This past weekend Dirk and I headed two hours northwest of the city to the Sipsey Wilderness, one of the reasons I am proud to live in this beautiful state. I'd been hiking in the Sipsey a couple of times, but had never attempted an overnight, and Dirk was game, so we loaded the packs and took off. Note: the road to my favorite trailhead is one of the reasons why I couldn't get a car and had to stick with an SUV, 10 miles of dirt!
We set up camp at a little place called White Oak Hollow. Our friends, Tim and Liz, and their four dogs were supposed to be joining us later Friday evening, and we waited a while for them to pop up, and we finally decided to retire to our tent. It was a pretty creepy night, lots of animal noises and low growling, things brushing up against the tent. I'm not one to get alarmed, and I kept my cool, but I've never been so thankful for a thin layer of nylon than I was that night! Saturday morning we headed out on our hike, our ultimate destination is the formation dubbed "The Eye of the Needle" which was formed by an earthquake in the early 1800's that was so severe that the Mississippi River flowed backwards!
Well, looky who we found along the way! Tim and Liz had gotten lost and had hiked over a mile past our campsite! Both carrying 60 lb. packs! I'm so glad we caught up with them, though, because they joined us on our hike.
We let the dogs lead the way. One of the great things about the Sipsey Wilderness is that everyone you meet is so friendly and like-minded. They're there because they appreciate nature and being outside. They don't even mind if a pack of dogs come barreling towards them through the woods.
Here's our group photo at a cool rock formation. We actually got all the canines in it, although none of them are looking at the camera. Oh, well.
Sipsey was a little pooped on the ride home!
We set up camp at a little place called White Oak Hollow. Our friends, Tim and Liz, and their four dogs were supposed to be joining us later Friday evening, and we waited a while for them to pop up, and we finally decided to retire to our tent. It was a pretty creepy night, lots of animal noises and low growling, things brushing up against the tent. I'm not one to get alarmed, and I kept my cool, but I've never been so thankful for a thin layer of nylon than I was that night! Saturday morning we headed out on our hike, our ultimate destination is the formation dubbed "The Eye of the Needle" which was formed by an earthquake in the early 1800's that was so severe that the Mississippi River flowed backwards!
Well, looky who we found along the way! Tim and Liz had gotten lost and had hiked over a mile past our campsite! Both carrying 60 lb. packs! I'm so glad we caught up with them, though, because they joined us on our hike.
We let the dogs lead the way. One of the great things about the Sipsey Wilderness is that everyone you meet is so friendly and like-minded. They're there because they appreciate nature and being outside. They don't even mind if a pack of dogs come barreling towards them through the woods.
Here's our group photo at a cool rock formation. We actually got all the canines in it, although none of them are looking at the camera. Oh, well.
Sipsey was a little pooped on the ride home!
2 comments:
Well, I give you props for the nature-girl inside you. Looks beautiful. And Sipsey has earned yet another dirt-baby badge.
I really have been missing our Hills days camping. It's been four years since I have been in the Black Hills camping with the sound of the streams and the smell of pines. Raw nature. I think next year will be when we make the trip with our babies.
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