Climb Every Mountain...

...Walk every trail!  


Or, at least, try to.  This past week, one of my friends and I went back to the park.  Our goal was to walk one of the many trails; now that it's autumn, we wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather and exercise outside.  However, there were some things that we didn't take into consideration:

1. The temperature was in the mid-90s... a record high for this time of the year--in this area, at least.  So, cool autumn weather?  Not so much.
2. I'm on a prescription that has an interesting side effect: it makes me sensitive to heat (it makes me dizzy, and my stomach upset).
3. I spend most of my time working on my computer--and while I may be "active", I am certainly not "athletic."
4. The trails in this park seem to be rather, in a word, STEEP.

All of those factors led to an interesting time at the park.  And now, I document it here for the sake of victory (because, despite those factors, we went forth and conquered!).


To begin, I present the gentle unassuming beginning of the trail:

See, that doesn't look bad at all, does it?  Sure, it takes a little bit of a dip at the end, but nothing too bad.  It just beckons: come, walk this trail.  And so we did.

We walked down the path--not jogging, certainly, but at a friendly pace.  We definitely took time to take pictures of the beautiful scene around us.

Up to this point, the path was pretty level.  The walk was invigorating, but not overwhelming. There was not much in the way of wildlife--I think our constant chattering may have made the locals bury their heads under the leaves until we were gone.


We did, however, see this little guy:

Do you see him? 

How about now?


You guessed it--a chipmunk!  A chipmunk who froze in place, just standing there while I took picture after picture.  It let me get pretty close to it, too:

He was very darling, and his camouflage was very impressive.  Several times, while taking pictures, I lost track of where he was--not because he had moved, but because he blended in so well!

Eventually, we happened upon a set of two benches.  We sat at one, taking pictures and just enjoying the sights.

Little did we know that this bench was the last bastion of hope.  After this part, the path started to slope downwards.  It didn't seem too bad.  Downhill may be a bit hard on the ankles, after all, but it isn't the end of the world.


Until we realized that the path did not loop around.  That meant that we were going to have to go back the way that we came.  


Uphill.


Soooo...  the long trek back commenced.  The gentle slope was suddenly a monstrous uphill climb.  I am happy to report that we were victorious.  We certainly made it back to the car--but by the end of it, I was not feeling well.


But!  We conquered the mighty park trail.  And, to commemorate our victory, I leave you with two of my favorite pictures from the entire venture:

We do hope to go back to the park for some more walks...  Perhaps next time, however, it will be a bit cooler!