupidly thought it would be fun to do two trails.  Well, I started out intending to do only one, but it was described as "difficult", so I figured it would be enough.  And it was difficult and all, but by the time I was finished, the air was still so clean, cool, and clear that I thought I'd try another one.  That wasn't even my big mistake.  My mistake was in choosing a "moderate" trail instead of an "easy" one.  Therein lies our tale...

The last two days have been so very perfect, at least outside.  My own internal topography is much less lovely but I won't linger on that point.  The air was washed clean and bright by the gullywashers that we had on Thursday and it has been cool and crisp.  I love this sort of weather.  The air is just amazing, the sky is dark blue, the sunshine is benign...perfection.  So when I got up this morning, I determined to no longer put off hiking Fernwood Trail, the last difficult trail at Rowe Woods.  Unfortunately, I am a woman with little self-control.

I say this because last night I started reading Faye Kellerman's newest, Burnt House.  This morning I got up a bit late and David woke up with me.  I fixed us some eggs, and read my book.  I drank some coffee and read my book.  I was getting to some very involved and interesting parts of my book when I realized that the whole household was awake and Friend Husband was whispering, "Go on your hike..." and giving my not-so-subtle shoves out the door.  So it was about 10 o'clock when I got to the Nature Center.

When I got there, I was told by the gatekeeper that it was the Cincy Great Outdoor Weekend, free admission, and lots of things to do.  At that point, I figured it was a good thing I was hiking the difficult trail because there would be a whole lot of loud, wild little people on the easy trails, and I was correct in that assumption.

Fernwood Trail is reached by hiking through part of the Upland Trail, which I hiked last weekend.  I was pleased to discover that I even remembered a more direct way to get to the trail, near Matt's Pond, rather than taking the Upland Trail proper.  As I approached the trail, I noticed a sign that read, "Deer Management Area:  Keep Alert and Stay On Trail".  O-kay.  Not a problem or so I thought at the time.

I approached the trail from the west side, just north of Lotus Pond.  The trail was an easy one, covered in mulch and fallen leaves and meandering through the woods.  I looked forward to hiking past the Groesbeck Lodge and the Retreat Center, a part of the 2005 Groesbeck acquistion, if for no other reason than that I had never hiked that far back and seen them.  The Activities Building and Retreat Center were nothing fancy.  Groesbeck Lodge, however, was something else entirely.

The trail winds around and you don't quite see the Lodge until you're upon it.  It took my breath away, especially after seeing the Retreat House and Activities Building.  I stood there, staring at it, probably with my mouth agape.  How to describe it?  Well, the Internet research I've done says that it is a 3-story Tudor-style stone residence.  I'm no architect but I could certainly figure that out.  The stonework is so lovely and you just don't see houses like that anymore.  The deeply sloping roof is made of dark grey slate, another rare feature, even in nicer homes.  According to the Cincinnati Center for Field Studies, which has use of the building, it was designed by Gertrude Jekyll in 1917, one of 3 Jekyll commissions in the United States.  I wish I'd had my camera with me on this hike, on more than one occasion, but I did not.  If you want to see a picture of the Lodge, go here, but the photo doesn't do it justice, in my book (scroll down to the bottom).

Ok, the hike, the hike, the hike.  So far, it was a level tramp through the woods and, like I always do, I wondered why it was labeled as "difficult".  I was soon to find out, after clearing the Groesbeck area.  Just past a smaller house, the trail resumed as a series of log steps almost smothered in blooming snakeroot that seemed to lead down into a ravine.  The race was on.  The trail through the snakeroot was magical, almost like fairies had laid it through those sweet little white flowers on a whim.  But it makes me very nervous not to be able to see my feet in the woods.  I also began to wonder why they called it 'snakeroot'.  Was it in some way related to snakes?  Were snakes attracted to it?  I hoped not and tried to console myself with the thought that snakes are really shy and don't want any congress with humans if they can help it.  But then I remembered that copperheads are mean and aggressive and in woods out here...yikes!  I got out of the snakeroot trail a lot faster than I went in to it and soon found myself in awe of a beautiful trail that went down into a ravine and wound around on the other side.

