These TOWNies enjoyed this rare and diverse Park: June, Gloria, Marilyn, Carrie & Aaron, Judy L, Sandy O, Kay, Beverly, Marie, Darlene, and new members Donna and Jane!
Those of us who arrived on the Thursday found all the hiking trails closed and very wet conditions. As Gloria said, “We are Outdoor Women but we are also Indoor Women,” and we were TIWN for Thursday and Friday. Some short walks had to do.
On Saturday, Judy, Darlene, Marie, Beverly and Kay took a fabulous tube float down the river. We put in upstream, floated for 1/3 mile and walked up the trail to do it again. Judy was our real adventurer by floating the rapids as we watched with our fingers crossed.
Saturday evening we had some delicious soups made for the pot luck souper. In fact, Darlene’s chili was so good we asked for her
recipe, which is below.
At 7:30 on Sunday morning, Carrie, Beverly and Kay joined about 12 individuals and the park ranger on a 3 hour birding hike. It was a beautiful morning to see 38 different species of birds, some of which were very rare in the park. Since all of the trails had been closed due to rain, it was especially exciting to get to go to parts of the park that had been inaccessible. A favorite part of the hike was to go to the canyon and watch two types of kingfishers diving for minnows.
On Sunday Judy, Carrie, Beverly, and Aaron went upriver to an outfitter and got kayaks and gear, then paddled 3 miles down just past the Park. They reported that it was a beautiful paddle.
Sunday evening we chilled by the fire on a beautiful night.
There was this cat that had come around, starving, and Marilyn fed it and now both she and Judy are engaged in seeing that it goes into the rescue pipeline. That part of the story is still unfolding.