An Exciting Weekend Going Places (and a Few Flashbacks)

Be forewarned, this blog post is extremely huge!

The first weekend of October is quite a memorable weekend. My family was hosting a Danish teenage girl named Nadja. She was one of a group of Danes who were in Berea for purely tourist reasons. Before and after the weekend there were scheduled activities, such as a group hike up Indian Fort Mountain, but that weekend, we were free to do our own choosing. Unfortunately, Daddy couldn't be with us because he had to do a fall break tour playing music for the Berea College Country Dancers. The rest of us had a fun time.

Hazel and Sage joined us in going to the Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday. It was my first time to visit while not on a field trip or seeing Christmas lights at night. I had taken a fourth grade field trip to the Kentucky Horse Park, and then in eighth grade, we visited an indoor Indian exhibit there, where my aide at that time kept me away from the rest of the class, and mostly confined me to the gift stands while the Indians were giving demonstrations elsewhere. I don't have very pleasant memories of that trip. I felt I was missing out on learning stuff about the Indians, plus I wanted to be with my class. At least I could see examples of Indian craft work being sold and got to eat lunch with the special ed kids, where I had a couple of friends. Mrs. Martin wasn't my aide much longer, leaving me in the midst of that year for a teaching job. The earlier fourth grade trip was much more fun, when I could be with the rest of my class while we visited with the horses and looked around outdoors. I had a much nicer aide back then.

This current family trip to the Kentucky Horse Park was a return to the horses. We passed through a visitors center area, and among the pictures of horses on the walls, there was Barbaro, racing along with his familiar pink saddle blanket marked "8". It was nice to gaze at him, touched that this picture was hung up in his honor. Our first stop was a horse barn, where I enjoyed walking through and looking at the horses in their stalls, though Sage was noticeably scared. We walked into a shed area with old farming equipment, and just as we stepped into the shed, a voice started speaking to us, startling us all. Somewhere, there was a motion-detecting speaker, though we couldn't figure out where.

We saw where horse drawn tours were going to take place later that day. First, we were going to see the Parade of Breeds. We passed where a group of Amish people were at a wooden fence, looking at small ponies on the other side. The women and girls all wore white bonnets and traditional Amish dresses. There were just one young boy among them, and no men. It was like going back into time, seeing the Amish in a country setting, next to the ponies and the fence. As we went further, a few Amish men started emerging from the paths, along with other women and children.

We still had extra time before the Parade of Breeds, so we walked around and saw horses that were kept in the stalls where the Parade of Breeds are showcased. A few women came into the horses' stalls and assisted them. While Hazel got onto the front bleachers and nursed Sage, Emma stayed with them and Mommy, Nadja, and I went to a nearby tack shop, where horse accessories are sold. There were interesting horse figurines for sale that had different breeds of horses with a description of them. I liked just to rummage around them and see what the different breeds were like. Mommy and Nadja were busy looking at a photo book that the shopkeeper was pointing out. He had made saddles for the Seabiscuit movie, and the saddles were all showcased in the book.

Hazel eventually called Mommy's cell phone, and we went up to the topmost bleacher where Hazel, Sage, and Emma were. Along the way to the bleachers, I saw some interesting older women in red hats and shirts and purple vests on top of their horses. Just a few other people came up onto the bleachers before the Parade of Breeds. Most people were sitting in shaded areas bordering the U-shaped stables instead of having a view right in front like we were doing. I thought our view was better.

The show began with the American flag brought out on horseback and "The Star Spangled Banner" being sung. Different breeds were being showcased, with each horse and rider being brought out separately. It reminded me of the horse figurines I saw in the store. Each horse figurine seemed to be brought to life.

My favorite part of the show was when the horsebacked ladies that I saw earlier came from the trees by the stands into the arena instead of entering through the main entrance. All of the ladies had red hats except for one lady with a pink hat. The group was entitled "Red Hats and Purple Chaps". It was explained that the ladies had to be over 50 years old in order to wear a red hat. The ladies and their horses promenaded all around, even going up towards the main entrance two by two and then splitting up, like the Big Set dance. It was later explained how the ladies had trained their horses that way. I like to imagine those horses dancing the whole Big Set with the Red Hat ladies aboard.

Here are four of those ladies and horses with matching saddles, with many more coming behind.