There were a number of times on this trail when I just stopped and gawked and praised God for creating such majesty for us to enjoy here.  I won't even try to describe them.  I'm not sure I could.  I walked over ravines, crossing some awfully rickety bridges at times.  I hiked up and down "hollers" and marvelled at how fresh, beautiful, green, and mysterious the whole place looked.  I wished I'd brought my camera and I wish I could describe it to you but I can not.  I'll be happy to take you out there, though, if you ever come through here.  Believe me, it's worth the visit.

Once I hit the ravine, I realized why the trail was labeled "difficult".  There were a number of grades, a number of areas with steep steps leading up the other side of a rise, and just an awful lot of walking.  I got to see Raptor, Inc's property, as the trail leads to a clearing where it is located.  They brought raptors to the Nature Center today to show as a part of the Great Outdoor Weekend.  They do good work.

I also saw a number of old, abandoned buildings a short distance from, and sometimes right on the trail.  I even hiked off the trail to examine a couple of them.  They were dilapidated old structures out in the middle of the woods.  One looked as if it may have been a small barn at one time, and one was just a shelter with a cement floor.  On the trail map, it looked as though they were described as "Wilderness Cabins" and I thought that was pretty rich to describe such tumbledown shacks as such.  I wondered at the Nature Center's desire to even have them on the map, since they just looked like accidents waiting to happen.  Further up the trail was an abandoned and mostly caved-in blind of some sort, just across from a well that had been capped.  More mysteries.  I'd sure like to know what all that stuff was, especially since I'd also seen stone foundations and signs of other buildings out there. 

As I continued down the trail (or up the trail, I should say, as the slope was ever, ever up), I realized that my assumptions about the "Wilderness Cabins" was incorrect.  The true Wilderness Cabins were newly built and situated in a lovely clearing, complete with seats and picnic tables.  Still, I wonder what they're used for.  I peeked in the one nearest to the trail and saw a couple of rows of twin-sized bedstead like you'd see in some sort of an institution.  Weird and interesting.  Many stories to be told there.

Back up and up and up the trail.  My chest was hurting from all the deep breathing and I was more than ready for a rest on one of those memorial benches.  Remember what I said about there being no benches on the difficult trails?  I've now hiked all the difficult trails and I can verify that, without a doubt.  Of the three difficult trails at Rowe Woods, there are a total of 2 benches and one shelter.  Once I got off Fernwood and sank down onto a bench, it was a great relief.

Ah, but first the ferns...at the east end of the trail is a slope with scores of ferns.  They weren't too luscious due to our lack of rain this year, but they were a sight to behold nonetheless.  The end of the trail was not quite as arduous, but my circulatory system had already had its workout for the day.  I sat down on a bench gratefully and contemplated my trail map.  As I did so, a doe walked quietly through the woods right in front of me.  I watched her nibbling and moving, sniffing the air and repeating until she disappeared as quietly as she'd come.  Maybe that's why I decided to go ahead and hike Wildflower.

Wildflower Trail was given some award in 2004, something like the best day hike or some other thing like that.  I liked Wildflower but in my mind it wasn't nearly as stunning as Fernwood.  Could be that I was already too tired to be able to appreciate it fully.  Could be it's quite spectacular in the spring, when all the flowers are blooming.  But today it was sort of sere, woods interspersed with meadows where even the ironweed had long burned up and gone brown.  It also had many many more people on it.  It's not that I don't like people but I surely do see enough people on any given day to keep me occupied.  I like me some quiet in the woods.  Most folks are quiet, but as I said, there were a lot of little people on the adjacent trails today, so it was not terribly quiet.

I did run into a family group that I met a few weeks ago and talked to them for a bit.  Sadly, I recognized their dog Sophie before I recognized them.  Sophie is a liver-colored Border Collie mix and was whining and barking for her "mom" the last time I saw her.  Today she was blazing the trail with "Grandpa" in the lead while "Grandma" and "Mom" brought up the rear.  I think they thought it was amusing that I recognized them through Sophie, but then, I was pretty taken up with the beauty that was Sophie.

