By the fourth day of our backpacking trip, Mango Mamma and I began singing, “The Lord told Noah to build him an ark-y, ark-y.” It rained every day of her trip.
She had arrived full of excitement and wonder. Everything was beautiful. Each time it stopped raining, we pulled my camera
Mango Mamma
out of its waterproof bag (read: ziploc) and took a ton of pictures. By the end of the trip, I had her trained. Scenic overlook- skip. View of a pond- pass on by. You can’t really blame us. The fog made any view look like staring at a white wall, and ponds are just a cute word for “mosquito breeding ground.”
We did not see a moose, which is too bad because Mango Mamma really wanted to. And, although she stayed up all one night worrying about it, we did not have a bear come into our tent to eat our food either.
We hiked at a fairly good pace, in part because Mango Mamma has been training a lot, and in part because I was determined that my in shape 53 year old mother not leave me in the dust.
Hiking in the rain is slow going and we took turns falling down the mountain. It’s good to take turns because then no one feels like they aren’t getting their fair share of the mud. Mango Mamma does manage to stay cleaner than me, despite going through all of the same terrain. As she is my mother, I cannot blame this on genetics. I prefer to think that by my submudging my foot knee deep in muck, I am taking one for the team.
This section of the trail has definitely been my healthiest. I usually eat something like candy bars dipped in peanut butter for lunch, but Mango Mamma and I drank smoothies and swallowed Juice Plus all day. At the shelter last night, someone told me that they have done studies of thru-hikers and most of them are malnourished (no surprise). Juice Plus seems like a good option because it does not weigh much and gives you a lot of fruits and vegetables. I will have Mango Mamma write a guest post to explain how that works.
All in all a great visit, even with the bugs and the rain. If anyone else can, I would love to have other visitors, although, you will have to compete with Mango Mamma for time slots.
