In preparation of hunting season Travis found an area of the mountain he wanted to scout out and put up some hunting cameras. "We can just hike right into it Laraine" he said, "It won't be that bad", he promised. " "just over that hill" he said. Boy, were we in for a little adventure.
We started off by driving up this crazy road/4-wheeler trail, more of a trail if you ask me and we were driving our Suburban. I am sure people were looking at us like we were crazy. We finally got to our destination once we had been scrambled in the car from all of the jostling. We loaded up the kids, and the trail cameras and were off. The beginning of the trail was rough because it is an old 4-wheeler trail that they had dug massive holes in to deter ATV's. The holes were full of water and cow dung, which was fun to dodge. The hike for the first part wasn't too bad. It was gorgeous and a gradual up hill but nothing I couldn't handle. When we got to our first big hill I thought "I run a lot, heck, I just did a half marathon, I got this." There is a saying that says something like "A hiker makes a good runner, but a good runner does not make you a good hiker." I was humbled going up that big hill. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I had a brief though, well I guess if I did of a heart attack this is a lovely place to die. Just bury me here.
We eventually made it to the top and looked at the area Travis wanted to put his cameras. The area looked like prime deer country, the only problem. Between us and the area was massive amounts of scrub oak, otherwise known as torture and lots of swearing. Due to the amount of oak we couldn't tell how steep the terrain actually was, but we soon found out on our way down the mountain.
Travis walked in front of me in case I fell he could stop me, but let's face it if I fell into him we would all fall. We wouldn't go too far though because we would get tangled in the branches of that awful scrub brush. Fortunately, we didn't end up falling but we both had scrapes all up our arms and at one point Travis was holding a branch for me and it slipped. The branch hit me right on the bridge of my nose. I may have shed of few tears, that is just what happens when you get hit on the nose though. We made it about half way there and I was seriously contemplating laying down and calling in the helicopters. This was not a small hike like I was promised, anymore. The map lied to Travis. The ups and down were so intense. Eventually the kids were hungry so we stopped for snacks and sent Travis to see how far we needed to go.
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| This is where we wanted to go back as you can see it was still down a hill and up another hill. The picture does not do it justice |
When Travis returned he decided we were not going to go where he thought he wanted to go, Thank the Good Lord!!! We could turn around, oh but all that up hill. Seriously, shoot me now. We started out and it wasn't that bad. We found some places to put the cameras up and I started to head back while Travis put the last camera up. The hike up the mountain was intense but we had found an area that wasn't as infested with scrub oak. Again, my heart was pounding out of my chest and I was sucking massive amounts of air. Travis was not too far behind me and he was looking similar to how I felt. We eventually made it too the top with not much time to spare. When we got to the top we saw a huge storm rolling in. We had to high tail it down the trail which with a baby on your back is not very easy. The last 500 yards of the trail the heavens broke open and the thunder and lightening were giving up quite a show right over our heads. To say I was a bit anxious is an understatement. We made it back safely and had lunch in the back of the Suburban while we waited out the floods.
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| HAHAHAHA, we stole your chips mom! |
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| Stop Mom, Stop! |
When we got home we had to work in the garden to prepare it for our next adventure of going to Chicago!!!! As you can see Jaylee got her fill of dirt for the day while helping dig potatoes.