By the end of Wildflower, I was more than ready to get off the trails, have my trail book stamped by Noel in the Visitor Center and sample the paw paws they said would be waiting at the Paw Paw Growers display inside.  Unfortunately, I had to hide up some amazing hillsides before I could get close.  I was grateful again for the bench at the top of the ridge, this one a memorial to Elizabeth Worthington Pugh, who had lived 89 years.  Somehow I staggered back to the Visitor Center and got another drink but no paw paw sample, as the late spring freeze that killed my lilacs also killed the paw paws this year.  Too bad.  Noel was enthusiastic about my trail book though, noting that I only had two trails to complete to finish.  Yay, me!  I believe the next two are a moderate one that I've done many a day and an easy one.  Maybe I'll even get them both done the same day and wouldn't that be something?

Happy weekend, y'all!  I'm back to work.

The road goes ever ever on...

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken--Robert Frost

I apologize if any of you had concerns about my being absent for a week. I was in a black humor at the beginning of the week and just couldn't face anything, much less blogging. I figured that it would be better to just leave be until things got better. Then things got better and I had work to do! Ha! Anyway, I guess I'll start off talking about Rowe Woods.

Last week I walked Lookout Trail. It's a 1.5 mile trail designated as "easy". It was, in fact, easy. It loops around through the woods across the road from Rowe Woods, proper and ends up in a big meadow also across the street. Then, after crossing back over, it winds without seeming purpose back toward the Visitor Center.

I've walked this trail many times. It used to be my favorite, back in the days when I could walk before Friend Husband left for work. I loved walking through the fresh green woods, seemingly separated from everyone by a break of skinny trees. I also took the girls and our former dogs, Sam and Frodo there many times. Here's an oldie but goodie from 4/2005. Look at how young the girls looked just two years ago!

I saw a good many beautiful things there last week. Unfortunately, I've mislaid my little memo book wherein I wrote much of it. I walked part of it again today, because it coincided with the Upland Trail and it was delightful. There are a few lovely little paths covered already in brown, dry leaves that just meander through the woods. Near the first bridge, there was a natural bridge consisting of interwoven tree roots away from which the dirt had been washed. Many times I've wished that I carried my camera into the woods with me (although, with the way my camera is acting these days, it might not have done me a lick of good) and that was one of them. There was also a giant, bleached tree that had fallen over and way lying in a small copse of brush. When I came upon it, it looked for all the world like a departed leader, lying in state. I had to shake my head to clear the thought but it remained nonetheless. Over in the meadow, there was a stunning weathered grey bench that I just had to stare at. I realized that I wanted to bring the children back and get their pictures taken on that bench, but just looking at the bench itself, weathered and whittled down to silver-grey wood was enough for me.

I have to explain something about the benches. Rowe Woods has a lot of benches, especially on the easy trails. Unfortunately for me, I haven't noticed them in abundance on the difficult trails but they are scattered everywhere along the easier trails. Last week I started writing down the words on the memorial plates that are attached to most of them. The stories behind some of them intrigued me. Of course, I don't actually know the stories but they gave me something to think about until I got to the next bench. There are also several bird blinds scattered throughout and all of the ones I've seen so far are in honor of someone. It made me wonder 1) how much a bench like that costs and 2) what the stories behind the people are. Many of them say what they are in honor of. Today I saw one in honor of a mother's 90th birthday and a 40th wedding anniversary. But many of them have the name and dates of the person and little else. The other thing that gave me pause was how many of them were young people. At least two of the benches I saw today were in honor of people who died in their 40's. Yikes! A good reminder that our lives are never guaranteed.

But now, along with the desire (nay, need) to walk all the trails, I also have a compulsion to document all of the benches, shelters, and bird blinds that are in Rowe Woods. Generally speaking, I don't get compulsive about things. In fact, over the years I've become decidedly counter-compulsive because I live with so many compulsive people and I figure that someone has to model being "normal", for whatever it's worth. But I do feel compelled to do this. And it was a bit irritating today because, as I said, there are so very many benches on those easy trails. I know myself, though, and if I got said bee in my bonnet, it would nag at me if I skipped the benches/bird blinds/shelters and just walked.

