Tuesday, August 07, 2018

A summer afternoon's hike


A couple of Sundays ago we finally found time to take a hike with friends.  This is something we've had on our agenda since May but up till now, it just hadn't happened.  Even though we had had a very busy weekend (that was when we went to Maine for Friday night in Saturday, as described in the post "Whirlwind weekend"), we decided we had better take the hike since the Sunday afternoon would work for all of us.

Three young friends from church joined us, along with two of our grandchildren, Josiah and Julia.  All photos in this post, except for three, were taken by our friend Rachel using her phone.
Mr. T and I had done this hike before, but it had been years.  I didn't remember it being so steep.  The steepest parts were covered in slippery pine needles.  Josiah and Julia would scout out the safest route for Grammy.  At one point Josiah shouted back, "Grammy, I think you should just sit down and slide down this part!"  When I noted that I didn't want pine pitch all over my pants, he called back, "You can wash them!"

(For the record, I did make it down that steep section without sitting down.)

And also for the record, we found out later that we should have taken a different trail which would have been much more level.  Undoubtedly, that's the one we took last time.

Imagine our amazement, as we hiked along, to see this:

 Yes, it's an owl.  A gigantic barred owl perched in a tree.  We stopped there for quite a few minutes to get photos.  Then, just a little distance away, we spotted this one:
I'm quite sure no one will be able to see this properly, but Rachel managed to capture a photo with both owls in it, below.  One is about 1/3 of the way up the photo on the left side; the other is about 1/4 of the way down from the top on the right side of the photo.  It is partially hidden by leaves.  Double click and you may be able to spot both owls.
There was a place overlooking a swamp where a bench had been thoughtfully placed.  A very cute  photo bomber appeared as Rachel was trying to get a photo.

 Make that two photo bombers!

We did get to the falls eventually, but as mentioned (and as seen at top) it was only a trickle of water. Below you see it in a previous summer.

The kids enjoyed playing around on the rocky area below where the falls should have been.
The weather seemed to have become much more humid as we started our return trip. Thankfully, we had planned to end our hike with ice cream!
 You can't see Josiah's ice cream cone very well, but he had one scoop combining lemon and strawberry ice creams.  A yummy choice!

And they even had some energy left for cornhole!

Later, I looked this hike up on a couple of websites and found we had indeed taken the wrong trail.  When I told Mr. T, he very simply noted that we obviously were on the right trail: "If we had gone the other way, we wouldn't have seen the owls."

There's food for thought in that.  Sometimes the paths God has us on are a lot more rugged and steep than we would like.  But they always include blessings and benefits we could not have experienced on any other path.


11 comments:

  1. Those owls were worth the slippery trail, I think! Great photos! Looks like it was a fun time for all!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your Mr T is exactly right about taking the right trail. What a magnificent opportunity to come across those owls, gorgeous!
    Looks like a beautiful hike with plenty of growth around.

    Thank you for sharing the beauty with us~

    ReplyDelete
  3. You folks are pretty remarkable to hike that trail! I think I am pretty remarkable to have spent the night on it. 😉 Yes, I opened the computer this morning and here I was right where I left off. Good grief. Those owls are pretty amazing. The grands will not forget them. 🦉🦉

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mr. T has the right idea. I love that you got to see an owl. Around here they would fly off at the sight of humans or at least if they thought you could see them. Love the grandkids.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely place for a hike. I hear barn owls in Chatsworth but I have never seen them so what a treat for you to see TWO. And ice cream sounds good too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Absolutely true, God ordains our steps. A wonderful memory making outing you all enjoyed. The owls were added joys. Thank you for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a glorious hike! And those owls...how I would have loved to have seen them. I hear them around all the time but have never gotten the opportunity to actually see one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That was a beautiful hike and a very insightful comment by your husband about the owls on the 'wrong' hiking trail. I'm sure he's right but I probably would not have reached that conclusion on my own.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful trail and beautiful owls. You were definitely on the right trail.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh my goodness! I am SO jealous! We hear owls often when we hike but can never see them! Every year, I saw it's my hope to see one! WOW! Great hike!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit my kitchen table! I love company here in my kitchen, so be sure to leave a comment so I'll know you've visited! I'll answer your questions and comments here on the blog unless you request otherwise.