Christmas Hike

Christmas Hike
Originally uploaded by cieuxautres.

In what is becoming a tradition, we went on our Christmas hike after opening all the presents. We headed out to the trail where SkyGirl and I helped plant cacti last month. All our plantings are still very small, but they are still there. SkyGirl was very proud, showing the Doctor the plants she put in the ground. When we planted them, SkyGirl walked around with a little hand shovel, scratching at the gravel and dirt while I used the pick axe to dig us a hole. Then she would help shove the dirt around the cactus, patting down the little pile while I constantly steered her hand away from the needles. I, of course, was the one that eventually got stuck, and a month later, I still have the needle imbedded in my index finger. A tiny little bump that I feel every time I rub my fingers together.

The holiday changes the nature of hiking on a trail. Weekdays, the trails seem to be very sparsely used, one or two hikers, some people doing trail running, lots of silence. On weekends they are much busier, with lots of people out getting their weekly exercise, but they still mostly come in ones or twos. On holidays, they often come in bunches of seven or eight. The trail was very crowded today with families and visiting bowl fans. We saw a few Texas Tech fans here for the Insight Bowl. But once we got about a mile into the trail, the crowds thinned out.

SkyGirl wasn't feeling well, with a sore throat, so we took our jogging stroller, pushing her through rocky washes and up the sides of ravines. It wasn't easy, but doable, and the little girl is not so little anymore. Carrying her in the backpack did not appeal to me in my slightly hungover state. So a short hike/push and we were happy to get back to the car and ride home.