I set out today to walk the three shortest, easiest trails at Rowe Woods. I wanted to get an early start because it has been so very hot lately and I wanted to finish before the hottest part of the day. Since I stayed up unconscionably late (how long has it been since you stayed up until 2:30 AM?), I didn't get there at 7:30 but 8:30 was pretty good. I had planned to walk the Stanley M. Rowe All-Persons Trail first. It's paved and pretty much wheelchair accessible. Unfortunately, I read the map wrong and ended up on the Edge Trail. No biggie, that was on the agenda for today as well so I did that first.

The Edge Trail skirts Powell Crosley Lake and sports many boardwalks and trails right up next to the water. When my brother and his family were here for Thanksgiving, that's where we walked on Friday. It's a lovely little walk and I enjoyed the lake views, although the lake itself was rather stagnant and foul smelling. I was sad to see that some of the trees are already turning, no doubt in response to the drought this summer. There are some trails that just make me smile because they are cute or charming. There were a number of these on the Edge Trail. I guess they're hidden little trails that go back to the lake and such but I'll take my smiles wherever I can find them.

After the Edge Trail, I started on the paved All Persons' Trail. I didn't expect much. I figured that it would be a pain to build (and lay the asphalt for) a trail too deep into the woods and I had seen the beginning of it many times, as it skirts the main parking area. Once beyond the main parking lot, however, the trail goes back into the adjacent woods, touches on Lotus Pond (overgrown with algae and sporting humongous lotus leaves), goes around the prairie near the Abner Hollow Cabin, and then back to the main parking lot. What a sweet little trail! I was, of course, thankful that I could walk it (and gave thanks accordingly) but I was also impressed that the Nature Center would take the time to make such a nice trail wheelchair accessible for those who couldn't go on the traditional trails. Bravo, Cincinnati Nature Center!

By this time, I was hot and not a little cranky from not sleeping enough last night. I debated about going on the Upland Trail today. After all, I had walked a good mile, seen some nice naturey stuff and was ready to go back home. I finally gave myself a stern talking to and told myself to get my fat keister in gear and do that last trail. And, of course, I'm glad that I did.

I like trails that go through the woods. I'm just not a sun girl. Even when it's hot, I much prefer the heat under the trees than the heat in the meadows. The Upland Trail is mostly in the lovely woods, although it touches on the meadows in a few places. There were some mysterious side trails that I marked to try another time as well. Being the person I am, I just wanted to put in my time today and go home rather than having further adventures. At one point, the trail intersects a maintenance road that eventually connects with the overflow parking lot. When I'm out walking around, I'm definitely in my own head. When I came out of the woods to this intersection, there was a line of people walking down the road, obstensibly part of some sort of tour group. I probably stared at them blankly, being inside the wild and wooly Lori brain that I was and they definitely stared at me with amazement and curiosity. I don't know why but there it was. Maybe they thought I was a ghost or something, appearing as I did out of the woods all of a sudden. They passed and I passed over to the other side of the glorious, leaf-strewn woods.

I've been experiencing a puzzling dicotomy lately as I hike. When I first started hiking Rowe Woods, it was just flat fun. I got to walk the trail (Redwing) that I'd been wanting to walk for something like 5 years and I was enjoying the novelty of being somewhere quiet. Then I reluctantly decided to walk all the trails. I say "reluctantly" because, again, I know myself. My very own self is quite reactive. (No, really? You don't mean it?) I felt that if I committed to doing the trail walks, that I'd wind up rebelling against my own self and not doing it at all. Yep, I am that weird.

I seem to not be doing that (I do have a good, stern part of myself that admonishes this other rebellious part), which is good. But now I wonder if I won't/don't enjoy it so much because I feel compelled to keep to the trails so as to be able to check off another trail at the end of the day. I saw so many trails today that sang siren's songs to me...I would have loved to wander off and explore. But I didn't because of this trail hike thing. Which is completely counter to what I'd started doing this for in the first place. Both are worthy reasons to hike, so I can't clearly pick one or the other. For now, I've just told myself that it's enough to check off trails and I will return to aimlessly walking at some point in the future.

