A Hike in the Franklin Mountains

This morning I awoke at 7am to the sound of Emma crying on my bed,

"We missed it! They already left!"

 I would have loved to sleep longer. I really would have, but it meant so much to her.

"No, we haven't missed it. We're supposed to meet at the pool at 7:30. Quick! Go get ready!"

 

We made it in plenty of time to join the rest of her summer swim team for a hike up the mountain at Mt. Franklin State Park. We covered ourselves in sunscreen. Emma put red Gatorade in a camelback. I put water and food enough for a week in my backpack plus a first aid kit in my backpack and we were off.

It was hot and it was hard. There were huge rocks on the trail, whether intentionally or from a rock slide, I don't know, but it made for very difficult walking. Had it just been dirt it wouldn't have been nearly as hard. I twisted my ankle a couple of times and Emma slid over a cactus and got spines in her behind, but other than that we were good. Emma saw a couple of large lizards and some scary looking bugs.  I was just glad we didn't see a tarantula.  On the way up the group stopped a couple of times for water breaks and once we reached the top we stayed and ate our lunches.

The way back down was quick but treacherous. I realized part way down how lucky I was to be there. If I hadn't lost all this weight (58 pounds at this point) and gotten back into shape I could never have made it. I would have had to let Emma go by herself. I'm so glad I could do this with her, that I didn't have to tell her as I have so many times,

"Sorry, Em, you got the "old mom".

That made me a lot happier about the whole hike!