Scouting Afternoon

We got up and got going this morning, I tried very hard to ignore how messy the house is getting from the running around we are doing.

Amanda had asked about checking out a few spots for camping and maybe taking a hike.  We agreed on the time and place and headed out a little early so we could stop at the Dutch Oven en route.  My plan was to get bread, cheese and likely some buckeyes.  $42 later...I know better, I can't just run in that place.  We left with macaroons, 2 loaves of bread, hot red pepper jelly, gummy frogs, buckeyes, a bag of chocolates, yerba mate drink mix, muscadine cider and some 'add water' types of soup mixes that we want to try for backpacking.  But no cheese.

We arrived at the Brushy Lake Day Use Area and got parked and walked around a bit before having a snack.  Then we walked the .5 mile trail to the dam and opted to keep going and walked along the creek a ways to a backpacking camp site that we all agreed was perfect.  So we set up camp there.  The big kids took off while the adults and littles picked trees that needed some leaning against and we did little more than talk some and listen to the water flowing by.  There was some stick playing and Matt tried to impress the baby by twirling a stick between his fingers like a drumstick.  When he finished Matt said, "Whoa!" and they both chuckled.  Then Bird waved HIS stick around like a crazy conductor and yelled, "WHOA!" with his big round eyes and mouth. The 5th time was no less adorable.

We walked a while and saw this, then walked a good while longer before actually finding the kids-barefoot with no gear at all.

Rho took these, I missed the snake, yay!  It's a cottonmouth.  

I do not know what this is.  Yet.

The falls from the dam are at the top of this picture, you could hear them quite well as we walked beside the creek.

The trail that goes to the top of the cliffs.  We used to walk this EVERY Sunday when I was a kid.

Scariest picnic ever!

Are you lichen my hair?

We finally shifted our hides when we realized there was no easy way to get to the creek from our 'campsite' and set off to find better access for smaller people.  The older kids rejoined us and we all headed back to the cars for more food.

After a picnic in which Amanda graciously shared her much healthier fare while we kept the gummy frogs hidden from her kids, we walked over to the campground and looked around.  It's $5 a night to camp and a couple of the sites are QUITE nicely situated.  There are 2 water spigots between the 10 sites, but only a pit toilet at the campground.  At the day use area, about...100 feet away, there's a bathroom with flush toilets and hot showers.  The showers look super manky and in need of repair, but if they get fixed up, it would be a great place to camp-Brushy Lake is really pretty.

We headed out from there to the bridge and looked around, but still no good creek access.  Our last stop was at Rush Creek, where Matt and I went a couple years ago to geocache and got stuck on that mesa!  It's a beautiful creek when it's flowing and we decided that was the spot!  We are going back ASAP when it's warm enough to get in and play.  I already have been daydreaming about this very spot for tubing with the kids.  No leeches.  :)

Matt took these, I was unwilling to get in the water, it was about 32.1 degrees.

Chan headed on home with Rho, we go tomorrow to lead an organized hike in Huntsville EARLY IN THE MORNING and will be picking up Ben and Elan-they are at Alex's house-afterward.  Then we can meet up with Amanda tomorrow evening and swap kids back around at the Mexican place we all like. Another great day in the making!

Anyway, that was our day-sweet and sunny with a side of chill.  When we got home, I crashed HARD for about 2 hours (after I vacuumed) and now I am WIDE awake.  I knocked out a good bit of the mess in the house-it's mostly things just not where they need to be.  And did laundry, of course.  Matt must have thought my nap was permanent, he's been passed out since before dark.  Now that I think about it a bit, I am not as wide awake as I thought.  He's awfully warm and snuggly and it IS chilly in here...I think I will leave the rest of the to do list for another day.  G'night!

Weekend

I have never been around a dog like Fes.  He never just lounges around, he has to be working on something all the time, he's a tinker dog.

I took my glasses off the other day and was amused to see they were looking back at me.  And not looking very pleased!  I wonder if my Lake Wobegone book was too boring?  Maybe they were mad about being left home all last weekend.

The foster dogs are back with FDM.  I don't think either wanted to go back, too much fun running around here!  I have gotten pretty fond of both of them, I hope they find good homes, Fes will thrive anywhere, but Shelley needs a special family.

