Too day was intense! But we did it, we had fun and we are all still here so - YAY! Ok, so now for the details.
I didn't particularly sleep well last night. This cabin has no sound proofing, but the bed is comfortable. So when my alarm went off at 7:45 I was not ready. I got up though, got mostly dressed and went and cooked eggs and bacon. Mama washed all the fruit and by 8:50ish breakfast was ready to eat. We all enjoyed it - at least I hope they did, and then we were off.
Let me just preface to say I typically plan everything out. If you've been around this blog for any length of time you know I have restaurant options, times we are going to be at certain places, all of it planned. I'm good with changing the plan, but we have a plan. This trip - No Plan. Yep, no plan. I'm regretting that decision, but here we are. So our loose idea was to go to Natural Bridge State Park. I had planned to go to the visitor center, get the lay of the land and go about our day. Well, there is no visitor center. Just a gift shop with a lady that was nice, but not really a park ranger or anything of that nature. She said the trails we discussed with her to go to the arch were all moderate and had some steep steps. Ok... I heard her.
It was raining a bit so we decided to go back away from the sky lift to the nature center and see what they had. Maybe it was a visitor center - nope. We got over there and park. We start to head down and I realize that for 1 of my 2 camera's I don't have everything I need for it. My brain is not firing on all cylinders today.... So, I tell them I'll be right back. What I didn't realize is how far the trail was from where we parked - it took forever for me to get the batteries, cards, and go back. I get back to see Jack walking up to meet me. The others have gone on a bit so I begin to walk with him - then I see the stairs. I asked - "did Mama go down that" - "yes" he said. Well.... no way she's getting back up it without her O2, this I know. She thinks she can I'm sure but... yea not happening. So... I go back to the car while Jack heads on to meet the others.
When I get to the car I decide to at least drive her car closer and park next to the lodge. It's for lodge guest only, but at this point I don't really give a flying ****. So, I get the car moved. Strap her oxygen on my back (that crap is heavy - I know why she hates wearing it) and off I go. I get down and there is a fork in the path. I call Jack - no answer. I call again - no answer. So I see a building - they were going to the nature center so I climb the steps to it. It's closed.... and then Jack calls. They apparently went the opposite direction. FUN. So I climb back down the steps... of which there are more than a few and join up with them. I thought it was a lot, but as you will soon learn that a lot is a relative term.
I get Mama on her O2 with me still having the backpack, cause well it's heavy. So it's a bit like a leash situation between the two of us, but if nothing else its funny. And she needed the O2 before we got back so I'm glad I went and grabbed it. But, I digress. Once I join up with them I start to join in and take pictures. I decided that today I would just use 2 camera's vs. swapping lenses back and forth all the time and to leave the camera bag in the truck (thus the hike back the first time). The problem is 3 fold - A) I haven't shot with the 50D in forever and have almost forgotten how, B) between Mama's O2 hose, the 2 camera's and the backpack carrying the O2 it's difficult to get the cameras where I need them and I feel a bit like a science experiment with hoses everywhere, and the final straw C) the battery I charged for the 50D isn't holding the charge.... Just eek.
So we walk around a bit - take a few pictures and decide to head back to the car. There are some trails on this side here that come down from the arch. Please note: I honestly didn't equate these to the trails on the other side that the lady said were moderate. Seriously spacey today. Anyway - they seem to have lots of steps as they are going up... so we decide we will ride the skylift up and then walk back down. We all agree that down won't be bad at all and that everyone will be able to do it.... So we leave Mama's car on this side and ride the truck over to take the sky lift up to the top.
I swap back to the camera bag, 2 lens, and the 7D (whew). I also called the hotel from the other night to see if they have found a charger for my 7D batteries because I can't find it :( Which prompt's a truck wide discussion on how I could get one, what we would do, etc... Rolling on the oils at this point.
We go back into the original gift shop, get our tickets and off we go. The skylift was peaceful, beautiful and at a nice sedate pace that allowed me to breathe. It was just me and Jack and I talked to him about how I was feeling. Told him I wanted to reset my day and start over... so that is what I did. I was going to breathe and just enjoy the day.
So when we got to the top that is what we did. We tromped around the arch - we walked on top of it. We got pictures. We left Mama for a bit at the top and walked up underneath it - so pretty. We took pictures and more pictures. It was fun - it was a reset and I was grateful.
We then joined Mama at the top again and began the walk down. There are several trails down and we intend to take the short, easier one that goes back to the lodge. I later realized that is called the Original Trail. Instead we took the Balanced Rock Trail. The sign said 3/4 of a mile to the lodge, no big deal - easy, so off we went.
HA - This trail is something else. Most of it was down hill (the good bit) - there was some climbing at first and Mama was cussing about that, given we left her O2 and ..well.. easy it was not. Just so you know we didn't forget her O2. The air today is cool and going down doesn't tax her the way going up does so we are fairly confident she will be good without it. We did bring her inhaler as a CYA... which she did use so I'm grateful we did. Honestly, I'm glad we left the O2 as neither of could have handled carrying it the entire trip, but during that brief UP section I was worried, but overall most of it was down hill which was good. Anyway, I digress - Just wanted you to understand the O2 bit some more so you didn't think we were complete idiots. Though by the end of the day I wonder...
The trail however, while down was not a gradual descent with event steps. It was in parts extremly step and the steps uneven and often times huge. And not just a few steps it was steps with steps, more steps and more steps. It had slippery rocks, limbs and roots, areas with rotten wood, areas where the handrails had fallen... maybe 20 minutes of the hike was simple in any shape form or fashion. Now keep in mind my mother is 76 and Shannon has Fibromyalgia - and we are on this trail that is... well I'd say difficult. None of us, save Linda, were remotely ready for this level of trail....
What I will say is:
a) I'm so grateful Mama had grabbed her walking stick - it made the trip possible.
b) I'm so grateful Shannon had gotten two trekking poles and let me use one, because I couldn't have done it without one.
c) I'm grateful Mama had on real hiking boots.
d) My mother is a freaking rockstar who just kept going and had a good time overall. By the end she was ready for it to be done, but we had fun.
e) Jack's mother is like the energizer bunny. She never got tired, maybe kind of slipped once, and could have hiked 10 more miles when we got done.
f) We took so many pictures and had such a good time.
g) We were so glad to see the end - my legs were vibrating so bad they would barely hold me up. I can only imagine what Mama's were doing.
It was quite the adventure and we really had a great time. We got on the airlift around 10AM and didn't get down until 3PM. I'd say we got on this 3/4 of a mile "trail" by noon at the latest but probably closer to 11. Yea 3/4 of a mile in probably 4 hours, maybe 3 😮
At one point I asked Mama - Just think about how great it is that you were able to do this! The accomplishment. Her answer - "You mean think about what an idiot I am to do this?" 😂🤣
Fun - Exhilarating - Full Day and we are all exhausted.
We were going to picnic, but everyone was ready to come home. So we came back, ate sandwiches, got cleaned up and rested. Well most of us did - Linda, Jack's Mama- went in search of the trails on the cabin property. Energizer Bunny she is...
She got back around 6 and we all started stirring again. Mama and I got dinner ready - Jack grilled, but I got the hamburgers ready for him. None of us are really hungry at this point given we ate so late so I just got everything prepped. The girls played Ticket to Ride while Jack read and grilled. Once the game was over (around 8:45), we all ate something and called it a night.
It was a really great day after I reset it in my brain. And that little section of mild irritation I had was only maybe 45 minutes. We conquered a trail most of us knew we could (or would have tried on purpose) not do and lived to tell the tail.
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