i survived

I live on the flat coastal plain.  Mountains and hills aren't something we see on a regular basis.  But a couple of hours from home, there is a place with hills and waterfalls.  I've wanted to go there since I was a Girl Scout in another life.  Saturday I got my chance.  As a Boy Scout mom.

I had heard it was challenging, and my fitness level is not what it once was - back in those Girl Scout days.  I've given birth to two children, aged over a quarter of a century, and have a lot more "stored fuel".  But a fellow mom assured me, that if I was working out, that I should have no problem.

Well, I survived.  My younger child and I joined other parents and boys and set off Saturday morning.  We put in a good six hours of hiking up and down hills.  As an afterthought, before I left home, I'd grabbed a hiking stick that I'd bought for the kids.  It was my best friend for the day.  Dear son above had to make his own, because I wasn't giving up the one that I'd brought.  But he's a Boy Scout.  He can do that!

The waterfalls....well...they didn't resemble Ruby Falls or Niagara Falls by any stretch of the imagination...

But the weather was beautiful.  I had another mom friend to keep me company.  We brought up the rear of the hikers.  (Read:  They had to stop and wait for us, because we didn't move as fast as they did.  We had to stop and catch our breath from time to time.  Because the scenery was so breath-taking.  Yeah, that's it!)

This was really my reason for going.  To spend time with my offspring.  Not every kid can say that his mother hiked 6-7-8 miles with him this weekend.  Not every mother can say that her teenager wants to spend time in the same location.  At the beginning he was at the head of the pack with the other boys.  But as the day wore on, he and his friend hung back with their moms.  Moral support, I guess.  See that I'm hanging on tight to my hiking stick!

This was one of our accomplishments for the day.  Fortunately it was a downhill part of the trail.  We got to the bottom - very carefully - and then looked up.  Rather impressed with ourselves.  Of course, the kids scrambled down it like mountain goats.

Our little group perched on a boulder in the middle of the creek bed late in the afternoon. 


Another stop at another waterfall.  The kids still have energy.

So, you're standing in a creek bed, you've been hiking for 4 or 5 hours and you see this sign.  And you think....I'll go up these steps and voila' I'll be in the parking lot.  NOT!  There are 80 steps.  Yep, I counted them.  But no parking lot.  A steep climb up another hill - which could probably have used another 80 steps.  A trail.  And probably another half mile or so - mostly uphill- to the parking lot.

I did it.  I can scratch it off my bucket list.  I doubt I'll do it again.  The company was cheerful and patient.  The weather was perfect.  The scenery was gorgeous.  Yesterday, my calves, my knees, and my toes were where the pain was.  Today it's mostly my calves and my quads.  I'm pretty much OK - as long as I don't go up or down any steps.