No Right or Wrong Way

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE

Leaving the house I planned to do a short flat hike with Kahlua. That didn't happen. Instead we went to see if I could find the pathway up to a cross on a hilltop that I've gone to a couple of times this year. The last time I came I was attacked by a swarm of bees and received several stings. For that reason I was reluctant to come back.

High on the hill I'd discovered a trail the last time I was here but I never was able to find where it came down. The bees made sure of that. Today I thought I could find the start of that trail, if nothing else.

At the bottom of the hill there are several options on which way to head up the hill, none of them the obvious "right" way.

We get to this place where the "trail" gets steep and I while I could easily climb it I don't think Kahlua will be able to.

So we scramble down and look for another way to get to where I want to go.

We traverse the side of the hill to determine if there is a feasible way to go up. There isn't.

Since there's not a reasonable way up for Kahlua and I, I decide to go and hike up to a cross stuck in this rocky gully.

As I work my way across the steep, loose rocks on the hillside I wonder why I didn't just go on a nice flat hike. It is something I often wonder.

The gully gets steeper and I wonder if I should go all the way up to the cross. Kahlua wouldn't let me turn back so up we went.

Lying there broken in the rocks is the cross. It is not a wooden cross like others I've seen but plastic. It is cracked and broken, garbage.

It also has someone's initials on it. I decide to carry it down and dispose of it. Thankfully, it's very light and not too unwieldy.

We make it down without mishap and find where someone has put some rocks to outline a nice, easy, flat trail. A trail that holds a lot of appeal when I think of all of the loose rocks that I have just passed over. There's really no wrong way for me when I go on a hike but I know for sure that the way I came was not the right one.

But at least we cleaned up the hillside a little bit.