Saturday we hiked to Timp Cave with Tim's family. . No, it wasn't the whole peak this time. I am hoping next year. I guess last years experience was more traumatic than I want to admit.
The hike was great as it always is. It is one of my favorites. I like that it is paved, has beautiful scenery and a fun cave tour to split up the hike. I learned some fun things on this hike
1. Even though in all my working out this spring and summer I have not lost very much weight, I seem to be in really good shape. I felt great the whole hike. My breathing and heart rate remained slower than I would expect and returned to normal with each quick break.
2. The hiking boots I bought recently are broken in. When I hiked "The Y" a month ago they hurt my feet since it was my first actual hike in them. It is nice to have a good comfortable pair of hiking boots. Another good reason to hike Timp Peak next year now that I have broken my boots in.
3. Even though Lincoln can be annoyingly persistant at times as a kid, he is the only kid who did not whine or wimper the entire hike. His persistance pays off in some things. I noticed this in our hikes last year too. Lincoln is a tough kid.
4. In school Lincoln's teachers are going to love him or be REALLY annoyed by all his questions. He kept the ranger who gave us the cave tour on his toes with question after question, after question. He is a curious kid. I kept bouncing back and forth between embarresment about my kid asking too many questions and being proud that he was so interested in everything.
5. Every Saturday (while the cave is open) at the visitors center they have "Junior Ranger" classes. We happened to be waiting for our turn to hike right during that time so we got to listen to the show. Today they had a Wildlife Animal Rescuer who would be the one to get a rattle snake from your backyard if you were to find one. From this little presentation I learned that 80% of adult rattle snake bites are dry. All baby rattle snake bites are poisonous but as they get older they can distinguish and learn to save the venom for their prey which they appearently do not consider humans to be. I never knew that. I thought if you get bitten by a snake you are poisoned. You should always assume you have been poisoned though. Keep your bitten limb immobile and as calmly as possible go to the hospital. Do NOT run!
There you go...something you read in my blog may actually save your life. . . oh and venom extraction kits are useless too by the way.
The hike was great as it always is. It is one of my favorites. I like that it is paved, has beautiful scenery and a fun cave tour to split up the hike. I learned some fun things on this hike
1. Even though in all my working out this spring and summer I have not lost very much weight, I seem to be in really good shape. I felt great the whole hike. My breathing and heart rate remained slower than I would expect and returned to normal with each quick break.
2. The hiking boots I bought recently are broken in. When I hiked "The Y" a month ago they hurt my feet since it was my first actual hike in them. It is nice to have a good comfortable pair of hiking boots. Another good reason to hike Timp Peak next year now that I have broken my boots in.
3. Even though Lincoln can be annoyingly persistant at times as a kid, he is the only kid who did not whine or wimper the entire hike. His persistance pays off in some things. I noticed this in our hikes last year too. Lincoln is a tough kid.
4. In school Lincoln's teachers are going to love him or be REALLY annoyed by all his questions. He kept the ranger who gave us the cave tour on his toes with question after question, after question. He is a curious kid. I kept bouncing back and forth between embarresment about my kid asking too many questions and being proud that he was so interested in everything.
5. Every Saturday (while the cave is open) at the visitors center they have "Junior Ranger" classes. We happened to be waiting for our turn to hike right during that time so we got to listen to the show. Today they had a Wildlife Animal Rescuer who would be the one to get a rattle snake from your backyard if you were to find one. From this little presentation I learned that 80% of adult rattle snake bites are dry. All baby rattle snake bites are poisonous but as they get older they can distinguish and learn to save the venom for their prey which they appearently do not consider humans to be. I never knew that. I thought if you get bitten by a snake you are poisoned. You should always assume you have been poisoned though. Keep your bitten limb immobile and as calmly as possible go to the hospital. Do NOT run!There you go...something you read in my blog may actually save your life. . . oh and venom extraction kits are useless too by the way.
4 comments:
That snake thing is totally bizarre.
I am impressed that you hiked Timp. I haven't worked out at all this summer. Mostly I've just eaten cookies-- seriously. I'm eating cookies right now. I think I would pass out and die on any hike.
Oh and I think kids are just a mix of embarrassment and pride in general.
First of all we never actually hiked to the top of Timp...we only made it to Emerald Lake. The hardest part has yet to be conquered. We learned a lot on that hike too...that is a whole 'nother blog.
Thanks for the helpful information on handling snakes. Lucky for us, we live in the part of Texas where we see fluffy bunnies but haven't seen a snake yet. That would be scary, but at least now I would be more prepared.
It looks like a fun family hike. I know I did it as a kid, but I don't remember it. I'll need to do it sometime soon. And congrats on being in good shape!
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