My second favorite part was the costume show, where I got to see horses and riders alike dressed in costumes. I could see an Arab, a captain, and a cowgirl all together, along with other costumed people riding their horses. Here is a horse and rider in green, looking like they are going on a joust.

More costumed riders...



After the Parade of Breeds was over, the Red Hat ladies came back out with their horses and started talking to people. I followed Mommy down the bleachers while she was carrying Sage. The ladies were handing out artificial roses to grandmas, and when Mommy explained to one of the ladies that she was a grandma, that lady didn't believe her! Mommy had to tell her age before the lady gave her a rose. The lady then approached me and handed me a rose, even though I'm obviously not a grandma! Somehow, having crutches entitles me to grandmahood! I accepted my rose gift, rather amused, not feeling much like a grandma. It was rather fitting that my middle name is Rose. Mommy's first name is Rose too, though she just goes by her middle name. Sage held on to Mommy's rose through the rest of the Kentucky Horse Park visit.

We arrived back at the horse-drawn wagon tours with a few minutes to spare. The wagons had bench seats with completely open sides and a covered roof. We were able to watch as the two big horses, named Thunder and Lightning, were brought out to us. As they were being hitched on, I made a very steep ascent up onto the narrow step and into the wagon itself. That kind of step was not exactly meant for handicapped people, but I manage such steps. I had the middle seat in the bench seat we were sitting on, with Hazel, Sage, and Emma on one side, and Mommy and Nadja on the other. There were both people in front of us and people behind us. I didn't mind being in the middle. I had a great view all around as Thunder and Lightning took us places in the horse park, some that we had already visited that day, others we had not. Here are a couple of scenes we viewed from the wagon.

Before we left the horse park that day, we visited the International Museum of the Horse. It showed samples of evolution of the horse, and how the early ancestors of the horse were the size of dogs. There were lifelike sculptures of horse, and numerous plaques among the circular wall showing the use of horses in human history, including the horse racing of today. There were small scenes in 3D inserted in the outer wall, such as the scene that Emma, Nadja, and I were looking at in the photo below.

You can see the rose that the Red Hat lady gave me. It was easy to hang on to it and my crutch grip at the same time. It was nice to have a free souvenir of the trip to remind me of this experience and the Red Hat lady who gave it to me. The rose came with a white tag that said the name of the group and their website, which I have now looked at.

The circular hall was sloping upwards, and we came to a point where the inner wall opened up to reveal a big display on old-fashioned horse-drawn transportation as you will see in this photo below. I could imagine the horses pulling the wagon in real life, similar to Thunder and Lightning pulling our open-air wagon.

We visited a few other places in the museum before exiting it. We had to leave the whole park soon afterwards because we had earlier found out about a dance in Lexington, and wanted to take Nadja shopping before then. While Hazel and Sage went home for a while, Mommy, Emma, and I took Nadja to Joseph Beth Booksellers at the Lexington Green shopping center and ate dinner at the cafe there. Joseph Beth is my very favorite bookstore, but we just made a very quick run through of it because both Nadja and Emma had things they wanted to buy at the Target store nearby. We did a lot more walking around in Target, and my feet were getting quite sore. We went on to the dance at ArtsPlace, where the first floor always houses artwork on display. Hazel and Sage met us there while Nadja was taking part in the beginners' walk through. It was great to see some of my friends come to the dance, where I mostly didn't know people. My friends and I enjoyed each other's company! I thought back to our busy day. I knew the next day would also be a big day. I had just found out earlier that Saturday that we were going to Natural Bridge the following afternoon! I was eager to revisit that arch where I had some special memories.

Natural Bridge had been a site for a field trip, like the Kentucky Horse Park was. I was in the tenth grade, and our Biology teacher Mrs. Long was taking us there. I had been to Natural Bridge once before with family, hiking up the Original Trail to the arch before heading back down the same way. On my Biology trip, I was without my aide this time, but my tenth grade English teacher Mrs. Cook was with us, and she and I had become very close friends since the time she became my PreAlgebra teacher the year before. Mrs. Cook had read about some of my previous hiking experiences in my journal entries, and she and I loved starting out onto this hiking trip together. Everyone else in our class quickly left us behind as we made our way up the rather challenging Original Trail, but we were certainly having fun by ourselves. We finally reached Natural Bridge, and there was no class in sight. They had all abandoned us.

