Sign of a Good Trail

Thanks in part to the inspiration of my occasional running partner I have been running on and around a regional park called simply, The Bluffs. It's a little loop with some serious altitude so it's easy to work it into a longer run for some incline training. Plus it's comprised of soft gravel trails that are wide enough for runners, walkers, cyclists, and even horses -- so it's easy on the knees.

Since then my boys have been begging to join me for a day hike. Mainly it was Coop, but Mason thought it was a brilliant idea. A week before school started I sat them down and said, "Here's your last chance. There's only a few days left tell me what you want to do before school starts." The answer was emphatic if not misguided. They both wanted to hike The Bluffs. Only problem was, it was meant to be 100 degrees that day.

Far be it from me to force my agenda on them in this, their last week of summer. So, we went.It was hot. Lava hot. But those brave boys wouldn't dream of complaining because they knew they had suggested it, begged for it, demanded it. The loop is less than 3-miles if you take all the short cuts. I thought they might make it with such a strong start. But then at about the .5-mile mark we started to notice something. Besides the copiuous amount of sweat, and the fact that our water supply was already in short supply, the steady zzzzzzz of hundreds of rattles all around us. Heat + Traffic = Mad Rattlers. So, I suggested we take a picture and head down with promises to return in more temperate climes.

A few days later and in much cooler temperatures I suggested we try again. Coop was all over it. Bounced himself into his shoes, and the car before I could blink. Mason on the other hand declined, "Anyways, I have different skin. I get way too sweaty."