Archives for June 2007

It was a little over a mile from the road before we hit the single-track portion of the hike. It wasn’t difficult but I kept a close eye on YaYa. There were roots and loose rocks along the way. As we made our way down, we could hear cries that sounded like they were from a young girl. It didn’t sound like she was hurt; it sounded like the whiny, tired, someone is bugging me sort of cries.

When we arrived at the bottom of the gulch we found what appeared to be two families. There was a couple with a boy about 3 years old. They left soon after we arrived, leaving us with a blonde women and four kids.

The red head and the dark-haired boys were older than YaYa and younger than BoBo. They wore matching shirts from the private school in town. The other two children were younger and both blonde like the women.

The girl was the crier. She was about 5-6 years old and was the recipient of women’s constant urging her to enter the caves with the boys. The woman’s tone would go from yelling, to condescending, to gentle, and back at ease. It didn’t take long for it to grate on my nerves.

I wanted out of there but I didn’t want to ruin the boys fun. I also didn’t want to let them out of my sight. While the caves were cool, they were also high up the rocky gulch and they made me nervous.

Before I had reached my limit, the youngest in the group had hooked up with BoBo and YaYa and was eagerly giving them the lay of the land. He was about 3-4 years old and was happy for a little attention. He had a flashlight and YaYa was comforted by both his knowledge of the caves and the light.

We explored the first two caves, found the third to small for us to enter and began contemplating our exit. There were two other caves visible on the opposite side of the gulch. One of the older two boys was eager to show us the way. Before I knew it, BoBo and him were on their way over the rocks to explore it. Mike, YaYa and I followed behind.

We reached the first of the two caves where the boy was explaining to BoBo that he should remove his shoes and socks. It was wet and muddy inside. BoBo, quick to do as he was told, was off into the cave before YaYa could get his first shoe off. Left alone with the mud and darkness, YaYa did not want to go alone, and his Mom already had her fill of caves for the day.

When BoBo and the boy returned, I said that we were done exploring caves. YaYa was very unhappy at having missed out on the cave but I had enough of the yelling and crying. My head was spinning and I couldn’t take anymore.

At that point, the youngest arrived (flashlight in hand) and went to the unexplored cave. YaYa was now protesting our leaving. He wanted to go with the boy, where there was light and an unexplored cave. But I said no and turned as YaYa put his shoes and socks back on. BoBo and Mike were ahead of me and ready to go.