Sunday, August 22, 2010

Spider Kisses

Spider Kisses
I know you probably can't see the spider in this picture very good but let me assure that he was BIG. Or maybe HUGE would better describe him. As David and I were walking along the trail today we came to this web which was gorgeous with the sun striking it just right to show all the beauty of the design. Of course the BIG, I mean HUGE, spider was in the middle with two smaller spiderettes at the 2 and 4 o'clock positions. I was very engrossed in taking pictures (which turned out terribly) of said spider and web when I turned around to start hiking again I found myself face to face with another BIG, I mean HUGE, spider. I would like to say that I just backed up, shrugged my shoulders and proceeded on down the trail like any self respecting mountain girl would do. But sadly I have to report that I screamed and jumped around in the woods making all manner of sissyfied girly sounds. It was a dark moment of shame in my otherwise mountain girl lifestyle I am trying to develop. But seriously I don't want to be kissing on a BIG, I mean HUGE spider in the woods, mountain girl or not!
Today we hiked at Rocky Bayou State Park in Niceville. Very nice park with 3 hiking trails although they were all much shorter in length than we hoped. The trails are very nicely maintained and are wide enough to hike side by side (but look out for those HUGE spiders). Admission to the park is $5.00 per carload. So lace up your boots and get hiking
Hike on Baby, Hike on!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bear Pepper Spray


David, Sheila, Janice and Ray - Super Hikers!
Today as we were hiking with our friends we were discussing our upcoming plans to start hiking the Appalachain Trail when the subject of bears came up. Now I know there are bears up there on the trail but I haven't really given them much thought until recently. A couple of weeks ago there was a news broadcast about Jack Hannah from the San Diego Zoo having a run in with some grizzly bears somewhere out west. Jack being the animal guru that he is knew and had in his possession some bear pepper spray (who knew). Apparently, he and his family were hiking on a paved trail when they came across 3 grizzlies. Jack and his family retreated but the bears became aggressive. Jack whipped out his spray and started aiming for the bears. Apparently it took about 3 sprays before they backed down. I mentioned this story to my husband and we decided that this item will be a MUST HAVE on our AT hike.

Now David is also reading the book "A Walk in the Woods" which details Bill Bryson's trek along the AT. At the beginning of this book Mr. Bryson spends a good amount of time on the subject of bears. There is even a story of a 12 year old boy who is dragged from his tent and killed by a bear on the AT and this boy has the same name as my husband! Weird, right? Now in my mind, where everything is rosey, there is nothing to fear from the outside world in the woods as long as I am zipped up in my tent. I might have to rethink this theory! Anyhow, today we were talking about bear pepper spray and how best to use it if we come across aggressive bears. Janice thought that if we meet up with bears we should just not make eye contact and play dead but David told her that doesn't work for black bears which are the kind we would most likely encounter. Then she decided that we don't have to out run the bear, we just have to outrun the slowest person in our group - that would be me - YIKES! David decided that he would be spraying his pepper spray at the first sign of a bear and we better close our eyes. Then we decided that maybe we should just be the first to spray the pepper spray but rather than spraying the bears we would spray everyone else so that we could be the fastest runner and the bears would get everyone else. Now don't you just wish you were coming on this adventure with us!!

Turtle and grasshopper on steroids that we saw on today's hike.

Happy Hiking!