Holiday Hike

I'm glad I live where I could choose what I would do today, and I'm glad I live where I could wear what I wore.

I thought I wouldn't hike today, then suddenly decided to, and got a late start for a hot day. I arrived at 10:30, parked low and headed to the top using my new favorite route. Dragonflies, butterflies, and more were in the meadow at the top (now called the turtle meadow) and the next one to the west, now called the snake meadow.

I am pleased with many of my pics from today, but for some reason I can't post them here. For the past 3 days I haven't been able to post pics here, and I don't know if it's the site (probably not) or my computer (probably).

I had not planned to hunt the berries, as I wore shorts and had my camera. But I couldn't stop myself once I reached the tadpole. I headed north, snapping shots here and there and enjoying what was still a nice morning. Then I got to the berries past the 2nd lake on the left. Someone has been going there.

Last year there were no signs of anyone else picking the berries during their season. On Monday evening A and I took a quick jaunt from the upper to check on their status, and ended up picking about 5 cups so she could bake a pie. I had been ill for over a week and that was the first evening I felt good, and I couldn't wait to get out there. Anyway, I noticed trampled trails among the canes, and it wasn't from an animal. Today I found them in different cane areas, too.

So I ended up picking berries as best I could, given my apparel. I was surprised I ended up with 4 C, so now I can bake another pie.

After picking for a while I had to head back south along the tadpole, trudging uphill in full sun, and now it was past noon. I had to stop and break out the emergency gatorade, and I took my last 2 sips of water about 3 minutes from the parking lot. I believe that's only the 2nd time I've used all my water on a hike... and of course I didn't stick to my plan.

Instead of going home and changing for our family luncheon, I drove straight to my mom's, got a cold wet rag, situated the fan and recuperated. She had a great lunch for us and we were all there. Then I promptly had several bouts of diarrhea - I don't if it was related to my recent illness, the heat, or something I ate. Oh well.

Total hike was 2 hrs 25 min, and I will not do that again in July heat. My plan was to stroll and shoot about 1 1/2 hrs. I will also stick to my plan in the future. I'm sure I'll be going out either in the morning or Sunday morning.

I'll post some of the pics on Hooly's facebook album.