A Saturday Hike With The Oldest

[Mistwalker]

Sadly my oldest daughter wasn't able to make the Florida trip due to a series of job interviews a day after we were leaving, the economy is hard and she really needed to land the job. So Friday night I took her out for cappuccinos to celebrate her new job and to just sit and talk. After I dropped her off at her older sister's place I saw on fb where she had posted the coffee was great and how she had even won a free coffee to go for being a band geek and being able to correctly answer the trivia question by knowing which two woodwinds have two reeds. But then the next post I saw was where she stated how she really needed some bluff time and finally understood why I always spend so much time in the woods. So...yesterday I picked her up and took her on a hike to get her out and about and let her get some time in the bush. I know how good for the spirit it can be.

The first spot we hit was snoopers rock, it has a nice over-view of the Tennessee River Gorge. Spring is springing and with the recent storms the creeks are flowing pretty good.

It was the first time I had a chance to give her the new knife and the new Godspeed sheath. It was a surprise and with her not knowing she didn't wear a belt...I guess I haven't taught her as much as I thought.

When I got back from Florida I found a new toy in my PO Box. So I gave her the one I put together and carried the new one. We were doing a lot of talking so I didn't get a chance to play with it much yet , I'll check it out more this week.

We took off down one of the roads that will be closed for another 10 days, they are cabled off from Dec. 21 through March 21 in order to allow hunters to hunt in peace without 4 wheelers flying through the area the whole time, and to prevent severe erosion during the wet winter weather. We saw a few tracks, saw where some persimmon seeds from older coyote scat had been scattered and found a small snake that hat died a mysterious death.

We found a small spring on the side of the road, the water is bubbling up through the dark hole in the center of the photo. We found some healthy looking Mullein rosettes, as well as a seed pod from last season. I think she may remember to wear a belt next time...

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[Mistwalker]

We wandered around and made it to one of the ponds where I had seen the frozen frog eggs before to see how things were looking on such a warm late winter day. The water was back up after all of the rain and a lot of egg sacks that were exposed before were under water. Not sure how much damage was done by the freeze but there seem to be a lot of frogs coming along. Sarah still has an uncanny ability to spot the tiniest of spiders...the one in the pic was small and lite enough to walk on the surface tension of the pond.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that I and the wilderness had her attention when we were on hikes without the interruptions of a boy friend...

She finally started saying she was hungry...so I looked around, found and gathered some birch bark, handed her a nanostriker, (which she has seen a lot but never used), and said when you ignite this we can go.

It took her a few tries to get the hang of it, but she managed flames, and I still think she is a step or two ahead of a lot of boys her age. Then the hike came to an end, and we were off for her favorite..mushroom and swiss burgers and fries. I'm glad we can still get together for hikes like this even now that she is grown and off on her own.



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[caine]

great photos as always. Was your tops sharp I have read that there not sharp

 

[The Warrior]

Awesome stuff man, yet again. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mistwalker]

great photos as always. Was your tops sharp I have read that there not sharp

Not the shaving sharp edge I'm used to from TOPS but serviceable even with what I see as being a somewhat thick shoulder. I'll end up re-profiling the edge to thin it out some. At the price point it's at I have no complaints that's for sure.

Awesome stuff man, yet again. Thanks for posting.

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the post.

 

[tknife]

Great pics Mist, I love the first one overlooking the river. I wish I lived closer to TN, we'd do some serious hiking and knife playin'!

 

[Riverwarrior]

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

 

[brewcitymike]

Another great post mist. Its nice to see your daughter out in the woods. She looks like she could be near the age where that just ain't 'cool' to do. I like to see kids out, spending time away from their facebooks,tweets, and Wiis.:thumbup: My daughter is only six, and doesn't quite understand that stuff yet but I really hope to be able to get her out like that in the next couple years. Thanks once again for sharing with us. Oh and it looks like she can make fire like a champ, very cool

 

[Mistwalker]

Great pics Mist, I love the first one overlooking the river. I wish I lived closer to TN, we'd do some serious hiking and knife playin'!

Thanks man, yeah I used to love sitting on that bluff when I was a teenager myself.

If you ever head this way let me know.

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the post!

