Last Friday the kids and I packed up a little lunch and headed to Big Hill Pond State Park for a short day hike. I was a little amazed at the excitement that my daughter displayed since she is not usually to keen on much walking. So, I decided not to spoil it and planned a short, fun-filled hike which included a 3/4 mile hike across a wooden bridge over the Dismal Swamp, and ended at the 70′ tall Observation Tower. The overall distance was just shy of 3 miles.
Of course though I was quite excited about it too though, even if it wasn’t big miles. I got to try out some of my newer gear for the first time… I loaded up my Tera Nova Laser 35L pack with food and the few essentials that are needed in a day pack and headed out! My daughter and son decided to swap a pack back and forth which simply had their rain jackets and a bottle of Gatorade for each of them in it. I was quite surprised when my daughter decided to take the pack first and carried it for just over a mile before deciding to let her brother carry it…
It took us about an hour or so to reach the base of the large hill that must be climbed to actually reach the Observation Tower. The climb up the hill got us all, but once we were up there, the kid’s eye’s lit up at the huge tower! So, of course we climbed up to the top and enjoyed the views for a while before heading back down and eating lunch.
Once we got back down the kids played at the base of the tower and I pulled the tarp out and began to set it up. The winds were blowing so I had them help me for a little bit while pitching the tarp, but once I got it pinned down they took back off and played on the tower some more while I finished making adjustments. Once it was set up, I laid out the food under the tarp and we all ate our lunch.
After they finished eating they took back off. They climbed around on the base of the Observation Tower like monkey’s in trees! While they did that I relaxed for a little bit under the tarp, just enjoying the breeze and being out under the trees. It was nice. After a little while I decided to get up and put the tarp away and get out packs packed back up. After this I still wasn’t ready to go, so I decided to make a video about trekking poles.
After this was done we shouldered our packs and headed back out. My daughter again carried the pack and my son carried out garbage bag and we picked up some garbage along the trail on the way back out. The trip out was just as nice as coming in, except for the fact that the trip was almost over…
So, we had a great trip. We got to get out together and enjoy being outdoors rather than being locked up indoors. And of course I got to use some gear. Other than the pack, I also wore my new Ex Officio Air Strip Light long sleeve shirt and my OR Helios sun hat, both of which I will post reviews of here on my blog soon.
So, be sure to look for those reviews soon… Until then, thanks for reading and taking the trip with us!
~Stick~
