My older son Sean, who lives in Boulder Colorado, once again (he comes every six months), is here for one week, for daily visits with his paralyzed, nerve-damaged brother Colin, still residing in a local nursing home.
And so, I took advantage of a great opportunity: to plan a 7-mile hike with someone who also loves hiking, and besides, he’s my other son! (I used to do everything I wanted to do alone, but now, at 82, I’ve gotten more cautious, especially on long and/or infrequently traveled trails).
We did the hike yesterday, and it was a doozer. Only minutes from the north edge of Bloomington, Griffy Lake is one that Puppy Scampi and I visit often, for a 3 mile hike on a frequently traveled trail. So this one would be an adventure.
The entire lake is now encircled with a trail. Sean made sure to take a photo of the map, so we wouldn’t get lost.
Notice, at about 1 PM on the map, the loop that says “hiking trail.” That’s the one we usually take, and since it has both a hill to climb, and a creek to walk along, it’s very enjoyable.
The trail that encircles the entire lake, however, is, I’d say now, only partially enjoyable. The south side, which, you’ll notice, has many comings and goings, due to many small canyons that need to be traversed on trails above. Though much longer than the trail on the north side of the lake, it’s easy and fun.
It’s probably good that we tackled the north side first, while I was still relatively fresh. Because . . .
. . . there were a few tense minutes there, thanks to narrow canyons on that side of the lake. I had to climb them on my hands and knees, grabbing nearby roots to pull me up. Had the trail been washed out? Not sure.
In any case, that hike around Griffy had been on my bucket list for years, and thank you Sean, we did it!