Another great post mist. Its nice to see your daughter out in the woods. She looks like she could be near the age where that just ain't 'cool' to do. I like to see kids out, spending time away from their facebooks,tweets, and Wiis.:thumbup: My daughter is only six, and doesn't quite understand that stuff yet but I really hope to be able to get her out like that in the next couple years. Thanks once again for sharing with us. Oh and it looks like she can make fire like a champ, very cool

Thank you, her next birthday she'll be 19, but she has enjoyed going to the woods with me her whole life, I started taking her hiking with me before she was old enough to walk. For the young ones actually on the ground and hiking with me I prefer the autumn and winter hikes for less worry about snakes and spiders and what have you. She has a good grasp of fire starting. It's been a while so I'm sure she's out of practice, but she has started fires in the rain using just a knife, a ferro rod, and some fatwood before, this was just the first time she has used a nano and that type striker.

 

[Hawkeye5]

What a great post. Any time we can spend time outdoors with our children is a good time. That shot where she is touching the water and smiling is great.

We don't have any Bluff's like that on the Sabine or lake Fork rivers. That is a cool shot .

Thanks for posting.

Hawkeye
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[Mistwalker]

What a great post. Any time we can spend time outdoors with our children is a good time. That shot where she is touching the water and smiling is great.

We don't have any Bluff's like that on the Sabine or lake Fork rivers. That is a cool shot .

Thanks for posting.

Hawkeye
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Thanks Hawkeye, I'm glad you liked the post. I've enjoyed the nearly two decades of hiking with her and I always like to see her smiling. I used to spend a lot of time sitting on that bluff meditating, it's really therapeutic.

 

[coaldigger]

Nice pics 'Ol Bud ! Glad you two got to get out & spend some Father/Daughter time together !

 

[fmajor007]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Mist. Sweet times for sure.

Seems they grow up so fast - mine are younger than yours, but was like just yesterday when they were just toddlers and i was carrying them. Now, it's so different.

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice pics 'Ol Bud ! Glad you two got to get out & spend some Father/Daughter time together !

Thanks man, yeah we don't get out together near as much as we used to, and the conversations are a lot different these days, but I still enjoy it every chance I get.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Mist. Sweet times for sure.

Seems they grow up so fast - mine are younger than yours, but was like just yesterday when they were just toddlers and i was carrying them. Now, it's so different.

Thanks man, yeah, great times for sure. I've spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks regretting not spending more time with my father, I do not wish to spend a lot of time in the future regretting not spending more time with my daughters.

Dude, enjoy every minute of it while you can, it seems only yesterday my oldest was just a little thing walking beside me in the woods and today it's hard to get together with our conflicting schedules.

 

[fmajor007]

Thanks man, yeah we don't get out together near as much as we used to, and the conversations are a lot different these days, but I still enjoy it every chance I get.

Thanks man, yeah, great times for sure. I've spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks regretting not spending more time with my father, I do not wish to spend a lot of time in the future regretting not spending more time with my daughters.

Dude, enjoy every minute of it while you can, it seems only yesterday my oldest was just a little thing walking beside me in the woods and today it's hard to get together with our conflicting schedules.

^ That's wisdom talking right there.

Last year i took nearly 40GB of photo's (and 2010 as well 30-40GB each year) of the kids, vacation's, etc. Part of that is because a good bit of my job requires me to do alot of promotion so i'm like a semi-pro photographer. However, i'm trying to spend as much time with my kids as i can and for this stage in life (next stage will be 10x busier i'm pretty sure).

Thanks for bringing us along and showing us how it's done!

 

[meanoldbobber]

Hahaha, if she's 19 and still hangs out with you, you should be good.
I have an 8 year old boy, and am packing in as much dad time as possible, before he's too cool for me.

 

[TheGame]

I want to get myself one of those Tops, so let me know how it does.

It's good to hear that you still get time in the woods together. I tend to see most people in their teens staying as far away from the woods as they can get, unfortunately. (Or fortunately, depending on what type they are.. littering and such)

 

[grunt soldier]

glad you can still get her to hang out with ya lol. most would be to busy at the mall or something else. glad you got to enjoy some time with her

 

[infocus2006]

Good times man! Beautiful overlook. I have a place in Arkansas where i do atv trail riding that has overlooks like that. My buddy wants me to scatter his ashes if and when he dies on a similar overlook. Great, post..

 

[beanbag]

Very nice pics as usual, Mist.

Nice river and froglet shots especially.