Hiking at Great Falls Park

So on the lovely Memorial Day weekend I recruited my good friend Aliea to join me on one of my adventures.  I decided to try hiking (again).  For those of you who know me well, you will know that I hate hiking.  I really do.  My hatred of hiking began during my first year of law school when my then-boyfriend convinced me that this was something we should do.  He was really into that sort of thing.  Anyway, he was rather displeased when I did not take kindly to the idea of going to the bathroom outdoors, etc.  We broke up soon after.  Anyway, years later, I decided I would give this hiking thing a try.  I joked that I would have to be consuming beer while doing it, but after the previous day’s activities, I felt as though my liver would not be amenable to that.  I tried to keep in mind that “hiking” is just walking in nature.

Aliea and I managed to get up at 8am, cook breakfast, and be at the park by 10:30am.  I was feeling motivated, so we decided to do the 3 mile hike that involved “scrambling” over some rooks along the river and gorge.  The trail became less crowded as we walked, but when we started this family was in front of us a ways.  We noticed that they had been sitting down, and when they stood up I noticed that the son’s ankle was wrapped up and he was limping along with the rest of the family.  Aliea and I thought that perhaps this family thought this was the Oregon Trail and made the son keep going after injuring himself.  But really, we were only ¼ of a mile in at that point…..Anyway, we were able to get up on some big rocks and take some awesome pictures in the meantime. 

Aliea and I decided that we were SO GOOD at nature.  We pretended we were on the show “Lost” and started saying random hiking terms to prove our expertise.  You know, like the moss grows on the north side of the tree, and we kept looking for it…even though our trail was clearly marked.  There was one point when the trail became very steep and we were scrambling up rocks to get to the top of the hill.  I began questioning the sanity of this hiking plan, but after focusing for a few more minutes the trail plateaued and we realized that the trail had ended and we could take a different (flatter) path back.  Somehow Aliea’s dog Maggie still had energy and she was running along the path everywhere, and while this was happening a bug managed to land on Aliea’s hand.  Now, Aliea is one of the most hardcore people I know, and yet when this happened she began screaming in terror.  I quickly swiped the bug away, and told her I was a “nature slayer” and we decided that should be my title on a business card.  

The rest of the hike went by without incident.  We left the park and went to the pool.  In true Lynn fashion, I became sunburned in random patches on my body.  Nonetheless, the take away point here is that after this three mile hike, Aliea and I became experts on the subject.  We will be available to give any hiking advice you need.  However, there is no need to get carried away.  I will not be caught dead camping ever, in case you were wondering =)



truer words were never spoken