Endless Road
When Tolkien said, “Not all who wander are lost,” he obviously wasn't referring to my family. Occasionally my family goes hiking, sometimes last minute. We don't always have a plan, per se, and can often seem ill-prepared. We also like to hike with our dog, as many do, since they like the freedom and joy of the exploration. These hikes sometimes are fun, but at other times feel like a trip I'd rather not take, in hindsight. You know, because when all was said and done, I felt lucky to have survived. On one particular hike, we went to a nearby popular park where we'd heard others liked to hike. The day being warm but not overly hot, we may have skimped on our water a bit. Some in the group thought they'd be fine for a short hike without water. Being a planner, I took my water pack and filled another for the youngest in our group. This turned out to be our Achilles heel. Fast forward to the hike, we decided to do “the loop” which sounded easy enough. It started ...