The Big Boy Hike

For years I have wanted to go hiking with my kids. I wandered the Berkeley hills in Tilden Regional Park when I was young, and I loved it. I wanted to share this place with my own children.

Spending eight years hobbling around in my slippers, using shopping carts like walkers pretty much meant hiking was not an option. Now that I am healthy enough to take on the great outdoors, I have a few pretty resistant customers, most likely because it is completely foreign to them. Hiking can be hard work...and you might get dirty. My big boy is especially known for shying away from activities that involve those two things...working hard and getting dirty. 

Imagine my surprise when he excitedly agreed to join me in climbing a mountain this past weekend. I'm pretty sure it was a combo of getting time away from his humungous history project on which he has been majorly procrastinating and spending a little one-on-one time with me :)

I packed some lunch and some water, put on some real hiking boots, and off we set. I'd done this hike several times decades ago; I knew it was something he could handle. I have no idea how many miles it is, and I'm too lazy to do the math using the park's trail map. Start to finish, it took us 2 hours...and we were really leisurely. 

Me and my big boy getting ready to head out.

We opted for the road less traveled...

the one to the right, in case you couldn't tell.

Some images lend themselves to hugeness...

...and here's a close-up of the branch obstructing the trail...

...because the blistery, black fungus we had to climb over reminded me

vividly of that poor prairie dog we saw on our trip to the SF Zoo.

We were careful to not touch it in the event it is interphylum contagious.

This one also needs to be seen really, really big...

Yes, my son is a tree-hugger. 

But he does have discriminating taste...

this is quite possibly the biggest California Bay Laurel

in the world!

Well...it's the biggest one I've ever seen, anyway.

We skipped through dried-up meadows...

...climbed down steep ravines...

...crossed cute little creeks with fluffy ferns growing next to them...

...spotted hot babes...

...texted dad to let him know we'd had no Sasquatch sightings and were safe...

Dude...

This was hard work.

We were climbing a freaking mountain!

See? 

That's the trail sign...

That hump thing is the mountain...and we went to the top.

This is about 3/4 of the way up.

Ever upward...up, up, UP!

The final stretch toward the summit...

at a whopping 1250 feet above sea level.

I started to get worried because we had neglected to pack our oxygen tanks.

The glorious day from atop Wildcat Peak.

Once we finished our lunch, we started down...

Through trees...

...short and droopy...

...tall and straight...

And we skipped through more meadows...

...not sure why this meadow is so much greener than that first meadow...

...and we followed the road more traveled back to the car.

As we followed this road around the corner past where you can see, 

we saw something very special. Right before we reached the car, 

a hawk swooped and snatched up some prey about 10 feet from us.

Both of us were awe-struck as we watched its strong, powerful flight between the trees, 

rodent dangling from its talons...

triumphant.

Not once had he complained. Not once had he whined. Big G spent the remainder of the afternoon and on into the evening thanking me for taking him on this hike. He'd walk up to me and stand there, and when I'd turn to him, he'd throw himself into my arms and bury his head into my shoulder and say how cool it was and how much fun he had and how he wanted to do it again sometime...and thank you. It really did move me to tears.