Denny Creek Slide August 24, 2007
Posted by kimayars Hike, Walk
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Today the girls and I went on a hike to an area called Denny Creek, particularly the Denny Creek Slab. This is a huge slab of rock that, when covered with the right amount of algae, forms a pretty cool natural waterslide.
Normally, I am a very prepared person when it comes to hikes of any length. I always carry the 10 Essentials for Hiking and even have a special backpack for it. Additionally I carry a whistle, bug juice, sunblock, etc… I am a one woman army. But I misunderstood exactly what this hike was. I thought it was something like 100 yards from the parking area. Wrong.
We started out and there was very little signage to tell us how far the slab was. We passed one family and casually asked how much farther it was. They replied, “Oh, it took us about 50 minutes.” Wait, did he say 50 or 15? We decided it must have been 15. Wrong.
I’m wearing a skort with sandals, and my girls are in their swimsuits and bathrobes. My 4-year-old was at least in Tevas, but my 6-year-old was in flip-flops. I had slung over my shoulder a beach bag with towels, an insulated pack with snacks, and my purse which has essentials such as, oh, a deck of cards and a zillion receipts. Not my trusty backpack that would have carried everything. I didn’t have the 10 Essentials, I had a gazillion non-essentials. I even had sidewalk chalk. I have no idea what I was thinking.
Couple this with the fact that I am still walking very stiffly, and that anything with elevation is painful. There was a set of steps that I thought I was never going to make it up. Somehow, through the will of two excited children, I found the strength.
It did take us about 55 minutes to get there, uphill all the way. But the kids really did appreciate the calm, and except for I-90 hovering directly overhead a portion of the trail, I think the girls really enjoyed the peace.
We spent an hour at the slab with only a few minor scrapes (hey, the rocks are slippery). And then we marched home singing:
“Continents, continents, do you know your continents? North, South, East, and West, all around the world. Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and Europe too. Europe too. Europe too.”
I learned that you must say “Eurpoe too.” exactly three times to get the full impact of the song. After another 5o minutes of this, I think I got it down. I actually started humming “It’s A Small World” just to erase the tune from my head.
I was so pleased with today even though I wasn’t really ready for it. My sore muscles feel so much better, my girls had a GREAT time, and we took advantage of the natural wonders just minutes from our house. (This place is only 15 miles from our front step.)
I don’t have a calorie count for today, but I feel I did pretty good. My back-of-the-envelope calculations have me around 1300 for the day. More importantly I noticed that I didn’t really think about food that much today. My cravings for sweets have definitely subsided. I can’t wait to take my metrics on Sunday. Well, maybe I can…
Workout:
- Type: Walk
- Date: 08/24/2007
- Time: 15:00:00
- Total Time: 1:45:00.00
- Distance: 3 miles
- Average Pace: 35:05.26/mile
Comments
Holy Schmoly! You hiked 3 miles in 1 minute and 45 seconds! You are FAST!
WHOOPS!
I am looking for a CD of the song you were singing. Do you know were I can get one?