Ridgeline Trail

Last night Boo tells me he thinks he's ready for a hike. (He's had a bum ankle and it's finally on the mend.) So I invite him to hike with me on the Ridgeline trail, I was planning on doing 10 miles, but told him to just hike what he could and when I flipped it at the 5 mile mark, I would run into him and we would finish up together.

We got up with the alarm at 6:30am, slipped on our hiking clothes, made some PB&J's for the trail, and loaded our trek poles and backpacks in my car. On the way to Boulder Access trail head of Crowders Mountain, we listened to some Sunday morning radio talk show that talked about living life to the fullest in a healthy way. Like, when you're feeling down and out. The next time someone invites you do something, you should just say yes and not think of a millions reason why you shouldn't. Ex: a friend invites the talk show host to a spin class at the YMCA. Her immediate thoughts are; I haven't worked out in forever; I've never taken a spin class; I'm going to look stupid and embarrass myself; etc... Well, she decides to go and as she walks into the YMCA, she reads a sign that says something to the effect of, " this is the place to become healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually, " and she felt like the sign intended for her to see it, read it, and GET it. After taking the spin class, she realized she really enjoyed it and she felt physically better that she worked out, which in turn made her feel mentally better about her situation. Anyways, the radio show segment really made me think about how much all this hiking on weekends has really improved my health, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I hope it spoke to Boo and inspired him to say yes to the next opportunity that presents itself, so he too, can grow healthier. Ok... enough of the Sunday Sermon.

The hike was a bit easier this time around. Maybe b/c I wasn't suffering from heat exhaustion. We started on the trail at 8:06 am, and I hiked 5 miles by 10 am to Pinnacle Road and turned around. I called Boo and let him know I was on my way back. He decided to turn around and head back too. His ankle was starting to swell. We think he hiked around 5 miles total today. I pushed through and finished strong up the climbs and the next thing I knew I was rounding the top of the last climb where the ranger station was at 11:35am. WHOO HOO!

When I got there, Boo had all the windows down and was relaxing in the back with his ankle propped up. I pulled down the tailgate and decided to relax too. Thank goodness we remembered to pack a small cooler with with some drinks. I ate my PB&J with an icy cherry berry vitamin water :)
Til next time. GET OUTDOORS!!!