This day was the hottest and most humid I've encountered yet on my adventures. We were sweating head to foot for the majority of the day, but that didn't make it any less awesome! We began our hike at the Afton State Park Visitor's Center and made our way down a winding path to the main trail that leads to the beach, campground, and other hiking trails. We decided to leave the trail because of the abundant traffic and made our way down a steep slope to a flat area with lots of trees. This was one of my favorite spots at Afton because it was wide open, yet had many beautiful trees to walk amongst, as well as a small stream with a makeshift log bridge.
After finding our way back to the main path (twenty feet above!), we followed a trail along the river, passing the beach and campgrounds. The trail was straight for a long stretch, with the river to our right and a towering hill covered in trees to our left. We had decided when we got there to take a hike up to an overlook that seemed shorter and easier on the map than it actually was. Finally we reached the fork in our road and turned upwards towards the overlook. This was probably the most rigorous part of our hike, as it was steep and had a likeness to the switchback path I remember from Yellowstone National Park. We stopped frequently to rest and drink water. This is important! Don't overwork yourself, rest when you need to, and drink plenty of water, or you'll find yourself in a bad situation real quick. Anyway, I was amazed to see a plummeting gorge along the way. It was filled with trees and if I stood in the right place, I could see all the way through it to the top.
After a very tiring hike, we made it to the top only to find that the last stretch of the trail was through a large field in open sunlight. We took a rest on a nearby bench before finishing up. When we made it to the top, we looked back and could see for miles! We hadn't even made it to the overlook yet, as it was through the trees ahead, but already our grueling hike seemed worth it. As we finally reached the overlook, we were overcome with mild disappointment. It was small and the view through the trees wasn't exemplary. Still, it made for an awesome picture!
After admiring the view, we found a little path that led into the woods to the right of the overlook. It was narrow, twisty, and in some places very uneven. We guessed that rainwater had probably washed a lot of the path downhill because there were huge gaping holes, tree roots sticking out, and the trail was wet and a little muddy. I was a little skeptical of this path at first, for the reasons I just explained, and I was anxious that if we went down, we might have to hike all the way back up if this ended up not being an actual path. However, I was wrong, as Cat lovingly pointed out, and after about just five minutes, we found ourselves back by the main path. We followed our small trail under the bridge that the main path went over and emerged by the beach.
By this point, I'm sure you can imagine that we were SO ready to string up our hammocks and relax. We made our way north along the bank of the river, winding through groves of trees. About a quarter of a mile down, we found a spot. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this was the best spot I've found so far (credit goes to Cat for choosing the spot!). It was right at the edge of the trees, ten feet from the water. There were no bugs, a nice breeze, and it was in the shade. The only thing I didn't like about this spot was the noise from the water traffic. However, it was fun to watch the dare devils riding their jet skis over huge waves and getting major air!
We spent about 2 hours here, listening to music, eating lunch, and just enjoying ourselves and the great outdoors. Cat took a walk down the beach and found some awesome shells, along with some pretty rocks. I took a snooze while she was away and when she came back we decided to leave around 6:30PM. Well, when that time came we dilly-dallied more than a little because it turned into such a beautiful evening. There were some shenanigans and also some delays, but by about 6:45PM we were on our way back to the car.
Above you can see Cat trying a new way to hammock. This was her way of procrastinating our departure. I didn't want to leave either, but these shenanigans were too much for me to try! (Love you Meow ♥).
This was a great day and I had a lot of fun with just my kitty! I love going with Mitch, but the experience was different with Cat and it was still just as much, if not more fun! Oh, by the way, HUGE shout-out to the amazing soul who let me have some of her e-liquid at the beginning of our hike. I had forgotten to fill up my e-cig before we left, but fate had other ideas! I didn't even ask her name, but thanks whoever you are!
I'm not going to say for sure where I'll be going next week, because as you've probably seen, I change my mind a lot! So, I guess I'll just see where life takes me next week. Thanks for visiting! Until next time, happy hunting!
~Haley & Cat
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