Hiking on purpose

Trixie has always been one to like a good hike and as many of you know Ol' Dutch has put in a good mile or two while fishing or hunting. A recent trip to Idaho, however, made me realize that there is where the similarities end.

We pulled the Conestoga to Idaho last week to help my daughter Cricket and her husband Cap with a remodel project on their house. To kind of give you a heads up on this endeavor, they had purchased this cozy cottage on a quaint shady street near Idaho State University.

I guess this is the “go to” neighborhood for people in this town as “everybody” wants to live near there. For Cap and Cricket it is extra handy as they are both professors at the college and can walk to work rain or shine.

But back to my story. They purchased this house last fall and for a Christmas party all of their friends came over and they tore out all the walls and kitchen and bath. Now when Ol' Dutch says all he means right down to the studs and rafters.

Some months later Dad got the call and so here I am trying to work a miracle in 30 days and get it wired, plumbed, insulated and sheet rocked. Please pray.

We had Saturday all planned out on what we could do with all of us working when suddenly Cap came down with the green apple nasties and he was confined to a small distance between his bed and the porcelain throne.

Seizing upon the chance to not work, Cricket, Trixie and I headed out to see some sights and took a drive up toward Lookout Mountain. Now when Ol' Dutch heard about that place I was envisioning a drive up to an overlook where I could sit and watch the world pass by.

Little did I expect that every mile along the road there would be an actual hiking trail to explore. They had nice cutesy names like Peach Orchard Loop, Cherry Creek Loop, Alpine Ski Loop, Miners Creek Loop.

I would suppose that having a trail that ended up back at the same spot you began would be a good thing in the end but somehow Ol' Dutch just cannot for the life of me figure out why anyone would go on a hike to nowhere.

My hikes always have a purpose in mind like finding a deer or elk, bear or moose or some secluded stream or lake to cast a fly into. To simply walk for the pleasure of walking seems to me to be a little bit on the crazy side.

Somehow Ol' Dutch was able to dodge the hiking part of the day by reminding the girls that this is rattlesnake country and passing a road sign that said “Lower Rattlesnake Road” did wonders for my cause.

Of course I do realize that to go about anywhere you either have to double back or make a loop and this day was no different as we continued on around the mountain range and up to the Snake River.

Now there is something Ol' Dutch could get excited about as there were people fishing and Cricket and I got to watch them for a while. Trixie had stayed in the truck in the parking lot perusing the Internet on her phone and was treated to a couple doing the “the horizontal hula” in the car next to her. That gives a whole new meaning to going fishing to soak your worm to which Trixie rolled her eyes. 

But all in all it was a good day with the No. 1 daughter and we did end up making a loop – albeit in the truck – which was good since we wanted to go home at the end of the day. 

If you are into hiking just to hike I can appreciate that but having a real purpose in mind keeps Ol' Dutch more interested. But who knows, maybe someday I will take one of those side trails and talk Trixie into a little hula of our own.

Go Big

Getting to roam the earth like I do, I am often drawn to the most odd-named spots on this planet.   It makes sense that a lot of towns were named after meaningful people or places like New Amesterdam or Georgetown. And, some places are named after a unique geological feature common to the area like South Fork, Colorado named for the adjacent river that runs through it. 

In the San Luis Valley we see the early influence of the Spanish and later Latino peoples in the names of the cities and places like the Sangre De Christo Mountains which translated means, The Blood of Christ.

But Ol' Dutch has always been amazed at some of the names he visits and reads about and I have to wonder where these could have possibly originated?  You don't have to look far to find a Bugtussle, Texas or a Boring, Oregon. There is a Why, Arizona and there is Whynot, Mississippi. Another interesting place is Loafers Glory, North Carolina which I take to be a good place to re-shoe oneself but Trixie says that maybe is where Ol' Dutch can ply his trade of "loafing."

The town of Sweet Lips, Tennessee gives me great memories of a gal I knew from the South and Lick Skillet, Tennessee kind of leaves a slick feeling on my tongue.  I know nothing about Hell, Michigan but it would give most preachers fits as they try and convince their congregations that they need to be "saved from Hell." Personally, though, I have been in a few towns I wish someone had saved me from too so Ol' Dutch thinks this might just be one of them.

Now Ol' Dutch has never been one to be too prudish but how people came up with Intercourse, Pennsylvania for a town name is a tad suspect. As for other less than dainty sounding names there is Dildo, Canada to which Ol' Dutch won't touch with a 10 foot pole. And Middlefart, Denmark brings up thoughts of odoriferous airs about town. 

We cannot fail to mention Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales which has fewer residents than the letters in its name.  More local place names include Center which lies in the center of the Valley and Creede, named for Nicholas Creede who first found silver deposits there. 

I guess my favorite of all times however would have to be Timbuktu which is located far away on the edge of the Great Sahara Desert. This name invokes something far, far away and is also just fun to say like Waxahachie, Texas. 

Maybe this year you will find yourself in Hygiene or Spook City, Colorado. Or possibly you could find your way to Wideawake or maybe pick up a few new house guests in Old Roach, Colorado? There is one thing I do know after all these years and that is "wherever you find yourself, there you are" and the journey is half the fun of any adventure. 

So should this year find Ol' Dutch and Trixie in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico or  Pee Pee Ohio or some other town with an interesting name, we will try and always remember the old saying, "you cannot judge a book by its cover.” Even if we end up in Anus, France Ol' Dutch will try not to have a crappy outlook on life. 

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. And his blog is www.troutrepublic.com.