Wilson Creek

We decided to pull out the backpacks from the guestroom closet, roll up the sleeping bags into their stuff sacks, and pack up the dogs pack with dog food and treats, because we are going backpacking this weekend!

Wilson Creek on the Blue Ridge Parkway, was the perfect hike for our water loving dogs. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were in heaven. The entire hike to the campsite was along a creek, Wilson Creek. Needless to say, there were several creek crossings, 5 crossings actually. Boo and I did bring waterproof camp shoes to change into for the crossings, but decided since it was such a nice day (not to mention alot easier), we'd just plod through in our hiking boots and at the campsite, we would change shoes and let our socks and boots dry out. The cold water actually made our sore feet feel pretty good. The trail terrain was nice, just gradual rolling hills. Nothing to steep or slick. We were covered under rhododendrum trees through out most of the hike which added some nice shade. It was pretty warm in this area for April. Since we hiked along the creek, the dogs were able to jump in and out when ever they needed/wanted too. Thing 1 definitely took advantage of that. hahhah! Thing 2, the little blonde, only enjoyed a nice swim during the stream crossings. I loved seeing them swimming around and having a great time. Makes my heart swell. (Cheesy, I know.) Anyways, we make it to our campsite, right on the creek of course, and took a small break before we started our camp chores. After almost falling asleep, we got the motivation to put up the tent, so we could nap inside :) We pull ourselves up, and 10 minutes later, I was enjoying the comfort of my sleeping pad in the tent. I took a quick 20 minute nap while Boo played with his I-phone and dog sat. When I came out in search of some water, he said, "OK, it's my turn." Fair enough, I gave up my sleep pad, and hung out in the camp chair and played with the dogs a bit. Both of the dogs are also worn out, so they took a little nap too. I was almost half asleep, when some other backpackers come down off the trail in search of a spot to call home for the night. I check the time, and it was almost 5pm. The dogs woke up and I nudged boo awake, reminding him we needed to get water. He popped out the tent, grabed the water filter, and took Thing 1 to get water. I scooped up the nalgene bottles and Thing 2 and I followed Boo to a shallower part of the creek. He tells Thing 1 to wait on the bank so he could get our water and Thing 1 was whining the entire time. I'm sure all he wanted to do was dive into that creek. Boo finishes, then pulls out a tennis ball from his pocket and threw it into the creek. That was all that dog needed, he bounded into the creek to retrieve the ball. Thing 2 dipped in and swam around a bit, then crawled out the stream to sit beside me. Together we watched Boo and his silly dog play in the water. We made it back to camp to cook dinner and because the dogs were going to be sleeping in the tent with us, we decided to keep them out of the water for the rest of the evening to dry out. This was hard for Thing 1 to understand. Boy was he a whiner! After dinner, we joined another group around the campfire and hung out til around 10pm before calling it a night. The dogs were worn out by now, so it was easy to get them to settled down. Boo and I changed out of our hiking clothes, climbed into our sleeping bags and had the water rushing along the creek lull us to sleep. He was out within minutes, I just layed there listening to the water float by and was grateful that we are able to enjoy all of this together.

The next morning, we woke up around 7am, let the dogs out, and began packing everything up. We hiked out the valley and back up to our car without breakfast. The hike was actually more enjoyable going back. We took our time and enjoyed the last few moments out in nature. As soon as we got to the car, we changed shoes (since our shoes our soaked from the stream crossings) and headed home. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were soundly asleep in the back of the car and Boo and I are were in search of a good cheeseburger! SCORE! only 20 miles off the parkway, we grab a couple of thick burgers and rode home happy campers. Til next time. GET OUTDOORS!