My first desire in hiking out there was to just take whatever trail suited me when I came to a fork in the trail and enjoy it. Get lost! Have a great time! My more prudent side pointed out to me that it would be even more fun to know the trails better before I went off on a wild hair like that so that I wouldn't be completely discombobulated and get lost out there overnight. Well, maybe not more fun but certainly more responsible. So I started walking the trails to know the trails, then came the trail hike and here we are. I surely wanted to diverge from the beaten path today and explore the trails that are not a part of any system. There were a couple of times today where I had an option of two trails and did choose the one less-traveled by and that tickled me greatly. One day, though, I'll have a glorious tramp through the woods and go wherever I want, if the Lord wills it to be so.

Well, enough navel-gazing and babbling on. I imagine that, if anyone is still reading this (hello there!), you're debating with yourself about whether, discretion being the better part of valor and all, it might have been better for me to keep quite just a leeetle while longer. Perhaps. I've never been one who displays great valor, though, so here we are. At the end of all things. At least for this post. I hope to come back another day with pictures from the twins' 3rd birthday yesterday. Until then, have a good day and pass it on!

Another hike

Currently Reading Into the Wild By Jon Krakauer

Yesterday was chock full of big times (as was today, for that matter). Dinah was over spending the night with Abby so we had extra bodies piled in the oven we affectionately know as our house. It's not too bad during the day, but it's awfully hard to sleep at night when it's hot and muggy.

Anyway, after being up half the night due to the heat or children walking around due to the heat, I was not in a frame of mind to walk. I did manage to get myself out the door and do it, though, and I was mightily proud of that. Especially since Friend Husband was making waffles for breakfast and I knew that, with 6 children and Friend Husband, there wouldn't be any left upon my return.

I had chosen to hike Far Ridge Trail this time, another trail that I'd been wanting to hike for a while. It's another one that is classified as "difficult", although it was about a mile shorter than Redwing. As I drove up to the entry kiosk, I noticed that they had a new program advertised. It was a "hike all the trails" deal where you recorded when you hiked a certain trail and when you finished all the trails, they'll give you a Camelbak water bottle. Cool beans! Since I was going to hike them all anyway, I figured I'd sign up and get something extra out of the deal.
Anyway, I wised up this time and actually brought walking shoes instead of Crocs. Good thing too, because even in walking shoes this trail just chewed me up and spit me out. I had taken some ibuprofen before I left home to help counteract the swelling and such and that worked well. I had absolutely no pain during, after or today. That rocked.

But, as I said, that trail was a bruiser. Part of the problem was the weather. It was hot and muggy Saturday (we finally got our first rain in 2 ½ months later on in the day) and that made it hard to breathe. The trail itself was something unreal, though. The walk out to it was easy enough, although I did get lost at one point and ended up on my nemesis, the wooden stairs that go ever ever on. Once I crossed over the stream to the actual trail, though, things got interesting.

I noted on the trail map that Far Ridge Trail is a big loop. The map mentioned a "steep climb to a shelter" overlooking the ravine or something. I figured I wouldn't be able to see much at the height of summer, even with all the trees dropping their leaves early this year. I got to the decision point, where I could either take the "gently sloping trail" up to the shelter, or the brute force stair climb up the side of the ridge. I was going to give myself a break and do the slope instead of the stairs until I looked at the stairs. They looked a lot like a ladder from the fork in the trail. I really dislike going down ladders or steep staircases facing outward. I also figured that that would probably give me a colossal case of shin splits so I opted for the sheer staircase up to the shelter.

