Prologue
I envisioned the page starting with at 20 years, 20 hikes book that I got for Christmas one year. The local trustees put it out (10 years ago now! I wonder if they’ve updated it for 30 hikes) and many of the hikes I’ve done before. I was going to do a 20 hikes, 20 years, 20 days series, but as it often does, life got in the way. I did get around to doing one of the hikes and it went exactly as I’d hoped it might. I wandered a bit trying to find the place (even though I’ve been there about a half a dozen times before) and discovered another mini adventure. I ran into another hiker randomly and discovered that he was the husband of someone I used to work with at one of my previous jobs. We ended up going up together since he pointed me to the trailhead as I didn’t bring a map. Consequently, I also got turned around coming down the mountain and took the long way around getting back to my van. All in all, it was a good trip and a great start to the page.
Journal
So, today’s the day. I’m heading out to Tully Mountain to hike it for the inaugural hike of “One Guy Outdoors”. It’s a local hike that I’ve done a few times before. I’m pretty sure it’s the hike that we did with Liam’s cub scout pack a few years ago. I know that the elementary schools sometimes take a trip to hike the mountain. So, it’s not exactly an intimidating hike. Still, it’s the perfect start for a slightly out of shape middle aged guy who definitely isn’t experiencing a crisis.
When the day of the hike came, I was quite distracted that morning. I needed to head to Wal-Mart to get a water bottle and some bug spray. I also wanted to record an introduction in case I ever get around to putting together YouTube videos for each of the hikes. I waited until everyone left the house, as it was still during the time in the summer when I was off, but they were all in school. See, that was part of the plan, too. Eventually, the page might evolve into one involving the family, similar to how the main 2 Generations Gaming page evolved from 2 Guys Gaming. However, I wanted to do a test run before even thinking about any of that.
I thought I knew where I was going, but I clearly did not. I overshot all of the trail heads by about a half a mile. As is often the case, however, true adventure can often begin with the words, “I should have taken that right turn at Albequerque.” Instead of hiking up the mountain, I found myself at a wildlife sanctuary. I decided I’d make the best of it and hike through the sanctuary. I heard water at the trailhead, which often makes for beautiful pictures and video.
Spoiler alert: I never made it to the water. I did come across a turtle during my hike and many, many ticks. Overall, the trip to the sanctuary was a failure, but not an overall disappointment. I’d like to go back with more of a plan because it was a beautiful place to visit and showed great potential for the type of adventure that I’m looking to share on this page.
After my unintentional detour, I put the mountain into Google Maps. Since there are multiple trails that wind up and down the mountain, the trails are not always well marked, and there isn’t an exact address for the peak, Google Maps had some trouble directing me where to go. As a result, after overshooting the mountain, I drove past several trails two or three times before I decided to just pull over somewhere that looked promising. It looked like a trailhead, there was another car parked there (a Subaru, so you just know it is going to be a school teacher looking for something to do outside), and what did I have to lose at this point?
I got out of the car and tried to look as “out of town” as I possibly could so that I wouldn’t look like the local dork who got lost. I was that local dork, of course, but there’s no reason this Subaru driving dude needs to know that. “Is this the entrance to Tully?” I casually ask while still doing my best “out of town” impression. “One of them.” He responds. “There’s at least one other if you want to go around to the other side.” I nod. I’m pretty sure he isn’t buying the “out of town” vibe from me, but I appreciate him playing along.
After that, I head up the mountain as quickly as possible. Not only am I embarrassed at having gotten lost on the way to a local mountain, but now I tried to cover it up by pretending to be from some place else. I need to get as far away from this guy as possible to save some face in case I ever become famous outdoors blogger and he decides to blow up my spot. Ha! I’ll show him! I’ll do it myself.
In addition to my terrible navigation skills to find the trail leading to the mountain, I missed a turn in the trail as I was climbing the mountain. Subaru Dude came to my rescue again. Pointing at the missed turn, he helpfully said, “I think this is where the trail continues.” Attempting to save face (and it was the truth), I replied, “I thought there might be something there, but I couldn’t be positive.” Then, sheepishly when I saw the yellow trail blaze, “Oh, there’s the mark.”
My ego sufficiently bruised, I figured I’d just hike up the rest of the trail with Subaru Dude. We got to talking. I discovered that he was married to one of the guidance counselors that I worked with in a previous job. We also discussed some of our other favorites in the area, many of which we shared and I will be sure to visit during my travels for future installments of the page. I’ve already been reminded of one of them during the previous week driving my oldest to a neighboring town for his most recent performance.
Subaru Dude and I parted ways at the peak. He went off to see where the trail led. I took some video from the peak, both of myself and of the scenery, before I started down the way I came. In keeping with the theme of the day, I missed a turn and ended up exiting into a parking area about a mile away from where I parked the van. I saw Subaru Dude and he seemed to think that it was my intention to exit where I did in order to travel to a local eatery for lunch. Having gotten some of my pride back in finding the parking area for my net trip, I let that delusion live.
Epilogue
I only wish that I’d been able to get more of the hikes from the book done. Oh well, the boys and my wife are out of school. I’m still teaching, but it is only for 3 or 4 hours in the morning. So there will be plenty of time to do those hikes in the coming months. I am also being reminded of much of the other outdoor entertainment located in the area. Due to my random encounter with Subaru Dude and the promise of the page to meet new people and find new places being fulfilled, I have been inspired in a big way to keep working on this page.
Stay on the lookout for my first actual round on the HCC disc golf course. I know! I’ve been attending and working there cumulatively for almost a decade. I’ve walked the course a couple of times, but I’ve never played it. I’m pretty excited to play it, but I’m also excited to give my report after. While it won’t be as much fun as this trip since I most likely won’t get lost, stinking at disc golf could offer some entertainment.