January Hike #1

Day/Time: Tuesday, January 24th - 1:30pm

Trail: Section 14 of the Falls Lake Trail

Distance from home: 8.3 miles

Location and/or Map: Falls Lake Trail map

Weather: 64 degrees

Hiking Friends: Just me, Eliza and our bluetick coonhound Gunnie







I've hiked parts of the Falls Lake Trail before, but never this section. It's a very nice trail. I wish there were a few more bridges over the wet spots. I think I had to step in 3 puddles during this hike. I think I'll keep wearing these North Face gore-tex shoes, as my socks and toes stayed dry throughout the hike!

We started our hike at 1:30pm and Eliza usually takes her afternoon nap around 1:45pm, so I knew she was going to zonk out. I knew exactly when she hit the hay, because her little Duke hat fell to the ground. I squatted down, groaned and grumbled, and picked up her hat. It's tough to do this with an extra 25 pounds of baby plus a few pounds for the pack! I looked at my dog, Gunnie, and told her that I was going to teach her to pick it up for me! Yeah, that'll never happen. "In your dreams! The only thing I pick up off the ground are dead cave crickets and food that you drop on the ground", she seemed to say. But anyway, a sleeping 10 month old and a well-behaved coonhound on a quiet trail makes for an overall quiet hike indeed.

There was 1 other car in the parking area when I arrived there. And when I was done with my hike, that car was gone. But, since I didn't pass anyone on my hike, and this section of the trail is an out-and-back, that must mean they were hiking the other trail (Section 13). The only other sign of life that I saw on our hike was a dog wandering around. It was wearing a hand-knit sweater and when it saw us, it got scared and ran off. I'm guessing it was a local dog that lives on the north side of Baptist Rd.

Anyway, it was a nice hike. I didn't hike all of it, since my fitness level right now is very low. I timed my hike to be 27 minutes out, turn around, and then hiking for 33 minutes to get back (minus a couple minutes to snap a few pictures!) -- so maybe I was out for a mile and a half or so...

Maybe someday I'll get a GPS so I'll know exactly how far I go. :)

Eliza at the end of the hike, holding on to the backpack standing up. So stinkin' cute!