Time to get Wild with part 2 of our little wilderness adventure. After an evening of somewhat restless sleep, you know there was movement in the woods and the little mice scampering about in the shelter, it was time to bring on day 2.
Of course even in the backwoods, no day could/would ever start without coffee. I happened to find these coffee bags in the coffee section of my grocery store. Just like a tea bag, they worked wonderfully.
That would be how you heat your coffee while someone is using the stove to make breakfast. Good thing it was the second cup.
Those would be scrambled eggs made with farm fresh straight out of the chicken eggs. After a little bit of research, I discovered that as long as you do not wash nor refrigerate an egg after a chicken lays it, it is good for up to 18 days. Which translates into a glorious breakfast in the backwoods. I transport them via a plastic egg container.
After a hard day one, there was a slight change in plans. Two of the littles were pretty tired and sore from their first day of hiking/backpacking. It was decided that we would split into basically three groups on day 2.
- Group 1 - The boys - Mission back track to obtain the vehicle and pick up group 2
Yes, that is my hubbie with his electric fly swatter. Can't leave that behind. (Think he shorted it out on our trip too)
- Group 2 - L, MoMo, and Miss A - Mission take down/pack up camp and wait for the boys to return with the green burrito.
- Group 3 - Steppie and Myself...aka the crazies. Packed up some of our stuff and prepared to tackle the day 2 portion of the trail. We would meet up with everyone at the campground.
The point at which Group 1 and 3 said our "later days".
The trails on Day 2 were just as hilly as we encountered on Day 1.
Many quick stops for a sip of water at the top. On Day 2 though, the bugs were quite a bit better then the first day.
Prior to starting out we made the master plan that we would stop at each road crossing for a break and one of our snack items.
Huge mushroom.
A bridge....a very exciting moment.
Beautiful clear water....
And we were warm...soooo why not drop pack and indulge for a little while.
The current in this little stream was flowing like crazy. It felt as if you were going to get swept away. The water was cold, but at our point in the hike it couldn't have been more perfect.
Very interesting pathway thru the forest which led us too....
Another bridge over the same stream. The stream went around in a "U" shape, so we planned that we would take another moment here. It was a little more shallow here and easier to walk around in.
If you look very close you will see a crawfish hiding by the rocks. The steppie picks up toads and frogs but would not pick up the crawfish. Maybe, just maybe the pinchers were a litte intimidating.
We really wanted to play in the stream a little longer, but no cell service forced us to push on.
Interesting bird looking tree we found along the way.
Here is the stream again...this time due to the proximity to the campground and people walking around, we figured that we better not go play in the water again.
And we made it. It just so happened that the rest of our group arrived at the same exact time we did. After thumbing down our people, we went to check in and get settled in our campsite for the night.
Since it was such a glorious day plus I made a note that everyone should pack a swimsuit, we headed straight for the beach. Water here was chilly also but rather welcoming on such a warm day.
The girls sand castles.
Now you will have to forgive me for the lack of pictures from the evening. After the beach and indulging in some ice cream, you know under the whole methodology of eat dessert first then dinner, we headed back to camp. Then the clouds began to roll in. We were making campfire pizzas for dinner. Crossing our fingers we scurried and quickly made up dinner. Just as dinner was coming to an end, the clouds decided to open up and it began to rain.
Our little group parted ways and four went into one tent, one to the truck, myself in a tent and my crazy hubbie stood out on the rain. At this point in the trip I was very grateful that I found and we packed rain ponchos. The little brother's tent once again decided that it was going to leak a little bit. Quick fix with the tarp and someones rain poncho and they were good to go. The rain took a little break for us to crawl out of our little hiding spots and make some s'mores. After s'mores it was time for bed to rest for the next day and take cover from more rain.
Sunday and our final day was just a short little hike about 3 miles. Now after eating some icky horrible bacon, we decided to hit the stand by the beach for some waffles and bacon. Much, much better choice.
Packed up and ready to go
And once again leave it to the steppie to almost step on this little guy. Thankfully she did not and he was relocated into the nice damp cool woods away from crazy hikes and vehicles that could run over.
We were off. Our trailhead was not listed on the sign but it was quick 2 mile walk.
All the rain that came thru the night before made the trails a pretty muddie mess. We attempted to carefully navigate around the mud pits, but muddy shoes were inevitable.
And again I am here with a lack of pictures from the last portion of our hike and our final destination. At the end of the day we made and one of our group got the queen of the woods title. And I will just leave you to figure out how you get that title.
Overall, it was a fantatsic trip and I am very anxious to go out again. May just have to schedule a fall hike in my futre.