To say that I was huffing and puffing when I got there would not be an exaggeration. That climb was quite a bit more difficult than the steep slopes in Redwing last week. I sat up at the shelter to regroup, but then moved on to yet more stairs up to the top of the ridge. Once atop the ridge, it was an easier hike. There are fewer trees up there and it was moderately sunny. The trail was wide and, except for massive numbers of spider webs, completely empty. I don't know how long it had been since someone was up on that particular trail, but if the spider webs were any indication, it had been a while. I didn't see a single person on any of the trails I was on yesterday, which is odd for Rowe Woods. It scared me a little bit when I thought that I could conceivably have a heart attack, heat stroke, or injure myself up there and no one would have a clue where to find me (nor would they be inclined to climb up that ridge to look). I did discover that, unlike on Redwing, there was excellent cell coverage up on top of the ridge. Dinah's mom called to tell me that they were coming to pick Dinah up and we chatted for a while before hanging up. I didn't tell her that I was nowhere near her daughter at the time and was, in fact, on top of a ridge somewhere out in the middle of Rowe Woods. People at church think I'm odd enough without adding to the mystique, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I digress. The slope down the ridge was, for the most part, gentle and lovely to walk through. I didn't have the same epiphanies that I had last week but I was pleased that I'd gone out and walked despite the weather and my own lack of sleep the night before. I crossed the stream on rocks that would normally be submerged except for our astounding lack of rain this summer and I thought about all the times that Friend Husband, the Big Girls (then, the only girls), and our old dogs Ronald and Raymond would travel these trails and what fun we had.
I walked a couple of new trails back to the Visitor Center. I saw some funny things out there, like a climbing wall, attached to a couple of huge trees, and a primitive toilet housed in a turquoise blue wooden closet. They were definitely head-scratchers and comic relief in the midst of my wild desire to be back at the Center, in the air conditioning. I finally made it back and basked in the wonder that is chilled air before signing up for the trail walk.

I'm 1/5 of the way finished with the trails! If the weather is at all temperate (ie, not hot and humid) next week, I think I'll do the third of the difficult trails. If it's nasty, I'll cross off some of the easy trails and call it good. Sooner or later the weather will be such that exercise outside will be lovely again.

Enough boring blog for today? Not quite. I did want to wax poetic (or prosetic) about our lack of air conditioning this week. We've had the opportunity to experience some different stuff this week. I won't go into the obvious comparisons between our country and most other countries around the world. You can do that on your own. I did notice a few other things, though. One is that no one ever spends any time outside anymore. We sat outside most nights until the mosquitoes made things miserable because the house was unpleasantly hot. All of the houses in our neighborhood have some kind of porch and some of them are quite nice. But we were the only ones outside "enjoying" the summer evenings. I wondered what things were like back when these houses were built, in the late 40's. I've got to assume that a/c was not common back then. That also got me to wondering about why our house is not more conducive to picking up itinerant air currents. In other words, the air doesn't flow through and cool very well. It's weird, if you ask me.

We've also started eating strange things for meals. Except for Friday when we had the obligatory sleepover pizza party, I haven't used the oven and I've rarely used the stove. We've been eating a lot of sandwiches and leftovers from Crock-Pot cuisine. For lunch today, we all had strawberry-banana smoothies...mmmmmm! I do miss cooking, but I imagine it will be back soon enough. It's been nice to take a dip in the pool at night, rinse off, and go to bed, hoping to catch a stray cool breeze. It's been nice to sit out on the porch, knitting and talking to Friend Husband while the children play or read around us. When we first bought this house, I remember commenting in a letter to Friend Ann-Marie that I could see myself quilting on the front porch or reading on the deck out back. Except for early mornings, those things really haven't happened. Until this week.

Nevertheless, I can't hide that it will be nice to have cooling just so we can sleep at night. We're all getting pretty stupid from lack of sleep. Although we've done pretty well with holding our tempers, I don't imagine the angelic streak will last much longer. But it's been an interesting experience nonetheless. Sort of like camping with better toilets.

And this is finally the end of this long, rambling, and nonsensical blog.

A Walk in the Woods

Today I took a long walk in the woods. It was actually more of a hike and believe me, I know I will be paying for it tomorrow, but it was wonderful nonetheless. I've been wanting to do some long hikes rather than shorter walks and decided that Saturday morning would be a good time to disappear in the woods for a while, hike, think, decompress, pray, and sweat. I didn't get out as early this morning as I would have liked, but I finally did get out there for a three-hour hike.

A three hour hike.