The rest of the field trip was spent with Mrs. Cook and me trying to find our missing class. There were different trails leading from the bottom of the arch, and the class could have taken any of them. I was unfamiliar with any of the trails except for the Original Trail. We finally set out on the Battleship Rock Trail on pure guesswork, not knowing whether or not we had a false trail on our class hunt. Here I was, lost on a mountaintop with my English teacher! Both Mrs. Cook and I were loving our adventure even as we were rather desperate to find our class. At least they had Mrs. Long with them, so they weren't without a teacher.

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We weren't on Battleship Rock Trail very long before Mrs. Cook and I decided to turn back around. Rock Garden Trail was also leading out from Natural Bridge, and we set out on that trail to hunt for our class. We had just taken a few steps however, when Mrs. Cook suggested that we go back and head down the Original Trail. That seemed to be the safest way to try to get back with the class. We returned to Natural Bridge once again, and took our first rest, sitting on the rocks beneath the arch. I was rather enjoying our solitude without the class, just two friends having a hike together, even though things were a bit suspenseful.

We soon started back down the Original Trail and met up with a lady we didn't know. She accompanied us the rest of the way down, and as soon as we reached the point where the Original Trail meets the Access Trail leading back to the lodge, here came one of my classmates, looking for the missing teacher and student who happened to be us. She led us to the lodge, and there we were all reunited before driving to a restaurant for lunch together. It was rather nice for us all to eat together after the adventure that Mrs. Cook and I had trying to find everyone. That field trip remains my favorite field trip of all time.

Mommy, Daddy, Emma, and I went back to Natural Bridge on Mother's Day of 2005, and even though I really wanted to hike up the Original Trail again and relive the memories of Mrs. Cook and me hiking up it together and getting lost, Mommy insisted we go up the sky-lift. I was disappointed, but the sky-lift was fun in its own way, with the beauty of the scenery around us and the sensation of flying up a mountainside. The end of the sky-lift led to a trail on top of Natural Bridge and I was rather nervous about the drop-off on both sides. After many steps going down on the other side of Natural Bridge, I experienced the Fat Man's Misery, an extremely narrow passage between two very tall slabs of rock. We got underneath the arch, and my parents suggested the Battleship Rock Trail back down, where it eventually met with the Original Trail. As we followed the trail, I could easily imagine Mrs. Cook with me, having wandered the same trail in search for our class before turning around. This time, we kept going, down a lot of steps and there was one particularly difficult part of the trail where I think I had to slide down, though I don't really remember exactly what I did.

The day after the Kentucky Horse Park trip, Mommy, Nadja, and I drove up to Natural Bridge together. Emma had spent the night with Hazel, Sage, and Aren after the dance at ArtsPlace, and they were going to meet us at Natural Bridge later that afternoon. As I suspected, Mommy started talking about taking the sky-lift to Natural Bridge again. She even discussed taking the lift back down! I wanted to do some hiking! We stopped at a snack stand and a mini golf course below the sky-lift. Mommy mentioned the possibility of Emma and Aren playing mini golf after we got down from Natural Bridge. We asked the lady at the snack stand, and she said that the course received its last guests at 5:15. It was already well into the afternoon, and I hoped we'd get to spend enough time in the woods. I ordered a drink while we were at the stand, and it turned out to be a huge one! I started drinking sips at a time, not wanting to have to drink the whole thing before heading to Natural Bridge, but knowing it would help me on this very warm, sunny day. Mommy had to drive back to the rest area by the highway to get cell service with Hazel. Hazel said it would still be a long time before they would arrive, so we were free to look around.

Mommy and I went to take Nadja to the lodge, which was in the opposite direction from the sky-lift but just in front of the Access Trail. We showed Nadja the lake behind the lodge and Hoe Down Island, where Mommy and Daddy had played for the Berea College Country Dancers just the day before we took the Mother's Day sky-lift ride up to Natural Bridge. Nadja, Mommy, and I had a great view of the lake from the lodge's balcony, including seeing people in pedal boats. We also visited the gift shop, and by the time we finally headed to the car to go meet the others at the sky-lift, there they came driving up, looking for us!

