She mostly hikes with her dad and Tucker our yellow lab. They have explored many trails and know Red Rock Canyon like the back of their hands. I, on the other hand, know one route in the canyon that we access from the top of our neighborhood and I typically don't venture from the tried and true. So this week tested me a bit. Molly and I went out on two occasions and both times I let her lead. We'd get to a fork in the road and she would slow down and wait for me to catch up. She'd look at me expectantly to tell her which way to go. Since I had NO clue, I told her to pick and off we went to the right. It was a pretty day, the weather was good, we had no pressing commitments to get home to, so I relaxed into our adventure. I didn't know where we were going. I didn't know how far we were going or how long it would take. Typically I'm a bit of a control freak and LOVE knowing those details but decided to just go with the flow. I had my phone if we got too lost and Brooke had to come and get us wherever we ended up.
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| Garden of the Gods in the distance |
We hiked up. We hiked down. She skipped trails that went off to the left, and others that veered off to the right. She seemed to know where she was going so I kept plodding along behind her. Tucker ran ahead sniffing, exploring and peeing. They were having a good time. I was breathing hard. Molly makes a constant noise that I'm sure baffles folks that encounter us on the trail. I compensate with a friendly "hello" when they finally get to me. Molly pulls off the trail to the right when she spots a fast mountain biker heading our way. She could teach a class on hiking etiquette if she could talk.
After our big 1 1/2 hour hike, I thought "Aha!! I have figured out an awesome job for Molly." It would take a particularly flexible clientele that would hire her but I think that they would be very satisfied with their workout. She is fast. She will get you back to your car. She will not talk to you and bother you; only lead you at a good clip. You will have NO idea where you are going or how long you will be gone, but that is part of the adventure! And because it's Red Rock Canyon, you will not be disappointed with the spectacular beauty that surrounds you. Just don't stop and look for too long or you will lose sight of your leader!
So today, we hiked again and I was curious to see if Molly was like me and would go on the exact.same.route. Lo and behold.....she didn't!! We got to the fork in the road, she turned to look at me for guidance, I told her to pick and she pointed LEFT (instead of right) and we did the prior hike backwards. I can't wait to see what we do next time!!
The icing on the cake for her is that she has lost 20 lbs in the last year with all her hiking. So maybe I should be hiking with her more.....
Here are a few pictures of Molly hiking through the years:
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| She loves hiking in all weather conditions |
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| She likes the steep hikes that I hate...so her dad takes her on those |
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| Stunning scenery by our house, isn't it? |
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| She loves these socks |
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| We started hiking with the kids as soon as they could walk |
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