Glenrose Cliff Trail

We didn't get lost!  That was a first for sure.  We did have an issue though.  We wanted to go to the Rocks of Sharon to hike.  We got to the road that led to the trailhead and it was under construction.  There was a guide car but the worker said, "You don't want to go up that road it's a mess." Then he asked if we were going to hike.  Thankfully, he told us the trailhead was closed. Plan B but we didn't have one.  We looked at the All Trails app and found another place to hike.  It was either Iller Creek with the bears or Glenrose Cliff Trails.  Off we went to Glenrose Cliff Trails. 

After looking at the map we discovered there were two loops that we could take to make the hike longer.  We decided to take them on the way up while we could still function.  Good idea but for some reason we only took the first loop on the way up.  More about that later.

Just like every other trail we have hiked lots of uphill and downhill. It seemed like there was more uphill but when we headed back it also seemed like there were more uphill climbs.

Great view along that way.

Up, up and away!  Looks so innocent doesn't it.

There was a considerable amount of singing along the way.  Sheila actually knew the words to at least one song.  We either made up words or just sang the melody with no words.  Old, old songs, military songs and we even sang a Beatles song, Yellow Submarine.

Wildflowers were beautiful but a problem for Sheila.  She decided to double up on the allergy meds on spring hikes.

Most of the trail looked like this so there wasn't a lot of rock dodging.

A spider tree!!!

We made it to our top.  There were a couple of people enjoying the same view.  One of them mentioned a ring around the sun.  I squinted to see it and it was amazing.  Very colorful.  Needless to say you couldn't really get a good look but good enough.

I took several pictures and got one good one.  It doesn't really show how colorful the ring was but it works.

Showing guns!

I have no guns so I did my No White Flags pose.

I knew she would do this.  Way too close to the edge for me.

We had some snacks and then headed back down but it wasn't really down.  I didn't realize how much down we had on the way up to the top and now we were climbing those downhills.  

The picture taking slowed down because Sheila and I were in survival mode.  Slow and steady.  Bonnie was fine.  This was a welcome sight.  Relatively flat!  There was no more singing!!! We had to save our breath.

Shade!  We loved the shade.  You know that second loop we didn't do.  Bonnie and I wanted to skip in on the way back.  Sheila is usually a great navigator.  Not this time.  She said the second loop wouldn't be much farther and might be less of a climb.  Not true!  Oh my goodness!  It was really steep and no downhill at all.  Sheila and I had to stop to rest several times.  I had to pull out my protein bar to boost my energy.  I gave some to Sheila but she said it stuck her mouth closed.  Maybe I should have given it to her before we started the second loop we skipped in the beginning.  Perhaps then she wouldn't have shared the idea that the loop was a better route.  Bonnie just waited for us.

Pretty nice fort for someone.  The shade was inviting but we had no idea what was in there.  It looked empty.

We did it!  We got back to the parking lot and turned on the air conditioner and stopped for nice cold beverages at a coffee shop on the way home.  Always an adventure, always a challenge and always fun!

Dishman Hills Paint Ball and the Road Less Traveled

Well, we started off with, "Which way do we go?"  Bonnie headed toward a trail she thought was right.  We walked a little and saw a chainlink fence.  Well, that couldn't possibly be right and somehow we convinced Bonnie it was the wrong way.  On our way back we discovered Bonnie was right.  We just didn't go far enough to see the trail.  She really shouldn't listen to us. There was a lot of talk about finding the tennis courts to get to to the trail.  Guess what?  We discovered, at the end of the hike, that the tennis courts we were looking for didn't exist. The tennis courts were really a parking lot.  This is actually typical when we go on these type of adventures.  

We didn't know what they used this big cabin for but perhaps renting it out for events.

We have made it to the road that leads to the trail.  Let the hike begin.

The trail got narrow, rocky and steep at times.  There was some tripping on rocks but fortunately no falling.

This was helpful!  We were still going the right direction.  There were turns all over and most of them were not marked.

Nice amphitheater!

The trail was pretty pleasant here!

Resting in the beginning.  This bench was a welcome sight at the end of the hike!

Great scenery all along the way.

You couldn't miss this big rock in the middle of the trail.

And so the search for the right way to go starts!  Sheila was a champ with guiding us most of the time.  I was very thankful for her skills.  I might still be walking around without her guidance.

Up, up and away!

Sheila and Bonnie went one direction and I went to see the pond the other direction.  I met up with them after taking a picture.  We would see this pond again because we were going the wrong way. 

The wrong way was just fine.  We got to see a fabulous view.  Much better view to come when we finally figured out where to find it. This turned out to be a nice detour or alternate route to the top.

We headed back up the trail after taking some great pictures and admiring the view.

"Hey, did you see the no trespassing sign, I yelled."

They just kept going!

And going!

Then I mentioned the no trespassing sign again.  Perhaps we are going the wrong way to get to the top.  Oh! Look at that sign!  Let's do some backtracking quickly.  We were not prepared to get splattered by paintballs.  No paintball activity was happening thankfully.  This is when we turned around and ended going back to the trail by the pond.

OK, let's go this way.  On this leg of our journey we ended up with no trail and some barbed wire fencing on the ground. We did a bit of off trail hiking to get out of the area.

We made it!  Nice climb up to the top!

Now that's a view! Worth every wrong turn!

Coming down the opposite side was a bit of a challenge but I made it.  We all did.  I was the last one down.

HMMM, a fork in the trail and off we go.  

My comment was, "Is this a trail, it sure doesn't look like one?" Nope it wasn't!  It was OK though.

We found painted rocks but not the Indian Painted Rocks from our last hike. Spray painted rocks.

Our bushwhacking was looking promising.  This was probably a game trail but it worked.

It worked for us until we found the actual trail.  Whew!

Adventures are fun!  Things never seem to go the way we plan but I think that makes it more fun. We never know what to expect!  Alternate routes, barbed wire, backtracking. no trail, game trails, no wild animals and we made it!  We feel fortunate we can drive less than an hour to get to all these beautiful places.  Next week another hike and there WILL be a story! Count on it!