Today i tempted fate (by waking up the GF) and woke up the GF and brats at 0700 hours for a hike. After much coffee (GF runs of coffee), gear packing, we headed off. But first we had to take the bus. And then the subway. And then the Seabus. And then another bus to get near the trailhead.
so another hour was eaten up.
We started walking, after the GF got another coffee from the general store near the trailhead. We walked and walked and walked and walked.
The brats were not into the hike. They were already asking when lunch was. They failed to eat a proper hearty breakfast before the hike too.......
we got them to eat some snacks, trail type food.....still the whining went on.
I didn't care, today was my day to get the hell out of the city and away from the complete insanity of the last 24 hours. I marched on, setting a fast and steady pace. My GF was LOVING her new hiking boots, she was also loving her new Pentax DSLR. Took lots of pics.
we carried on, following the meandering boardwalk that the Parks has installed in the forest, to protect the boggy streams and fish hatching areas. We came across a heavily washed out part of the trail, a massive tree or three had been washed down the hill by the heavy rains....
we stopped , rather i stopped to refill my canteen. 3 tabs of iodine/chlorine water tabs and i was good to go. Today I was rocking my new Kifura G2 E&E pack. I am loving this pack. Bladeware was a SY Scrapper 6, a Emerson A100, a Emerson Super Commander, and a G. Wostenholm & Sons fixed blade that was given to me 34 years ago.
on and on we went, the kids whining and eating and then whining more...............
we passed thru changing forests, ranging from birch trees, dense moss covered forests, heavily choked forests etc.
we finally got to the lake, and the heavens opened up. In seconds we were all soaked, before we could even get the kids covered in heavy duty garbage bags. But we made it to the lake, 10kms of slogging.
The rain turned to a monsoon, and the temps dropped rapidly. Now it was time to double time back to the trailhead. Of course the kids lagged behind. I know i should be patient but whiny slow people piss me off. I kept my pace going, stopping every 1/2 click to make sure they were ok. The boy was stoic, but would occasionally b*itch about how wet he was. I made sure everyone was not hypothermic, but at some point you just need to tell people to SUCK IT UP! we were ALL wet, tired, sore. No one gets preferential treatment , we are all in this together.
ANYWAYS......
we got back to the LAST major hill, the thigh, lung and body buster hill...........
i was first up, followed by the boy, then the girl and finally my GF. I exclaimed how proud i was of them for a 12 and 10 year old to hike 20kms in pissing rain.
we went for hot drinks, then onto the bus, seabus, subway, and bus and finally to home.
Photos UP now scattered thru out the thread. DIAL UP USERS BEWARE! .
so another hour was eaten up.
We started walking, after the GF got another coffee from the general store near the trailhead. We walked and walked and walked and walked.
The brats were not into the hike. They were already asking when lunch was. They failed to eat a proper hearty breakfast before the hike too.......
we got them to eat some snacks, trail type food.....still the whining went on.
I didn't care, today was my day to get the hell out of the city and away from the complete insanity of the last 24 hours. I marched on, setting a fast and steady pace. My GF was LOVING her new hiking boots, she was also loving her new Pentax DSLR. Took lots of pics.
we carried on, following the meandering boardwalk that the Parks has installed in the forest, to protect the boggy streams and fish hatching areas. We came across a heavily washed out part of the trail, a massive tree or three had been washed down the hill by the heavy rains....
we stopped , rather i stopped to refill my canteen. 3 tabs of iodine/chlorine water tabs and i was good to go. Today I was rocking my new Kifura G2 E&E pack. I am loving this pack. Bladeware was a SY Scrapper 6, a Emerson A100, a Emerson Super Commander, and a G. Wostenholm & Sons fixed blade that was given to me 34 years ago.
on and on we went, the kids whining and eating and then whining more...............
we passed thru changing forests, ranging from birch trees, dense moss covered forests, heavily choked forests etc.
we finally got to the lake, and the heavens opened up. In seconds we were all soaked, before we could even get the kids covered in heavy duty garbage bags. But we made it to the lake, 10kms of slogging.
The rain turned to a monsoon, and the temps dropped rapidly. Now it was time to double time back to the trailhead. Of course the kids lagged behind. I know i should be patient but whiny slow people piss me off. I kept my pace going, stopping every 1/2 click to make sure they were ok. The boy was stoic, but would occasionally b*itch about how wet he was. I made sure everyone was not hypothermic, but at some point you just need to tell people to SUCK IT UP! we were ALL wet, tired, sore. No one gets preferential treatment , we are all in this together.
ANYWAYS......
we got back to the LAST major hill, the thigh, lung and body buster hill...........
i was first up, followed by the boy, then the girl and finally my GF. I exclaimed how proud i was of them for a 12 and 10 year old to hike 20kms in pissing rain.
we went for hot drinks, then onto the bus, seabus, subway, and bus and finally to home.
Photos UP now scattered thru out the thread. DIAL UP USERS BEWARE! .
Last edited:
