readytoemerge

…Was not enough to keep me warm this morning! Brrrrr! I FROSTED my buns off…no sweating this time. 30* here as I began my walk this morning. I honestly went out thinking; I’ll just do a couple of my “loops” and have to head in for the treadmill. But I got in 8 “loops” which is about 2.5 miles. It truly has been a blessing to not be bright-eyed and perky as I head out. I would have been right back in the door if that were so. I would have realized how crazy I was.

The weekend was good. I got to take my hike on Saturday morning. It was about 43 degrees when we started. My two youngest sons, my daughter and husband ended up going. I made oatmeal and blueberry muffins Friday night so we could have our breakfast once we got to the top. We walked Chimney Rock Trail which is 1.1 miles up. It levels off quite a bit at the top and there is a large area of rock, most of them flat enough to sit on. But you do have to work to get there. The bulk of the walk is inclined from mild to “oh my gosh”. And the saving grace of some areas in between which level out briefly. The most intense is a VERY rocky, steep portion, just before you reach the top. I call it BUTT BUILDER SLOPE. Can you say, “It Burns!”??  We got up in about 45 minutes…I stopped a few times to snap some pics. We made our way over to a nice picnic rock and broke out the muffins and water bottles. About 10 minutes into it we heard a load, somewhat distant roar/growl/angry sound. I freaked…everyone else tried to say it was not what I thought…A BEAR! Did I mention we saw deer bones, picked clean, on the way up?? So I ate, looking around me constantly…listening…jumpy. Another 10 minutes passed and a much closer growl/gruff sound. That was it! I got put the muffins in the backpack, took my keys out of it, in order to throw it for the bear if necessary. And we began our quick stepping decent. It’s hard to go down hill quickly with wobbly ankles, loose rock, and steep slope, but we did. I was looking around me more than where I was stepping, so I am thankful I didn’t do a face-plant in that process. We had a white-tail run across our path…but that was it. No sight of a bear or wild creature…thank goodness! We made it safely down, without having to sacrifice the muffins for the sake of our flesh…haha! I was upset tho that I didn’t get pics at the top. I guess I will have to do it again…maybe I’ll take cleats and a side of lamb to be safe.

Hope you guys enjoyed your weekend!