Hazel started talking about how she was concerned about Sage's safety while going up on the sky-lift, and that she thought it would be better if she and Sage stayed behind. I didn't like that idea. Even though I wanted Sage to be safe too, I wanted both Hazel and Sage to experience what it's like at Natural Bridge, and for their pictures to be on Sage's blog. I hoped one of Sage's baby carriers would be safe enough on the trip up. As we drove back to the sky-lift parking lot, unsure of what to do, Mommy stated that she wanted to stay behind with Sage while everyone else went up. I didn't care for that suggestion either. I wanted Mommy with me while going hiking, and I hated for Sage to miss out on this whole thing. Being with Sage and sharing this experience with her had been one of the things I had been excited about on this trip to Natural Bridge.

When Mommy got out of the car, she shared her idea with Hazel, Aren, and Emma. Emma protested how she would feel better if Mommy was with us, similar to my feelings, though I mostly wanted Sage to be able to join us. I followed Hazel, Aren, Sage, and Emma to the sky-lift station to see what the lift was like up close. People were going up and down on the lift, sitting in two-person bench seats with their legs dangling in the air and only a bar to protect them. I was relieved when Hazel said yes, she and Sage would do it after all. The bar and the baby carrier working together would be good enough.

There was a model of the sky-lift bench right beside the station. I was one of the family members sitting on it to have a picture taken. I think my picture shows my nervous smile at the time. I was hoping not to lose my crutches overboard! Despite me having taken the sky-lift before, the nervousness had returned. I could understand Hazel being concerned about Sage's safety.

Mommy had Nadja and Emma to go first. Mommy and I would go next and Hazel, Sage, and Aren would be last. The bench seats maneuvered fast without stopping. We had to be ready for our seat by standing in place. I think the operator helped us by slowing it a little. Our seat came up and we immediately sat down and pulled the bar down in front of us as the seat started to rise. Mommy put my crutches across our laps, and both of us made sure we held on to them as to not lose them somewhere on the mountainside.

The sky-lift ride was much like I had remembered it, with the grassy hill sloping up in front of us and the trees on either side. I thought of my love for ferris wheels, and this was much like a ferris wheel ride, except that we were totally immersed in nature instead of amusement park rides, and we were going one-way uphill instead of going around and around in circles. We met a few people going the other way as we passed by a flowing stream and other things in nature that looked different from the air instead of standing right by them. Emma and Nadja pointed out a groundhog wandering in the grass up ahead. Mommy tried to get a picture of it. She failed to do so, but she did take a rather cute picture of Hazel, Aren, and Sage behind us, all pointing down at the groundhog.

The photo below shows the view in front of us as we passed over a hump in the hill and temporarily went down before starting to go up again. The clifftop in the distance was our ultimate goal.

I spent a lot of time both looking ahead and looking behind us. Here is another view of Hazel, Aren, and Sage after Mommy and I had gone over that hump in the hillside.

Here we are approaching the cliff that signaled our final approach to the end of the sky-lift. We made a steep turn upwards. I imagined what it was like to be a bird flying straight up the cliff. There was a trail passing by the cliff that I remembered seeing earlier. I also remembered reading about the trail in the Red River Gorge trail guide that I had gotten for Christmas a couple of years ago, but I didn't really remember what it said. I was wishing we had looked at the guide soon before we came.

After we had ascended the cliff, the station was right there, just as I remembered. Thankfully, its operator helped stall the bench seat so it wouldn't knock me down as I was trying to get off. After Hazel, Aren, and Sage got off their seat just fine, Emma and Nadja joined us as we all admired the view of the foothills behind the station before setting off down the short trail to the top of Natural Bridge itself. I felt braver this time as I stepped out onto the bridge, though I was still careful to stay in the center section. Hazel, Aren, and Emma walked right up to the edge itself. Great views of the foothills were on either side. We saw the nearby Lookout Point, which we could have taken a trail to, starting from the upper sky-lift station, but at least not doing it meant that we had more time to look around and hike down the mountain.

Here I am nearing the end of the bridge with the others ahead of me.

We once again started descending the many stone steps as shown below, with Fat Man's Misery still to come.

