The Trail That Wasn't

Last weekend Justin and I headed out for our first backpacking trip of the season. We spent the week prior checking our gear, getting our food, and making sure we had everything we needed. We were both pretty excited and headed out right after work. The plan was to do the Dingford Creek Trail. About 5 miles outside the trailhead, we encountered a washed out bridge and road closed. Guess we should have done a little more research. No big deal, we back tracked about a mile to the Middle Fork Trail. We checked out the map, did a quick little sketch with some landmarks and turns, and were set to go.

Right off the bat we tried going the road less travelled. There was definitely a trail, but it got pretty rocky for awhile and then ended at the river bank about 15 minutes later. We turned around and headed off in the other direction. About a mile or so into it, Justin unfortunately twisted his ankle pretty badly and went down. Generally this wouldn't have been too bad, but being the super strong and manly husband he is, he was carrying most of the weight in his pack (80-90 pounds) and went down. We had to undo the pack so he could get up. But alas, he persevered and managed to hike on another 3 or 4 hours. Then comes the washed out trail.

We spent the next hour or so crawling all over these felled trees looking for the other side of the trail but to no avail. It was pretty hard work and poor Scout got a little stuck a few times. Luckily he was wearing his pack that has a handle on it and we were able to grab it to help him along. At this point, Justin's ankle continued to swell and throb. We decided to turn around, head back to the trailhead and find a nice little beach spot to set up camp for the night with the plan to leave in the morning. We got settled in and kind of doze on and off for a couple of hours. We were sleeping in a 2 man tent to begin with, but add a 90 pound dog to the mix and it makes for even tighter, hotter quarters. And Scout always loves to lay his head or part of his body on our legs so we in turn become "puppy paralyzed." And then at about 1:30 in the morning, we were awakened to the sound of drums. It was a ways off, but definitely audible and somewhat ritualistic sounding. Outside of being "a little concerned," we didn't really verbalize our thoughts on this strange sound. It wasn't until the morning we both expressed our thoughts that it could have been some weird cult looking for human sacrifices!

At this point we made some oatmeal, broke camp, let Scout swim in the river for a bit fetching after his tennis ball, and then headed out to enjoy a delicious Burger King breakfast to reward us for our hardships ; - ) !! All in all, we did enjoy some beautiful scenery and some quiet time away from the hustle of our daily lives. And Scout was pretty worn out, slept the rest of the day (on his new bed by the way). Here are a few more pictures. And Justin's ankle fared pretty well. It was pretty bruised and sore for a few days, but is definitely on the road to recovery.