Blue Ridge Hike

The weather was so gorgeous today. It seemed like such a waste to spend the days indoors doing boring house stuff. So we rounded up The Canine Mafia and off we went in search of a new trail to explore.

Google led me to Blue Ridge Trail and I was ecstatic to have found a trail so close to home. I printed directions, handed them to Ryan and we loaded the crew into the car. It wasn't until we got to the trail that maybe I should have read the fine print: extremely difficult trail.

"Hey Ma! Whatcha talking about?
This trail ain't so hard!"

0.25 miles later...

"Oomph! Give me a second
to catch my breath."

I should have read the description of the trail that said it's a very, very, very, very steep uphill climb up to high elevation. Did I mention that it was very steep?




Regardless, we continued forward.






At the end (or should I say at the very top?) of the hike, we were promised to be rewarded with majestic views of Lake Barryessa and gorgeous views of Sacramento. It was very well worth the sweat, blood and multiple spills I took getting to the top to enjoy these views.








It was also very refreshing to see land untouched by man for as far as the eye could see.





But it wasn't easy getting to the top!


Carmela made me even more tired just looking at her. She kept bouncing around like a jack rabbit and zigzagging all over the place. I never saw her pant once. I kept wondering where the hell she kept getting all this energy from.

"It's my new sports bra that I'm wearing.
You should try it!"

But she was a very good girl. She kept coming back down the trail to check on me and make sure I was still behind the boys.

"You still there, Ma?"

Poor Gino was trucking along as best he could.

"How much longer to the top?"

"One hundred million more miles!"

I have no pictures of Vinnie because Vinnie is smart. He noticed I was trucking along at a very slow pace and decided to stick with me the entire trail. Which unfortunately, is too close of a range for my camera lens.


Once we were at the top, coming down seemed twice as hard. Ever try to balance on the balls of your feet for 2 miles straight? I took a pit stop at some point only to see Carmela went to go play in some brush and I noticed she had quite the fan club forming. Above her that is...

"Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Those things keep calling me dinner!"

"I feel like Mexican food tonight!"

Now multiply those vultures by ten and you have her fan club. I had to leash her up the rest of the hike down so that they'd look for dinner elsewhere.


Even thought this trail felt like it was going to be my death, I am proud to say we made it all the way to the top! The Canine Mafia never gives up! They may be bums at time, but today, they were bums in action!