Introduction
Greetings, fellow hiking enthusiasts! Yesterday was my 190th hike on House Mountain! It's in my hiking log and memory. Ten more hikes will reach 200!
This entry, the 66th under the hiking section and the 121st under the family topic, describes the hike and includes two photographs from the lower middle bluff. The embedded video begins at that bluff and walks us back to the trailhead. Do we turn left or right?
House Mountain hike 190 was for two sister-in-laws. Their birthdays are a day apart. The hike was also in honor of my “adoptive” mother, who transitioned to her heavenly home, on this day last year.
Photographs at the Lower Middle Bluff & the Buzzard Story
Yesterday, the weather was sunny and warm. The sky was clear and blue. The temperature was in the 70s Fahrenheit. A light breeze helped dry the sweat.
I marked the time at 1:20 PM, as I started hiking up the west trail. Only a few hikers went by me, as they hiked down. The leaves were out fully and provided shade. Of course, poison oak was also out in abundance. Don't touch it! Several hawks were taking advantage of the updrafts. Small game scurried near the trail. The views, aside from the poison oak, were spectacular. If I had a dollar for every poison oak plant that I saw, then I would be a millionaire!
Sipping canteen water as I hiked up, I reached the west bluff and touched my rock, at 1:58 PM. I was surprised that 38 minutes had passed. I wasn't in a race, but I was moving along well. My ticker is fine, and I didn't need to stop to catch my breath. Well, maybe the need to pause, to water the foliage, delayed me a few minutes! Always ensure that you are hydrated, before hiking. Did I hydrate too much, before I started?
After a few minutes at the west bluff, I continued east, along the ridge trail. I met a few other hikers, as they passed by. Thankfully, not many folks were hiking. I had the woods to myself, mostly. You should come along and hike with me sometime! The views along the ridge trail are always great!
Passing the “picnic rock” (as I call it) and the east trailhead, I continued to the lower middle bluff, on the north side of the mountain. I took the two photographs, below, at 2:50 PM. The first looks northeast, and the second looks southwest. Enjoy the views!
At the top of the image, I don't know what the dark spot in the sky was. It wasn't an unidentified flying object (UFO)!
The west bluff, up which I'd hiked, is in the distance. I assume that the property owner built up that corner of the bluff. Smooth rocks are cemented around the sides.
Several years ago, I decided to lie down on the rock. With my head resting on my canteen, the bill of my hiking cap shaded my eyes from the sun. I took a nap. Awakening, several minutes later, a buzzard was flying circles above me. I hollered, “Not yet! Not yet!” The buzzard flew away, to hunt another meal.
The Video: Birthday Greetings & Remembering Mother
The birthday of my wife's youngest sister was the day before yesterday's hike. My youngest brother's wife turned another year older, on the day of the hike. A year ago today, my “adoptive” mother transitioned to her heavenly home. I can only imagine, with my eyes of faith, the everlasting wonders that she is seeing even now! One of these days, my faith will become sight.
Yesterday, I decided to record a video, starting at the lower middle bluff. I kept recording, until I reached the ridge trailhead.
The video, on Appalachian Irishman - Podcasts (YouTube), is titled, “House Mt. Hike 190, 4-25-2024: Birthday Greetings & Remembering Mother (pub. 4-26-2024; episode 28).” I hope that you pause to watch it. The recording is seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds in length. How would you answer the question that I ask, at the end of the video?
Previous articles that mention and honor my “adoptive” mother are:
My Mother's Birthday, 1/21/2021, at Age 91 (published 1-24-2021)
In Memory of My Adoptive Mother (published 5-5-2023; article #410), which includes the remote video message that aired during her funeral service: Ozella McTigue Scott (1-21-1930 to 4-26-2023) Funeral Message, by Marion W. Ferrell (on 4-27-2023).
Charleston, MO, Family Reunion & Mission Moscow Reunion (published 8-5-2023; article #423)
I'll call my “adoptive” sister, after this article is published. Hey, Sis., I hope that you have your ears on!
Conclusion
Thankfully, my 2006 Frontier and I arrived home, just in time for me to start peeling 'taters! Once Mrs. Appalachian Irishman came home, she must have noticed that my hiking shoes were in the kitchen and that I smelled of sweat. I asked about her day. She had to work late, to interview an applicant for an open teaching position. I assume that she assumed that I had been hiking.
In the introduction to this article and at the end of the video, I asked, “Do we turn left or right?” I was standing at the trailhead on the ridge trail. Turning left leads to the dead-end trail. Turning right comes out correctly.
Hiking theology states that we should keep turning right and going straight in life! We come out right at the end of the trail. That's how I'm hiking. Join me, if you aren't already hiking along with me!
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