Like many RV parks we have stayed in over the years, this
one has a group of people who go on organized hikes together regularly. We decided to join this group for a hike this
week because it’s a great way to meet like-minded folks. It’s not perfect, but it seems to work well
most of the time. Anyway, we went with
the group on Thursday to Ivy Creek Trail for what was to be a 5-9 mile hike
depending on one’s stamina. We had 21
brave souls show up at 8:30 am for a nose count and to decide how to
carpool. We joined a couple who are part
of the “leadership team” for these hikes (We had met the man when we visited
their coach to get information about the hike).
John was initially stand offish, but warmed up as soon as he determined
that we were serious hikers and not just slugs looking for a way to kill some
time.
The leader of the group is an ex-Brit and an ex-military
officer who has the demeanor of both. He
indicated that we divide the large group into two since only 15 people can hike
in the wilderness in one clump. There
would be one group that would do a 5 mile round trip hike and a second, who
would do a 9 mile round trip hike and we could self-select. Initially, we decided to go with the shorter
hike group as we haven’t acclimated to longer hikes yet. However, the numbers were lopsided and we
were recruited to go with the longer hike group.
It turns out that Tristan and his self-selected group (not
necessarily including us) were trail warriors whose goal was to cover as much
ground as fast as they could in the shortest amount of time. Well, that didn’t settle too well with us as
we like to take lots of photos, gawk at the scenery, and stop to rest and have
morning tea about an hour or so into a hike regardless how long it is. We actually had no difficulty keeping up with
the group, but after the first hour we could see that they were not into
enjoying nature per se, but wanted to
simply make tracks. Hence, we stopped
and told them that we would keep going in their general direction (one of them
was our ride home after all), but that we were going to stop for morning tea
and we resume our hike in 15 or 20 minutes.
They went on; we had Frappuccinos and scones on a fairly comfortable log
and enjoyed the sound of Ivy Creek flowing near-by.
Speed Daemons
We commenced our hike well rested and sated. After another hour and a half decided that it
would be a bummer to have these racehorses get to their destination, eat lunch,
and then return down the trail meeting us who hadn’t had lunch. We are food aficionados on the trail, so we
stopped at a convenient spot with the idea that we would eat and then continue
up the trail. We took a half hour for
lunch and just as we were packing up to continue, who shows up but the slow
group. They hadn’t stopped at 2.5 miles,
but had continued to where we were at about 3.5 miles. Apparently, they hadn’t stopped to rest or
take morning tea either. Oh, well. After kibitzing with them for a time, we set
off to continue our hike. We didn’t get
to the next turn the trail before the other group arrived fresh from their
lunch break. We decided to join them for
the trip down and managed to keep up with them quite nicely. In retrospect, we met some interesting people,
some of whom we actually like, but we don’t know if we will be going on a group
hike with them anytime soon. We much
prefer to leave when we want to leave, go where we want to go, and to do it at
our own pace. Stay tuned.
Slow Group Joins Us For Lunch
Our 29th wedding anniversary was Saturday and we celebrated
with a fantastic dinner at the Antlers Lodge, which is located right on the Rio
Grande. It was a dark and stormy
evening, but our outdoor venue was protected with shade cloth and clear plastic
sheeting. We had a great meal and were
serenaded by the young and attentive wait staff after receiving our
dessert. This not anything we invited,
but once they learned we were celebrating, there was no stopping them. We got a nice round of applause from the
other diners…maybe that was for the serenade.
It Doesn't Feel Like Its Been 29 Years!
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