Last week I told Brady we were going for a hike on the weekend.
"Where should we go?" I wondered.
The next day, while we were playing bat and ball, he stopped and said, "Let's hike at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge." Totally out of the blue.
"What?" I knew that was a mouthful (and a brainful) for him. I repeated it back, and he confirmed.
Okay then! We had our plan!
When Esa came up for the weekend, I told him Braeden's plan. He agreed, and we all got ready to go.
I've been up there biking, skiing and snowshoeing. I haven't hiked around there recently.
We parked at the trailhead, and since it was little man's idea, I let him lead. We got to the Back Nine Trails and he was raring to go.
What a stinking cute kid.
We took Moose on the Loose. It meandered through a small area. It was a little like deja vu, but there were some cool sights. Like this bench we all took a break on.
Esa joined us after he took our picture. We saved a spot for him, as you can see.
We also had three sleet showers while we were up there. We were so glad it wasn't rain! And it sounded so unique. Dry pelting on the fallen leaves. Everything else around us was so quiet. Ahhh.
There was also lots of prolific moss which we will talk more about in a bit..
I mean, it seems like there is moss and fungus on everything everywhere.
But lets finish this hiking story, shall we?
I'll be blunt. This hike was long. Especially with a small child who liked to hide behind one out of every 12 trees and say, "Come find me!"
After about an hour of the twists and turns, I couldn't wait for it to end. And when Breaden sat down on the moist path and refused to go any further, it was time to take action. He was so cranky that he didn't even want a chocolate chip cookie. Homemade, even!
So I did what I promised I would never do now that he's nine.
I carried him.
My patience was wearing thin, and he would not budge or take a snack. I hoisted him onto my shoulders and explained: "This is a safety issue, Braeden. We need to get out of the woods now. We need to go, so I am carrying you. Otherwise, you're nine, and you walk, right?"
"Right, Mom," he answered with his cute little cheek laying on my head.
Either way, we made it out. And he ate a cookie as we drove back down the hill.
Now let's get back to this moss.
I don't remember ever seeing things so lush and green here. It feels like Eugene, Oregon! Which I love.
There's moss and greenness on stumps, concrete, brick, wood and even sidewalks!
This last summer was so wet that the earth is saturated still. Such a change from the summer before when everything dried right up.
I just thought I'd tell you about it. It's charming and unusual... as far as I can remember!
Otherwise, happy hunting if you hunt.
Not everybody lives where people hunt. In fact, most people travel long distances to their hunting camp. But we live in the woods where people hunt, so I need to remember my orange vests when we go out. So many times I've been out and thought, "Oh crap! It's hunting season! I hope I make it home!"
But that's life in the woods.
You have a great day.