When we got to Fat Man's Misery, with its extremely narrow passage between two tall slabs of rock, Emma immediately started talking about how she didn't think I could get through Fat Man's Misery because I had crutches! My immediate response was, "I did so before!" Emma was with us the first time we had gone through Fat Man's Misery, but she had obviously forgotten about me being able to go through. My crutches don't make me fat! I knew I could just stick them in front of me as I am walking through Fat Man's Misery. This wasn't Handicapped Woman's Misery, at least to those skilled on crutches like me! I'm used to people underestimating me, and didn't mind Emma's comment much. I rather enjoyed squeezing through the tiny space and proving that I was able to do it. This was Hazel's first time to see me going through Fat Man's Misery, and she too was rather amazed.

We had finally reached the underside of Natural Bridge. It was wonderful to stand underneath the bridge and think of Mrs. Cook and me resting there together in solitude. I also recalled the earlier time that my family had gathered here from our hike up the Original Trail and sat on the small rocks. Back then, I had managed to fall off my rock in slow motion, and that was pretty funny. This time, we just stood around. There were quite a few people below the bridge, similar to what we had encountered on the bridge and coming down the steps. Despite the crowds, I still liked being there with family and Nadja, and looking up at the arch and see the trees nearby. The photo below is the only photo taken of the underside of Natural Bridge on this trip.

I became very nostalgic about walking down the Original Trail again. I wanted to repeat the final steps that Mrs. Cook and I had taken in our adventure together, including seeing the arch from that side, and later on passing by an attractive cave in the hillside. I hadn't gone down the whole trail since tenth grade, though Mommy, Daddy, Emma, and I experienced the last part of it after we completed the Battleship Rock Trail in 2005. Mommy, however, was particularly interested in the Rock Garden Trail, which she said led back down to the sky-lift station. She complained how challenging the Original Trail was, and that it led back to the lodge, which was a long walk down the road from the sky-lift station. Hazel was strongly supporting Mommy, so reluctantly, I joined them along the Rock Garden Trail, telling myself that I'll get to see what Mrs. Cook and I missed out on when the two of us had turned around at the beginning of that trail. In my imagination, Mrs. Cook was accompanying us now, similar to me imagining her walking along the Battleship Rock Trail with my family in 2005.

The Rock Garden Trail started out with the rock cliff bordering one side and the woods spreading out on the other. I quickly noticed the absence of people, with us going down a more unpopular way than the Original Trail. Such solitude was nice as I looked around me. I was still thinking about the Original Trail, but I knew I liked to explore new trails too.

Before long, we came to a point where the trail immediately dropped down a couple of feet, with two jagged rocks sticking up on either side. Mommy was saying she didn't know how I could get down the drop-off with my crutches, and maybe I should get a piggybacked lift from Aren. I didn't like that idea at all. I'd be nervous to be on piggyback, and my independent side of me wanted to see if I could get down the drop-off by myself. I handed Mommy my crutches, and then sat down, grabbed a rock on each side, and used them to help me scoot off the edge of the overhang and onto the ground below. The descent didn't seem so hard, though the very challenge of facing it was cheering me up some. It proved how I could tackle such obstacles by myself while hiking, similar to past obstacles I've faced. Maybe this trail wouldn't be as easy as Mommy had thought! This hike down Rock Garden Trail was starting to have memorable moments of its own.

We weren't always together. I would have to catch up with the others sometimes, and Hazel and Aren stopped to nurse Sage. The fact that I walked slower than the others meant that I was constantly walking, sometimes finding other obstacles to tackle. Here is with me walking along the rock cliff with Mommy and Nadja up ahead and Emma waiting for Hazel, Aren, and Sage behind us.

While Hazel, Aren, and Sage were still behind me, I heard people calling out up ahead. I wondered what group of hikers in front of us were making so much noise. As I walked on however, I saw people rising up in the air and I realized the sky-lift was in front of us. The sounds I was hearing were coming from those excited to make the steep rise up to the top of the cliff! This Rock Garden Trail was in fact the very trail that I had earlier seen from the lift.

I stood underneath the benches moving back and forth from the cliff, and hoped to see more people come up. The only people I was seeing however, were those descending from the lift. I knew it was quite late in the afternoon, with the sun getting lower in the sky. I was doubting more and more that Emma and Aren would get to play mini golf since it received its last players at 5:15.

