Introduction
Whose birthday was last Monday? What did I do last Monday? Whose birthday is today? Why am I not hiking today? When was my next to most recent hike on House Mountain? This 69th entry in the hiking topic section answers those questions!
Answering the last question, my next to most recent House Mountain hike (#192) was earlier this month on Wednesday, the 9th. That day, our “adopted” great niece, Addy, turned 15! The audiovisual episode aired that day. The two-part series of articles was published last Friday and Saturday.
Whose birthday was last Monday, the 14th? Our niece, Lilliana, turned 15 that day! What did I do last Monday? I hiked House Mountain for the 193rd time!
Happy Birthday, Lilliana!
These written birthday greetings are a week late. On the 14th, my audiovisual birthday wishes were right on time and were recorded on the upper-middle bluff of House Mountain!
Appalachian Irishman – Podcasts (YouTube) includes two entries. The panoramic view on the original, “House Mt. Hike 193: Happy Birthday, Lilliana! (published 10-14-2024; episode 30),” was too narrow. The next day, I expanded the panoramic view to make it look better. See “House Mt. Hike 193: Happy Birthday, Lilliana! (published 10-14-2024; episode 30; updated 10-15-2024).”
The description to both entries states, “Happy birthday, Lilliana! House Mountain hike 193 is on your fifteenth birthday today! My wife and I love you, and we are very proud of you. You are a fine Christian young lady. Listen to the challenge in this episode! When are your parents, your sister, and you going to come down this way, to hike House Mountain with me?”
The challenge is on! Of course, my wife and I could drive up that way to hike Laurel Run Park with Lilliana, her sister, and her parents. What do you say, Lilliana?
House Mountain Hike #193
Last Monday, the 14th, the weather was clear, sunny, and windy. The morning low of 52 degrees Fahrenheit warmed to a high of 65 degrees. The cool breeze kept me from sweating too much. From 1:23 to 4:39 PM, three hours and sixteen minutes in the woods were better than not having been there!
Last Saturday's article focused on the newly fallen trees. More were on the west trail. For this hike, I chose to hike up the east trail, where not as many fallen trees blocked the trail. I took the following two photographs at the upper-middle bluff, before recording Lilliana's audiovisual birthday greetings. At 3:08 PM, I took the first photograph.
The view looks north. The American flag, mentioned in last Saturday's article, is visible in the lower left of the image.
A minute later, after walking east to the large rock formation, I took the following photograph.
The view looks southwest. The west bluff is visible in the distance. I saw a hawk circling, but I couldn't catch a photograph of him. Leaves are beginning to change. The cool breeze felt refreshing.
Hiking back and out on the same east trail, I stopped below the second switchback going down (or fifth hiking up) to place a long and fallen tree trunk across the top of a cutback that disrespectful hikers had made. I piled nearby fallen branches around the tree trunk. I hope that dissuades hikers from making that cutback worse.
At 4:39 PM, I touched the marker near the covered picnic table to end my hike. Five minutes later, I photographed my sturdy 2006 Frontier. He likes to have his photograph taken.
My trusty canteen and Mike's “Delta Saloon Suicide Table” cap are on the side-view mirror. The 8/5/2023 short story mentions my “adopted” brother-in-law's cap.
Conclusion
Whose birthday is today? My youngest brother attained the young age of 51 today! His wife and he are the parents of Lilliana and her older sister. I'll call him after publishing this article.
Why am I not hiking today? Aside from chores around the house and spending time with Molly, our ol' puppy, outside, I had to publish this article! The weather has been clear and sunny all day. The mountains are calling me. Do I hike tomorrow?
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