Bonus Hike: Green Gorge

Based on the likelihood of bad weather today, I had pushed our weekly group hike until tomorrow. 

 

Yesterday turned out to be gorgeous (70 and sunny) so we did a last minute hike at Big Soddy Gulf.

Today the rain held off and it was still in the 50s and sunny, and we finished school early, so I decided to sneak in another last minute hike. 

Our down-the-street neighbors, who also homeschool, were able to join us, so we all walked to a local trail from our neighborhood. 

These weekly/daily hikes aren’t super long, but we spend a lot of time exploring and observing. And without knowing it, the kids are building up their leg muscles for longer treks.

They also test their limits by crawling and walking across downed logs over the creek. Out of five kids, four ended up with wet feet (Jack had on muck boots that go almost to his knees so he was the only dry one)

By the end our hike, the wind started to blow and the temperature started dropping. We made it home before it rained. We may not get rain tonight, but cold weather is certainly on the way. 

Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny but in the 30s for our group hike 😬 Hopefully we won’t freeze!

This afternoon we hiked 1.5 miles (21.5 miles YTD). This is hike 8/52 for me and my boys.

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Weekly Hike: Big Soddy Gulf

 

I try to make plans for our weekly Wednesday hiking group sometime on Monday. This gives me a chance to decide whether or not I think the weather for our usual time on Wednesday is going to be good for our weekly hike.

 

Tomorrow it's supposed to rain all afternoon, so I decided we should hike on Thursday afternoon since it had rained hard this weekend and I wanted to give the trails a chance to dry out.

 

Today actually ended up being a really gorgeous afternoon with sunshine and highs in the low 70s. So when one of our friends asked a few of the normal hiking crew if we wanted to meet up for an impromptu hike at Big Soddy Gulf, I coudn't say no.

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite things about homeschooling: if the weather is nice you can set the books aside and do something fun with no strings attached. We will come back to the book work and make up for it another day, but today, we could enjoy the sunshine, nature and our friends.

 

 

We typically save Big Soddy Gulf for warm days so the kids can hop in the water, but it turned out to be a beautiful hike with the creek swollen from the recent rain. I have never seen it flowing so hard. We got a bonus in finding a waterfall that isn't normally there during dryer seasons.

 

And the kids all still managed to get wet and sandy at the beach as we wrapped up our hike.

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Big Soddy Gulf was hopping with people today. This was the most people I have seen on this trail. I miss the days before everyone knew about Big Soddy Gulf and you had the place to yourself. However, I am happy to see so many people taking advantage of this beautiful spot and getting outside.

We hiked 3 miles this afternoon (20 miles YTD). I am worn out because this was right after my outdoor bootcamp class! This was our 7/52 hike for the year. We will still be hiking on Thursday.

 

Cub Scouts

During March of last year, our Cub Scout experience came to a screeching halt, along with everything else in our lives. I think the moving up ceremony was done from a parking lot – everyone in cars. I can't be certain, we missed it.

It's a new year. Jack has moved up with his pack to become Bears this year. They have tried to meet periodically outside and with masks, but a lot has been missed. Our pack did not do Pinewood Derby this year – I think everyone felt like doing it online just didn't have the same appeal.

Anyways, everyone is trying, and I think that is what counts.

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Yesterday morning Daniel realized that scouts was supposed to meet today and our family (aka him) was in charge. Also, the boys were supposed to build something.

 

Daniel did a great job pulling together a last-minute meeting as well as a plan for the kids to build their own tool boxes. He even managed to 1) clean up the garage before the troop showed up, and 2) pre-cut all of the wood for the project.

 

It was good to catch up with old friends, and all the kids did a great job on their boxes. No one hammered a thumb or got hurt and everyone left with something to be proud of. 

 

Bonus Hike: Rainbow Lake Loop

 

Long ago, when the kids were still little, before we even homeschooled, we had a group of friends that we regularly met up with for something that we eventually called Friend Fridays. We did various field trips and hikes and meet ups. It is a time period that is full of some of my best memories. 

Eventually the kids went to school. Some of us started homeschooling. Some didn't. Some left homeschooling. At the moment everyone is home, virtual schooling or homeschooling. 

 

It's been a strange year for everyone. We are all finding our footings again. Discovering new normals. For the most party, my boys and I have had the luxury of keeping our lives fairly normal, meeting up with homeschool friends outside as often as possible (see previous posts). But we have been missing most of our public school friends.

 

 

I reached out to some of the old Friend Friday crew to see if they would be up for a Friday hike. They were. It was so good to see their faces again. The kids paired off and we all hiked at varying paces. Isaac and one friend running at the front, Jack and another friend in the back climbing everything they could climb.

 

 

It was our second hike of the day (third of the week). That is abnormal. But it was such a good day. The sun came out. The water at Rainbow Lake was flowing. The kids climbed the cliffs they love to climb. They explored the water. We crossed the swinging bridge. 

 

We decided to take a little longer route and did the loop to return by the golf course, making the trip 3 miles instead of 1.8.

 

I got to catch up with my friends. Today was a really good day. We hiked 3 miles (17 miles YTD). This was our 6/52 hike for the year.