One time when we were all together, there was talk among family and Nadja of smelling smoke. I can't smell, but I certainly believed them! A forest fire might possibly be coming our direction! If we were in such a danger, Mommy mentioned I should get a piggyback ride on Aren all the way down the mountain in our attempt to escape the flames. I knew I'd be absolutely terrified. My house already had a gas leak this summer while we were camping together out west because of what the gas company had done. My house could have exploded if our friend John Payne hadn't smelled the leak and called us. He saved my house and possibly my life. Also, after Hazel, Aren, and Sage had gone home on that camping trip, the rest of us went camping at Big Lagoon State Park in Florida and dared to take a long walk to the beach while a big storm was approaching. Daddy went back to get our car, and while he was gone, a lightning bolt hit the water right beside Mommy, Emma, and me! I remember very well how scared I was running from the lightning bolt, and now I was imagining trying to escape a forest fire from a mountaintop!

Later on, we received word that there was in fact a forest fire, but it was "on the other side of the mountain". It was rather vague where exactly "the other side of the mountain" was, but it sounded like it was far enough away that the fire wouldn't get to us! I was hoping it was not simpily the other side of Natural Bridge!

Even without a forest fire, we continued to have an adventuresome hike. We faced more obstacles that had me scrambling around rocks and once had to slide down a rock, plus our shoes got covered in sand, and I once fell in such a way that one of my crutches dug right into my arm and left a dark bruise. I was fine, just rather amused that one of my own crutches would do something like that when they are supposed to aid me. The bruise meant I now had a tell-tale sign of our adventure that day. I was getting rather worn out and told myself it was just as well that we had taken the sky-lift up and therefore had only an one-way hike downhill. Even without hiking up to Natural Bridge that day, this hike down was turning into a major hike and using a lot of my energy. I was fulfilling my desire of going hiking that day!

Here is a picture of me hiking with Emma in front and Hazel, Aren, and Sage right behind. I was impressed how much Sage got to hike the trail without being in her carrier. This was a big sign how she's growing up. I remember how much younger she was last November when she and Hazel joined us hiking at Red River Gorge. Aren couldn't be with us back then.

Emma was eager to get back to the cars, so she and Nadja went on ahead midway through the hike. Hazel, Aren, and Sage stayed with Mommy and me. We ultimately found ourselves leaving the rock cliff and walking along a high ridgetop. I was tired and wondered when we'd ever get down the mountain. I was grateful to take my first rest of the hike among the ridgetop. It was getting later and later. Mommy told Hazel and Aren that they could go on ahead. Before they left however, we saw that the trail appeared to totally cut off with a jagged edge like a clifftop. Mommy looked closer and saw extremely steep stairs carved in the rock. There was a huge distance between each step, maybe even a foot in length. The best way I could get down them was to sit down on my bottom and scoot down. Trying to walk down them in the normal way would have been quite dangerous.

Rather amused at this latest challenge, I sat down on my bottom and preceeded to scoot down a big step at a time. I remembered scooting downstairs as a child, before I was brave enough to walk down them. I had an old childhood fear of walking down stairs. Now I am quite used to nativigating stairs, including rather difficult sprial stairs in Irish castles, but these stairs were much steeper than the other stairs I've taken! With my scooting method however, I was able to be in control of the extra steep stairs while enjoying them. There were multiple groups of these stairs, and I sometimes had to get out of the way for other people to come down. The photo below shows me having achieved the last of those stairs, with plenty more hiking to go.

Further on down the trail, it was getting to be early evening when Aren came walking back up to us. He handed Mommy a water bottle and flashlight from the car, and suggested the idea of him taking everyone else to Dairy Queen to wait for us instead of just standing around by the cars. Mommy approved that suggestion. Hazel, Aren, Sage, Emma, and Nadja would be much happier to wait at Dairy Queen, and we would know that they'd be all right. Aren also remarked that we had gone further than he had expected and that there wasn't much trail remaining. That was a hopeful sign. It was so late that I figured that the flashlight that Aren gave us would come in handy.

Alone once again, Mommy and I kept on going. I remember peering down off the side of the trail and seeing the parking lot below, but it appeared far away. It seemed that we still had a long way to walk. Mommy let me take my second rest while sitting on a log blocking the trail. Both my hands and feet were quite sore. I liked being in the woods, but I was also eager to get back down to the car.

