Camping Weekend: Rock Island

Mother's Day weekend was a camping weekend for our crew. This group of friends made 2020 (the year of covid) bearable for our family. Not just bearable – our camping weekends became a place where we could thrive together in spite of the world around us. And that's what we did.

It's 2021 and spring camping has commenced. This is actually our second meet-up of the year – the first being Tims Ford at the end of our trip west. And our time together didn't disappoint. It wasn't perfect, after all we are imperfect people doing life together, but it was good.

We sat around the campfire way too late (as usual). We shared silly inside jokes as well as really serious discussions. Our kids roamed wild forging their way through the woods and creating their own games. We ate delicious food and encouraged each other's kids. 

 

We celebrated another birthday and were treated to delicious breakfast's that we (the moms) didn't have to prepare. We hiked together and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation with each other and with our kids.

We were able to hike the Lollipop Loop down to Twin Falls and along the Caney River with lots of waterfalls. This was our 36th hike for 2021 (36/52). We knocked out 2.5 miles bringing us to 114 miles hiked this year.  

 

We set up outdoor movies for the kids to watch from hammocks, and we took the kids down to the river to fish. It was good weekend.

Before leaving the park, our family made a final pit stop to check out the old buildings next to the Great Falls Gorge including the Box House, Spring Castle and the Old Mill. All of which were there before the dam was built. The mill was eventually abandoned after flooding took out the paddle wheel. It was interesting to read the history about the location. This was our 37th hike for 2021 (37/52). We did a quick 1 mile out and back bringing us to 115 miles miles hiked this year.

Finally, I let Daniel know that the only thing I really wanted for Mother's Day was to not have to cook all day. Breakfast was taken care of at camp, and lunch was a stop at the Rock Island Ice Cream Trolly. This was a hopping place and we had to wait nearly 45 minutes for our treats. Thankfully Daniel and the boys were able to walk across the street to get fresh burgers and tots from the Rock Island Market restaurant. Our burgers were ready before our ice cream so we enjoyed them at the Trolly pavilion. The ice cream was excellent and worth the wait. Once we got home from camp, we unloaded the camper and opted for pizza and a movie. No cooking or dishes for me today, which is all I really wanted :)

Weekly Hike: Cravens House to Point Park

This was one of those days that felt like all the things were working against us. As we left our house, a friend messaged to say the road down the mountain was at a standstill and I should find another way. We have lived on our mountain for seven years now and it turns out I still get lost in neighborhoods. I spent five extra minutes trying to pick my way through a neighborhood to get to the W road. It was exasperating and made us a good 15 minutes late for our hike.

When we got close to the trailhead (a new one for me), I came up to a detour less than a quarter of a mile from where we needed to park. So another five minutes down the drain as I navigated around the detour. I was almost to the trailhead from the other side of the detour when I found myself stuck behind an excavator. I frantically called my friends to ask how they made it to the parking lot. They assured me that I just had to keep driving. We all had a good laugh as we finally pulled kids from cars and explained our mishaps before heading up the trail.

Life is just like that sometimes. Filled with obstacles and detours and wrong turns, exasperating us and making us frustrated. Thank goodness for good friends to encourage us along the way.

We finally started up the trail and everyone was in good spirits. The recent rains make everything exceptionally green right now in the mountains of the Tennessee Valley where we live. We hurried along the trail, stopping to talk about different plants as we walked.

 

One of the moms in our group recently introduced us to an app called SEEK and we love to pull it out and learn about different species of things as we walk. There was a particular fungi growing on the side of a rock that we stopped to check out. The underside was black and velvety and the top just looked like a leaf. The app said it was Smooth Rock Tripe. It was a cool discovery and we were all amazed that the app was able to identify it.

We pressed on to the top of a set of stairs that led to Point Park and enjoyed the amazing views of the Tennessee River and the city of Chattanooga. We watched hawks sore and occasionally dive out of the sky in search of food. I could sit here all afternoon.

But Wednesdays are busy days, so we snapped our pictures and turned back. Half of the group went back the way we came because we thought it was a shorter route, while half of us continued on to finish the loop. Had we had more time we could have gone on to Sunset Rock. We will save that for another hike when we aren't short on time.

 

We came across a bird that none of us had observed before. It had a white breast with brown and black. We checked our app and learned that it was an Eastern Towhee. I will be on the look for them in our yard now that I know what they are.

 

 

It was a perfect afternoon for a hike. Sunny but not too hot. And a nice breeze when we were at the top. These weekly hikes are such a blessing to our family. We just continue to be grateful for this time spent in nature with our friends each week. 

This was our 36th hike for 2021 (36/52). We knocked out 3 miles bringing us to 111.5 miles hiked this year.