Ha, had to get that Gilligan's Island reference in there. Anyway, I went to our local hiking trails with Lucy the Wonder Dog, who was in transports because she got to go somewhere. Anywhere. The vet's office? Sure thing! Walk around the block? I'm there! She had a great time today but I think it took a lot out of her.

It's amazing how wonderful it was to just walk in the woods. It was quiet, not silent, but quiet. We heard some really weird sounds, like a squeaky car trunk opening. I decided that they were the tops of the trees as they swayed in the breeze. We saw some folks, but not many, given that this is a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

It may have been because of the trail.

For over a year, I've been wanting to walk Red Wing Trail. It's the longest of the trails and labeled "difficult", so I hadn't done it. When we've hiked the Fox Rock Trail (now called the Geology Trail), it's taken the wind out of my sails. It's got a gazillion picturesque steps to go up and down. Who needs a stair-step machine? So I've never done Red Wing and today I dove in and did it.

There's a chicken-out spot on Red Wing, where you can take a shortcut which will put you back near the beginning of Red Wing so you don't have to do the 2.6 miles, plus the mileage after that to get back to the Visitor Center. It is a little bit after a monster incline which had me gasping for breath and I stood there and contemplated it while Lucy paced impatiently. Some other folks came off the longer part of the trail and stood at the crossroads with me, trying to figure out whether to take the shortcut or to go the longer way (with the incline). They went on the shortcut and I, perversely, decided to go all the way around the long way. Because I couldn't look like a wuss. Yeah, that's a good reason to hike over 4 miles.

We walked through grand old trees, thrusting branches up into a cerulean sky. We walked through meadows where the goldenrod was eye-height to me and Lucy got scared off by something in the midst of it (they have trails cut through the meadow and laid through the woods). We walked along and, occasionally, through streams and streambeds. We looked at an area which is supposedly reclaimed wetland but, in this weather, is just another dry creek with lots of grass around it. I saw deeply fissured ground and thought how wonderful it would be for us to get a good soaking rain. I saw butterflies, birds, and bugs. It was very relaxing. My soul sang for gladness and thankfulness. And I wondered why it couldn't always be the way it was in the woods. Why can't I be serene and happy in my everyday life? Why do I have to walk to the top of a hill to achieve peace?

Maybe it was the oxygen deprivation (it's been a while since I did any hiking).

I thought a lot about that, about the depression that dogs my life, about my family and our life choices. I thought about duty, committment, and sacrifice. I thought about sucking it up and I thought about expressing feelings, needs, and desires. I wondered if I'd ever make it out of the woods and to the restroom at the Visitor's Center.

Well, it was a long hike!

It was a super time. I'm so grateful I got the chance to go and I really want to go again. I even went so far as to challenge myself to hike all 20 or so miles of trails there in Rowe Woods (surely nothing could be as arduous as today was?) My problem is that I'm either too hard on myself or too lenient. I was afraid to actually do the challenge because then I'd have an instantaneous negative reaction and never walk out there again. But I think it's good for me and I want to continue. I'd love to be one of the vigorous old ladies I see hiking out there. I've given up on the idea of being a thin old lady (or middle-aged lady) but I'll opt for vigor over the other option any day of the week. So, that's the plan. Hike Rowe Woods. I've already done Red Wing, part of Geology, and part of Whitetail, how hard could it be?

Oh, and the Crocs were a mistake. Even if it's the height of summer and your feet are hot, hot, hot, do not give into the temptation to hike in Crocs. I'm just sayin'.

Oh, oh, oh! Guess what? I hit the mother lode of books at the library yesterday. All of a sudden, a lot of the books I'd attempted to place on hold came in. Here are a few of the goodies:

Sweet Revenge, the new Diane Mott Davidson book

The Roosevelt Women, Betty Boyd Caroli

Unleash the Power of NatureFoods

Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome, Luke Jackson

Dream House and Blues in the Night, Rochelle Krich

The new Yarn Harlot book

I Wish I'd Been There: Twenty Historians Bring to Life Dramatic Events that Changed America

And two Haunted Ohio books.

You know what I'll be doing this weekend! I hope yours is a happy one!