Happy Trails

Written by: Caroline Ludwig

Whoo Boy, am I exhausted or what? We’ve decided that we need to get back into hiking and with Mitchell Memorial Forest being so close and kid-friendly (I mean Lilly can hike it by herself) it’s been easier than we thought to get back into the woods. Steven and Hillary have fully embraced going on slower hikes at “toddler pace” and the accountability has been a good motivator to get back out there.

Lilly was having a blast following the dogs and picking up rocks, sticks, leaves, and whatever else she could reach. We didn’t have to hold her much unless we weren’t able to distract her into moving again and she was pretty good at keeping a decent pace. About halfway through the walk I started to feel sprinkles and kept my mouth shut. Two-thirds of the way through everyone felt the rain and we were wishing it was a little later in the season so there were more leaves on the trees to protect us from the rain.

We then abandoned “toddler pace” and walked faster than usual to get back to the van. Fortunately, we didn’t get too wet, but since it was pouring down rain we couldn’t stay at Java Jackets very long with the dogs in the car. Hillary and I scoped it out and promised that we would go again when we could stay longer.

Monday, Steven and Hillary asked if we’d be down for another hike after work. Joe wasn’t able to get off work early so I took the kids to meet them at the trailhead and wondered if I was slightly crazy. Without the threat of rain, we were able to slow down the pace and let Lilly lead the hike. She enjoyed getting her “walking rocks”, “walking sticks,” and “walking flowers” and occasionally they were used as motivators to keep her going. She was more confident this time around since this was something that she had done before and attempted to pick up larger rocks that were 90% buried in the ground.

We were able to let Lilly creek stomp for a bit and she had a blast stomping her feet, kicking up water for Teller, playing with the mini water falls, and dropping rocks to test gravity. All was going well until it was time to get out, I was two seconds away from grabbing her hand and she sat in the creek. Good thing I brought a change of clothes because her butt was soaked and covered in mud. Lilly had a blast and Elliot slept through most of it.

Tuesday we were back at it and this time, Joe tagged along as well. This was very much an impromptu hike. Steven and Hillary asked if we wanted to go back to Mitchell Memorial Forest when I was in the middle of browning meat on the stove for lasagna. Don’t worry we didn’t waste the meat, once it was finished cooking we put it away in the refrigerator. After everything was packed, we got everyone ready and we were off. This time we walked a little quicker on the trail but Lilly still stopped to grab a walking rock here and there. Lilly got the opportunity to do some creek stomping again but since we got a late start we didn’t have as much time to play as we did on Monday, but we did get more photos and finally got a full family photo on the trail.

To continue the craziness, on Wednesday Steven and Hillary had a massive hole in their schedule for the middle of the day and I just had Elliot. After getting ourselves a new PO Box (check the website for the address if you want to send us a card or something) I picked them and their dogs up to head downtown. Fortunately, I haven’t had our dogs in the car since because when we finally take them somewhere they’re going to HATE me… We stopped by BLOC Coffee in Price Hill to check off another coffee shop on our need-to-visit list and headed down the hill to the riverfront.

We walked Smale Park, Sawyer Point Park, and Yeatman’s Cove and enjoyed the flowers and views along the river. We were walking side by side with our strollers and were taking up half of the wide sidewalk when a woman silently tried to pass us on the right. I had been getting annoyed with cyclists and other walkers passing us closely on the left without saying “on your left” or something similar for the majority of the walk so when I thought she was out of earshot I said, “no one is saying ‘on your right’ or ‘on your left’ today and it’s very annoying.” She was not out of earshot, turned around while still walking and said, “well when you’re taking up the whole sidewalk” in a very annoyed tone paired with a wide arm motion. This of course became our quote for the rest of the day.

I enjoyed pointing out some landmarks and points of interest to Steven and Hillary who aren’t from Cincinnati and had only been to the park a handful of times. They enjoyed triggering me by calling tall stacks “castle turrets” which I would then quickly correct, every time. To get back at them I gave them teasers on points of interest that we talked about in our podcast “The One Where Monkeys Invade Cincinnati” which wasn’t out yet so they have to listen to it. We enjoyed exploring the new DORA area at The Banks for lunch and look forward to going to it without children and dogs to fully enjoy the area.

The peak of my insanity was Thursday evening. We were originally going to go back to Mitchell Memorial with most of the dogs and both children. Lilly was a hot mess earlier in the day and was refusing to go down for a nap, Joe had a crazy day at work, and I apparently lost my last shred of sanity. I was still down to go on a hike with just Elliot and myself so Steven and Hillary asked if I wanted to go to Bender Mountain and ignoring any sane thought in my head I agreed. The hike is about the same distance as Mitchell Memorial, but is straight up for about a quarter mile+ of the hike.

We enjoy the views at the top of Bender Mountain but have not been since Lilly was born and the last time we went was in my first trimester of pregnancy with Lilly where I was eating Cheerios the whole way up and down the mountain to stave off nausea. We have to find another way to get onto the trail as the only way we’re currently aware of involves crossing a rocky stream, and with a baby in a front pack it’s challenging to navigate. Hillary and Steven were nice enough to slow down their pace and take more rests than usual so I didn’t feel completely terrible when the hike was over.

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