Trail Blazers

Today, we went for a hike at my new favorite walkin' spot, Trout Brook in Holden. I had been there once before and H had a great time so I figured it would be a great outing to celebrate J's birthday since he didn't have to go to work until later in the afternoon vs. the schedule on his actual bday.

We were trucking along, he with H closely chasing and I with C on my back. I had called dibs on the C-monster so I could burn the extra calories and skip the gym in the afternoon. It was a great afternoon, and J commented on the fact that the blazes were new, pointing out to me the faded paint stripes on the trees where the old blazes were. Seriously, I'd never have noticed them, which further confirms my suspicion that I'd be in a world of hurt were I ever dropped in the woods alone.

We got to the last split in the trail, and I told J that I remembered the other mom I'd been with suggesting we turn around at that point as they had ended up at another end of the park instead of looping back. However, we decided that it would be 'fun' to see if maybe it was just a mistake they made, as we had been under the impression that the trails were just big loops. Okay, fine. I kind of presented to J that I'd seen maps and that they made big loops. Seriously, he should know better. At one point I commented that it didn't feel like we were doubling back...but then the trail circled around and we crossed the water again.

Well, an hour later, we broke out into a wide open space and then hit the end of the trail just through the clearing...only to realize we had indeed ended up on the other side of the park.

J kindly offered to take C from me, but I declined so he slung H up on his shoulders saying that I needn't apologize because he could have (read: Should have) just as easily looked at the map himself; "Well, we need to get moving because it's already after 1...he had to leave for work in 2.5 hours, with the hope of getting a nap, shower and meal first. Oh yeah, and we live a half-hour from the trail.

My stomach clenched as the Ranger came out in J and he started tromping forward, his stride lengthening and I bustled up to keep time with him. Thank Jesus that I've been working out, because at the end I felt like I'd just had a great 'brisk walk' instead of the actuality of the fact that I'd scrambled over some rocky and brush covered terrain with my not-small baby in a pack on my back. We made it back to the car in 25 minutes when the walk out had taken over an hour.

On the plus side, I got to see Poison Oak for the first time, so now I'll know what to obsessively shriek at Henry to stay away from.