Back to the Routine

Julie and Ernie walking the trail

It's been a while, but I was finally able to get back to the trail.  The summer months are the busiest months for me.  We have our typical Scout activities plus baseball plus gardening plus trips to the beach.  It hasn't left much time for trips to the woods.  So last minute we planned a quick hike over at Hashawa Environmental Center.  I love hiking there.  The visitor's Center offers nice bathrooms and information on hikes and activities.  The trails all interconnect so you can make your hike as long, short, strenuous or easy as you want. 
My husband and I had been busy the day before the hike.  We have a large veggie garden and because of the rainy days we've had, it needed a lot of weeding.  That and cleaning out my parent's basement until midnight meant my body was in quite a bit of pain the morning of the hike.  I wasn't sure if I would even be able to go.  My knees hurt, my back hurt, my hips hurt and my piriformis muscle hurt.  But I swallwed a couple of Alieves and did my muscle stretches for the piriformis injury  sucked it up and went on my way.  And I'm glad I did.

E checking out the groundhog hole

My son enjoyed checking out things on the trail.  Here we stopped to try to get mulberries off the mulberry tree there and in doing so discovered a large hole dug directly under the tree.  Our consensus was that it was a groundhog hole (there was another hole dug nearby.  We all checked it out and continued on our way.  We eventually came to the Raptor cages along the trail.  Hashawa has several birds of prey that have been severely injured to the point of being unable to live in the wild.  They have a Kestrel, Screech owl, Barred owls, Great Horned owls, Red Tailed Hawks, a Black Vulture and a Bald Eagle. I love visiting the birds.  The benches there make a good spot for muscle stretching which is something I have found I need to do regularly while hiking.
It was a really nice hike and while it had a few inclines, it wasn't too taxing.  I had minimal pain associated with my injury and that was a great thing.  I think I might be able to work more wearing my pack and begin adding some weight to it.  I don't want to over do anything, but in reality that 40+ mile hike is fast approaching in October and I'd like to be physically ready (or at least more ready than I am now).  I'm hoping to find some time to go on an overnight to get the hang of things.

E and I

(I'm sporting the AT: Women's Group headband and I love it {even if my husband says I look like a hippy}

you can join the Facebook group if you're a woman and you hike.  I highly recommend it!)