Hike on. Over the next six weeks in conjunction with the Get Fit Challenge, Abby girl (age 3) and I are going to attempt one hundred hiking miles along specific trails listed for the Get Fit Challenge. This is a challenge that we have done for several years and are proud ambassadors for encouraging people to get fit. This time around, Abby and I decided to try something new and also up our game.
Monday-
Monday-my legs were still so sore from Saturday working in the cold at a volunteer event crawling on ground photographing dogs. But, my husband said it would be good to get them moving. The Get Fit Challenge was already two days in and I needed to start getting my hikes in with Abby girl.
First lesson learned. Don’t buy your lunch at a random gas station. Pack your snacks, water, lunch. Almost thirteen dollars later and the sandwhich had no flavor, we headed down the road. FYI they gave mustard and mayo packets. Mayo and hiking don’t mix … You might end up with your butt over a log. Mustard is just the devils condiment. Disgusting.
We arrived at the trail head and I discovered that an old chocolate milk had dumped in bucket (thank God) and all I smelled is stale milk in my trunk. But, dealing with it had to wait because Abby was off and running before I could even get completely together and we were heading to the Appalachian Trail.
Abby decided to trail run a big section of it and I don’t run, for the record. We traversed over flowing streams, through wetlands, over rocks, through rocks. We took a couple breaks and loved the view at Nuclear Lake. After that, we turned around and started heading back. We kept a good pace and got back to car. Not, five minutes from car, Abby insisted on going into the pack. I couldn’t believe it because I could hear the main road. So, I got her in pack and my legs ceased up and I almost landed on my head. Abby laughed. I managed to get up and hike on. At the car, got re-situated and off I drove right into a ditch. I managed to get out and on the road as people honked. Our first 2.68 Miles
Interesting fact of the day. Abby trail ran a lot. She kept yelling at me in her mouse voice “are you tough?” Then she would announce she is “tiny big tiny.” This surely is going to get interesting.
Tuesday-
B is for Baxtertown Woods and Bowdoin Park. In addition, B is also for GPS is a Biatch, booger, butthead, buttcheese (Abby’s choice), butt etc. GPS took me to a random neighborhood cul-de-sac in the middle of nowhere and says ” you are here.” Yes, here where there is no trail head. No parking signs and a giant neighborhood watch sign. Tried again and got to power-lines with a sign that read Baxtertown Woods. No clear trail and lots of information for hunters. I really didn’t want to be shot with a bow and arrow and left our hunter orange at home. Turkey hunting before noon. Seriously, I’m not dying because someone thinks I’m a turkey.
I decide to key in GPS again as Abby yelled she wanted out of the car and GPS takes me to an even more random spot with zero trail and just roadside trash. So we back track around I decide to go for it despite our lack of orange.
Our first highlight and an exciting one, we saw ducks. Don’t worry, we don’t hunt. After that, we slop through prickers, overgrowth and flooded tire tracks even though no vehicles are allowed back there. Abby started to complain so we kept trying different directions and they all dead-ended. One even dropped off at a random trash dump. My husband aeeked later if it is an old trash dump. I said no, new trash. Old trash, I would be looking through it. However, it did remind me of the talking trash heap from Fraggle Rock.
We got back to car and went around the lake and blazed our own trail into woods. Abby tried peeing in woods and failed, peeing all over her clothes and into her muck boots. So we ended the hike at .25 miles and went back to car. I changed her and off we went to hike number 2.
Our Second hike of the day was at Bowdoin Park which is nearby the first location. We played for awhile on the playground before Abby decided to run barefoot down the trail into the woods. She literally could pet two random ducks swimming in a little overflow area. Then we hiked on until she decided she wanted to ride on my shoulders. We followed the trail up and around and listened for sounds. Saw a fat ground hog and headed back to the playground.
We made buildings and roads in the sand. Played on swings. Abby practiced her cat like reflex skills. We stayed for a bit before heading to the grocery store. Two short hikes today totaling about a mile.
Wednesday-
Today we did 5.3 miles. It was damp and cool outside. The coolness actually worked in our favor. We arrived at the parking spot on Dennytown Rd and after Abby mooned traffic after a quick potty break in woods, we were off down the Appalachian Trail. She insisted on being hike leader.
This trail had a lot of ups, downs, scrambles and water crossings. It took a lot of trust and relying on each other or our cat-like reflexes to navigate. At one point, Abby was climbing up a scramble and she looks at me shocked and yells “I’m peeing myself!” Luckily I had an extra pair of pants. Sadly, though the extra pair of pants that were holding her sweatshirt closed (needs zipper), needed to be used. I put her pants and underwear off my pack. Unfortunately, I had to smell pee while I hiked and they slapped me in my yoga pants making them damp right in butt area and back of thighs. However, after some adjusting, all was good.
Abby only rode on my back for two short spurts. While she slept, and I pressed on in the very quiet forest that damn clean-up song the Puppy Dog Pals sing got stuck in my head. However, I could remember bits and pieces and I could not get it out of my head. It seriously was horrible.
Abby also enjoys getting pumped up before a climb by doing this whole routine with me.It is kind of hilarious and yes, it is on Instagram and in the video.
Learning Lessons-
We hands down needed more snacks. I gave her all my snacks because she eats like a bear. So I had to deal with hungry stomach. Luckily we had plenty of water. Water is more important than food. No water and you can find yourself in a very serious situation. I also learned to not trust my All Trails App. It told me we were on the wrong trail. Lies … all lies. Stay on the blue trail. It is very easy to get lost in Fahnestock. We cut through some thicket and I am so glad we didn’t bushwhack and head toward the trail down the ravine. I got back to blue and stayed on blue. The third thing Abby learned is sometimes it is key to be still and quiet. A goose swam very close to her and made for a wonderful experience.
all in all it was a nice loop hike. We really had to listen and rely on each other. We ended up burning around 2700 calories.
Friday-
Friday afternoon, the weather cleared enough for a local hike. So we went to the Cary Institute. Abby was the hike leader for a lot of the hike and we did almost 2.5 miles. No pack carrying necessary. She only complained she was tired at very end of hike. We remedied that by playing a fun game of hide and go seek. Abby tried to get me to hide behind a tree covered in poison ivy.
We were hoping she could wear her new Keens she got from a rummage sale … However, I was unable to get the thick zip-tie off and I left my knife at home. Always carry a knife when hiking. She managed fine in her Minnie Sneakers.
Some of the other things we did on this trip were following the creek. She loves climbing down to the water. There are numbers that indented on posts along the trail. I had her trace them with her finger and tell me what they were. She made me trace it on other side and make it a competition of who could finish first. She is very competitive.
Abby enjoyed pretending she was a dog after learning dogs weren’t allowed at this location. She also liked sprinting down the trails and I have no clue where she learned to do the whole runner stance and take off in burst after a ready, set go.
All in all, it was a fairly easy hike and a nice end of the week hike. We would do no more this week.
Conclusion Week 1-
We fell seven miles short of our goal this week with just around eleven miles. Here’s to week #2. Time to step it up. To watch our short film of week one, please click here
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