With nearly 50 acres of land, which was basically half of a mountain, there was a lot of walking available to do when there was time or when we fancied a good walk. The house was down at the very base of the mountain, in a narrow valley area that basically followed the mountain side by side. I'd say the valley was no more than a few acres wide, and the road was in the center. It curved and followed the mountain all along the way to the main road in both directions.

When you own half a mountain side you begin to wonder about it's top. I would sit in a small field in front of our house, which used to be covered in rows and rows of cedar trees that were taken down to make open space around the farm house, buildings, and barn. That field had a sure shot all the way up to the top of the mountain. I would sometimes glance up there, wondering about it, and then look back to where I was, and follow the mountain back up again. It wasn't an easy walk if we were going to ever go up there.

I had mentioned that the land had once been property to a logging company. They had a road zig zagging all the way up from the gravel road (the main road in our area) to mid-way up the mountain. It had been decades and decades since anyone had used it as a road. But it was a good marker for walking up the mountain. So one day we packed up a lunch and some drinks and headed up that way. We didn't know how long it would take us, but we weren't too concerned. We knew that we'd be alright either way. No hunters were about at that time, and there hadn't been any sightings of wild cats or bears.

As we made our way up, it was an easy walk at first. Actually it was very gentle and soft. The redbuds had just become full in bloom, dogwoods were peeking about, and everything was lush and feeling new and fresh. It was almost like a painting. The only problems were fallen trees in our path, boulders here and there, and the concern of copperheads. They were usually not too keen on meeting anyone, but you know, sometimes they had days where they felt like shouting to the skies. Especially if they're stepped on!

We went up the mountain half-way without much problem, other than my shortness not handling some of the larger trees too well that were in the way. Being only 5' 4" compared to someone who was 6' tall was a challenge. A leap here, a bound there for him and things were prefect! Me? Oh no no no. No leaps and no bounds here.

First came the inspection of the structure. A foothold? Where is a foothold...oh dear, there isn't one, I need to crawl over it! So, then there was inspection for a hand hold.  After that it was scrambling, grunting, pulling, pulling...and of course by the fifth tree I had to crawl over, under, or through...well, my clothing looked more like camoflauge than jeans and a t-shirt!

At least I made it half-way up the mountain!

At that point we were able to look up the mountain some more. The angle of the sloap to the top of the mountain from the end of the logging trail was astonishing. I know that it wasn't 90 degrees. But I tell you, I bet anything it was around 65 or 70. We were able to get a good idea of what we needed to do to finish our hike up the mountain. And we talked about the best route while we sat and ate. It had taken us about four hours to hike to the area we were at. We couldn't see the house from where we were, or the barn, or anything on the valley. The trees were way to thick, but we knew the general area it was in. I wish I could have seen that section. I bet it was really, really great.

Eventually we finished looking at the mountain, packed up our garbage, and headed back down the trail. This time moving easier and a bit faster, as it was down hill. I had an easier time with the logs, after knowing the best places to cross or crawl over (or under), and we made it home a bit sooner than we imagined. As I stood in the field in front of the house, and looked up into the darkening mountain rocks and forests, I felt a slight urge to go back. Twilight was coming swiftly, lightning bugs were flashing, and the breeze was warm.

I knew at some point we would be up on the mountain top, and see what we could see...

But when?