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Today we went for a hike at Bankhead.  My backside is not healed up from the fall Tuesday when I apparently took that crack I was born with as a challenge.  You call THAT a crack?  WATCH THIS.  And...ow.  So I was not up for a major hike, lifting my knees, bending over and any kind of squatting are off the list of things I can do.  However, I wanted to get out and move around in this weather.  We talked about the Refuge and maybe Richard Martin and then Marc e-mailed to see when we were going to Bankhead again.  Everyone decided it would be fun to hike with him, so we planned a meeting time and loaded up our packs.

We hiked the Brushy Creek Trail, which I don't think is REALLY a trail, I think we just walked by the creek for a couple of miles.  About 10 feet into the hike, Marc went barreling down a hill-his impulse control level is on par with that of a 2 year old-and stopped short when he realized the feather he thought he was seeing was really a rattlesnake.  I was on high alert after that!

eeeeeeeeeee

 Yes, I think these mushrooms look like penises, too.

 The kids and Marc calling Spotty from across the creek.

Sougahoagdee Falls

 Between this shot and the one below, I crossed the log.  And about where Marc is in the above shot, I FROZE.  I seriously suck at log crossing and usually panic and have to be tranquilized and then fished out of the water below before I drown.  Or else I sit down and won't move until Matt starts in on me.  This one was about 5 feet above the rocks, though it hardly looks it.  Chandler had to come back and get me, I could not get over a knot, I had to lift my foot too high.  Since falling Tuesday and HURTING like I have been, all I can do is think I am going to fall again and hurt MORE.  That would have been far enough to really do some damage to my tailbone, I have not been panic-scared in a long while and I got it 4 times today!  

The rattlesnake-which I went closer to look at since Marc was nearly on top of it.  As soon as I got down there, he hit it with a stick!  OMG.  As soon as he did, he looked back at me with huge round eyes like he could not believe he just did that.  The second time was the log, the next two times are still to come!  Poor me, I was glad to have some restorative chocolate when I got home.

 

We kept going past the falls a while and stopped to let everyone play around on some rocks.  Matt, Marc and I were standing in a triangle, about 20 feet apart from one another.  Jake was on a small cliff behind Marc and I went toward him, maybe to take a picture, I don't remember.  When I looked down to check my footing, I ALMOST stepped on a copperhead! He was not impressed with my hiking skills and looked ready to eat me.  UGH.  I yelled the only word that comes to mind in this situation.  I wonder what people who live in other countries yell?

Neither Matt nor Marc could see it, I kept pointing at it and finally they both saw it about the same time and jumped backward.  I mean, this thing was about 2 feet from my feet!  When you were not looking right at it, you could not see it, the blending feat of the pattern and the dead leaves was amazing.  If it had not been by that yellow piece of wood there, we would have had a hard time keeping up with it.

 I have looked at my bone guides for a while, I think this is a baby raccoon skull.
We thought maybe a baby pig because the lower teeth were so tusk-like, but raccoons have some scary canine on top and bottom.  The top canine were gone.

We found several geocaches!

Nearly back at the car, we stopped to swim in the creek.  Jake and I went in first, Marc just behind us, Ben was after him and Chandler came in at the end.  Matt was still getting his shoes off and was sitting on the side of the creek.  Ben and Chandler were wading around looking at 'eels' they kept chasing.  I never saw them.  I was just pleased we had found a stretch of creek with a sandy bottom, so leeches were not an issue.

Just as I was watching Chan wade up the creek a little ways, I was washing the sweat off Ben's back and checking to see if he had a bug bite or poison oak on his shoulder, Matt started yelling about a HUGE leech.  UGH.  He went on and on, it was the biggest leech he had seen, ever.  Get out, get out, HUGE LEECHES.  We went for the shore and started climbing out, I had the kids ahead of me and looked them over, we were all clear.  I looked for Marc and he was still in the water, swimming over TO the leech to catch it. 

Matt was yelling leeeeeeeech and the 'eels' swimming all around us had been leeches and I felt lightheaded and a little sick. UGH.  Marc gave up catching one and we all kind of hobbled back to the cars, no one stopped to dress or even put on shoes. 

I decided to keep bangs for now.

And that was our day.  I think we are taking tomorrow off!