Since we had five kids this weekend, we decided the best place to be was in the wilderness so they would have a lot of space! Also, Elisha and I were volunteering with Team Conasauga to work on the East Cowpen Trail. I headed up after school Friday to set up camp at the Cottonwood Patch Campground and it was already a little cold when I got there! Phyllis and the kids arrived around 7:30 and I had a great fire going by then, but them temperature was heading down fast. The forecast said it could reach 24 degrees! We had tons of blankets and we got the kids settled in the tent and we were sleeping in the car! As it got colder the kids were sleeping great and seemed to be perfectly warm, but I kept worrying we were going to freeze them to death! I got up about every hour to check on them as the temperature kept dropping! While I was up half the night, they slept like babies and never even noticed the cold! It reached 17 degrees (Never, ever trust weathermen!), but we survived!
After a good hot breakfast, Elisha and I headed to the trail and the rest crashed around the fire! East Cowpen was hit hard by the wildfires this winter and the trail needed a lot of work. Some of the volunteers had already been up and cut a lot of the fallen trees off of the trail (Hand saws only…These people amaze me!). We started up the trail and it was a warm 23 degrees as we began! The trail is only about 3 miles, but it climbs 1800 feet so it is very steep! Along the way, our major job was digging out water bars and drains to keep the trail from washing out! Elisha did an amazing job and out worked me! Phyllis and I have been canoeing this winter more than hiking and I felt the pain on this trail! Between limited sleep, cold, and not having hiked as much as usual, I had to really drag myself up the mountain! This was the same trail Phyllis and I came down in the dark (By accident…see my earlier story on that one!) We made it to the top around 2:30 and by then it really was almost warm at nearly 40 degrees! The hike down was a stroll and the weather was amazing at that point! I was so proud of Elisha and even before we finished he asked when the next work day was! He wants to be an official volunteer so I’m going to get him signed up! We made it back to camp around 4:30 and Phyllis and the other 4 kids were still around the fire! Not sure they ever moved even though they swore they had been working on the fire all day and had been playing hard!
Saturday night was a mild 41 degrees with a couple of quick rain showers and I slept REALLY well even though almost every muscle in, my body ached! We headed out of the wilderness after breakfast with a couple of people we met that came in late the night before! Turns out they lived in Rome not a mile from our house! You just never know who you will find in the wilderness! It was another amazing weekend, but I have to say Phyllis put a new rule in that if the predicted weather is under 40 degrees we will not be camping! I guess I’ll have to keep her from watching the weather!!!!