The Hike-Birthday Adventure Part 1

We took our first backpacking adventure together. We went to the Red River Gorge for a night. Although we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, we had a few drawbacks that taught us a lot and prepared us for future hikes. We arrived right after a big rain storm so it was cooler-thank goodness because we've been through a heat wave- but it was also a little slick. The creepy crawly bugs were the worst part, and of course we forgot bug spray. We were covered with bug bites in the areas where skin was exposed.

We took a trail that was very diverse with hills, water, sand, clay, meadows, woods, mountain tops, and a giant archway. It was totally beautiful and breathtaking. We saw many beautiful plants and animals as well as amazing views. From mountain tops, to fern gullies, waterfalls, creeks, a cute little brown lizard with bright orange spots that we named Reggie, and so on.

Our camp site.
We learned to get a ventilated tent, better food, sleeping bag sheet, stools to sit on, sleeping pads, and a wind guard for our propane stove. We loved our camping pillows, pocket knives, sturdy boots, amazing backpacks, water purifier, special hiking shirts, and flip flops. The bugs were so bad that after dinner we got inside our tiny tent to escape only to find the close quarters were uncomfortable and way to hot. We maybe got a few hours of sleep through out the long night, but it sure was fun to talk and laugh. We laughed so much at just how miserable our food, sleep, and bug bites were. In the morning we woke with the sun and packed up to head home. I couldn't take much more due to exhaustion and lack of good food! But we still loved it and had a blast.
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