Back to Where It All Began: Turkey Mountain

Today we went to Turkey Mountain in Boonton, the site of the very first hike we did this year. The place that started it all. The place that lifted Liam out of his wheelchair (used for distances previously) and brought us over a hundred miles and tens of thousands of feet in elevation gain. On March 20, the first day of spring, two days before his endoscopy, we did a small section of Turkey Mountain. Just to the big rocks. Then we did the entire thing - up to the view, up to the ruins, and up to the power lines - the next day. Then, hours after his endoscopy, we hiked Pyramid Mountain, which is across the street. Turkey Mountain has a special place in our hearts; it was the birthplace of our hiking adventures.

Turkey Mountain last spring 

Turkey Mountain is also pretty easy terrain, not especially rocky though there are some rocks, only 2.1 miles, and 265 feet in elevation gain. Well.... easy when you're used to it. Though we hiked at Loantaka and Cheesequake last weekend, it was our first "real" hike in about two weeks. Loantaka was a bike path, completely flat and on pavement. Cheesequake was relatively flat and covered in boardwalks. It had been a while since we climbed a mountain - albeit a small mountain - and hiked on dirt and rocks.

We started out on a flat stretch covered in dirt and my feet immediately sang its praises of dirt over gravel or pavement. Even in the parking lot, my feet hurt, but on the path, the pain positively vanished. I asked Liam if he remembered the trails we'd be using today and he answered "Yellow - to blue - to teal!" And that's correct! Liam has the uncanny ability to memorize the trail sequences for every hike we've ever been on. It's pretty amazing and if it's the Highlands Trail, he remembers that it's the teal diamond! What 5 year old knows the color teal, let alone memorizes that the blaze is a teal diamond?

Soon we got to a rocky outcropping that Liam loves playing in, on, and around. This was the area that we stopped at on our first hike. Today he climbed easily over the rocks while I stepped gingerly to avoid turning my ankle. After a few photos, we continued on.

We got to a little boardwalk that brought us to the base of the mountain. We saw other people go by and they appeared to be lost but found the "TO VISITOR CENTER" sign before I could help them out. We started up the mountain and soon the impact of not having hiked for two weeks hit me. I panted, I sweat (despite it being a cool, lovely day), and I huffed and puffed my way up. Jon and Liam fell behind. Despite my ankle, I hiked quickly. I can't always control my pace and sometimes I move too far ahead, but I always turn around and wait until Jon and Liam catch up. Today I can't say that we climbed the mountain. The real word for it is "trudge." We trudged up the mountain and Liam kept asking, "Why are we climbing this?" As if he had never climbed a mountain before! I reminded him that this was easy compared to, say, Tammany or Bearfort. He wasn't so sure.

Soon (not soon enough) we came to the overlook. It's not a superb overlook, but it's somewhat worth the climb. We sat and rested while Liam drank his fill of ice water that we'd packed. He usually doesn't drink much on hikes so I was happy he was hydrating himself. We hung out and rested until Liam popped up and said, "Let's go! Let's go! I want to see the power lines!"

Up ahead were the ruins of an old building - hunting lodge? It looked as if it's from the late 19th century. We took a few photos, but Liam was eager to move on to the main show: the power line tower.

This child is a pylonophile, meaning he's obsessed with power lines. He has his favorite shaped power line towers and gets excited when a hike includes them.

We had played around with the idea of making a big loop to the limestone quarry, but decided against it due to Jon having to go to work and it was getting late. Liam was disappointed, but he took it in stride. After a short ride on Jon's shoulders, he got down and ran ahead of me and I could tell he was ataxic or at the very least wobbly. He refused to admit it because he didn't want to wear his helmet. He said he was afraid he'd sweat. But soon he wobbled, stumbled, and fell down. He started whimpering and crying. It didn't break the skin, but he was in some pain and this put a huge damper on his mood.

I decided it was time to put his helmet on. He fought me. He likes his helmet and sometimes asks for it, but today he was not in the mood. I asked him why he was in such a bad mood all of a sudden and he started bawling his eyes out. He refused to tell me why. Jon carried him on his shoulders for a little while until he couldn't carry him any longer and Liam got down.

"I'm having a bad time," Liam pouted, on the verge of tears. I asked why, but he refused to tell me. Finally he opened up. "I had a bad dream last night," he cried. "I dreamed about scary trees. And I tried to run away, but I fell down. And I couldn't get up!" Suddenly it made sense: the fall earlier had triggered his feelings about the dream. We reassured him, but nothing helped his mood. We walked in silence for a while. But suddenly I had an idea.

"I challenge you, Liam! To a RACE!" I said. "No, I don't want to," he replied, sniffling. "Okay, well, here I go!" I started to run. Now let me get something straight. I am no runner. Not at all. I am 100 pounds overweight and I have the jiggle to prove it. I am slow, wobbly, and asthmatic when I run. But I ran for Liam. I shot off like... well, like something slow and plodding, but I started running nonetheless. Liam's eyes lit up and he started running too to catch up with me.

"Come on, Daddy!" he yelled. Jon started running, about as badly as I was running, despite being 100 pounds lighter than I am.

All of a sudden Liam fell. Hard. He started to cry and we crowded around him to see if he was okay. "I'm okay!" he yelled and popped up like a jack-in-the-box. Off he dashed, leaving us in the dust. We started running again. My shorts were falling off my behind, but we kept running. He was ecstatic. Liam loves to run and he has a competitive nature.

"Who will win?" he yelled breathlessly.

"I'm pretty sure it'll be you, but we'll try!" I yelled back. After a while I fell behind and just walked quickly. Jon tried to catch up with Liam.

"Stop at the gate!" I called ahead.

By the time I caught up with Jon and Liam, this was the scene I came upon:

Liam had won (as predicted) and Jon was panting on the bench.

"I fell down so I could win!" Liam said proudly.

"You faked us out?" we asked.

"Yes!" he beamed.

"You little booger!" said Jon.

"I farted so Daddy would be knocked out! I blew my engine! But I got another one!" He exclaimed. We laughed before gathering ourselves up, crossing the road, and getting back to the car. Liam was smiling from ear to ear. I silently gave Jon a high five, we packed up the car, and went home. There were a lot of ups and downs to the day, but all in all, a good hike (and run). And this just proves that I always have a few tricks up my sleeve and I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself to put a smile on my baby's face.