The evening darkness started to appear as we were turning corners during our descent. The flashlight was beginning to do its job. We reached a point were the Rock Garden Trail led off to the right, and the Low Gap Trail met us, leading our way to the parking lot. The wooden sign said that we had a quarter mile to go. Mommy urged me to hurry despite my tiredness as we continued down the twists of the trail. We came to shallow wide steps, much easier than the steep steps I had to tackle earlier, but this time we were in the darkness of late evening. I was very grateful to have the flashlight to help me see where each step ended. I still had to watch out for nails that were poking up at the edge of each step.

The steps went on and on, and I wondered when we'd finally get to the parking lot. Mommy questioned the sign we saw, with it saying that the trail was just a quarter of a mile. It seemed more than that to her. I was wishing I could look at my trail guide and see what it said about the distance. As we continued down, we started hearing unusual animal sounds nearby that had Mommy quite scared. I was feeling braver than her, but it remained a mystery as what those nighttime sounds were.

As we reached a wooden platform that led to the final steps down to the parking lot, a white truck came driving up and parked right by the steps. A large man in a black outfit came out of the truck and stood at the bottom of the steps. Illuminated by the lampposts, he looked right at us but he didn't say anything.

Mommy started telling him who we were and what we were doing. The man then revealed that he was a ranger and had been sent out by Hazel and Aren to come look for us. Apparently, Hazel and Aren had gotten so worried about us not having coming down yet that they called park security! I listened to the park ranger announcing on his radio that we had been located. The extra late return that Mommy and I shared was being broadcast among security forces of the park. It was a rather exciting conclusion to our adventurous hike.

We walked on to our car, with the crescent moon peeking above the sky-lift area. The empty parking lot was a major contrast with all the cars and people we saw earlier in the day, when picnicing and the sky-lift were popular. Now it was dark and there was nobody around except for the park ranger and us. I was still thinking of Mommy's earlier idea of playing mini golf upon our return. Now it was all dark! Even Emma and Nadja wouldn't have made it down in time! We were in the midst of hiking when the course accepted its last guests! 5:15 was a long time ago!

Mommy and I finally drove away, with me thankful that there was still some of my drink left from earlier. The fact that it had come in a very large serving was indeed a good thing. I easily finished it up and felt better, though I was still looking forward to having ice cream at Dairy Queen and just getting together with family. Mommy stopped on the other side of the interstate where she had cell phone service. She was able to call Hazel and reassure her that we had in fact gotten down the mountain.

We reached the Dairy Queen exit, and as we pulled into a parking spot, there was family and Nadja peering at us through the windows! I walked inside and immediately got cheered on by my big sister! I was getting a hero's welcome after such an adventurous hike. Mommy started explaining details of our adventure, including the mysterious animal noises. She was very grateful the park ranger hadn't come walking up to us on the dark trail, without us knowing who he was. Us family having ice cream together at Dairy Queen after earlier parting ways at Natural Bridge was so resemblant to Mrs. Cook and me eating lunch with our class at a resturaunt after getting lost from them. The park ranger sent out to search for Mommy and me also reminded me of the classmate who did the same thing looking for Mrs. Cook and me. I love comparing my two big adventures at Natural Bridge.

Upon returning home that night, I read about the forest fire on the online news. It had started from an abandoned campfire the Friday before and was burning a few hundred acres in Daniel Boone National Park, but the firefighters had it under control. I was so grateful that it didn't come where we were, and Natural Bridge itself didn't get burned, but I felt sorry for the area that did get hit. The fire was still burning at the time.

I have looked at my Red River Gorge trail guide since our return, and saw that the Rock Garden Trail was rated 8 out of 10 in difficulty while the Original Trail was rated 7 out of 10. It proved that the Rock Garden was the harder trail of the two. I had earlier remembered the Original Trail was rated 7 out of 10, though I hadn't been sure what rating the Rock Garden Trail had. The Rock Garden Trail started from the Battleship Rock Trail, so we didn't go all the way down it, but the guidebook mentioned that the hard part was after it met up with the Low Gap Trail going up the mountain, right where we were. It was funny looking at the difficulty rating of the trails after Mommy and Hazel had insisted in going on the Rock Garden Trail. They had mistakenly thought it would be a lot easier than the Original Trail! The guidebook also mentioned the Low Gap Trail was twice as long as it said on the sign, just like Mommy had figured out!

Hazel, Aren, and Sage came over for dinner soon after the hike and I showed the guidebook to them. I also showed an online map of the trail system, which revealed how much shorter the Original Trail was, though it also revealed the long road between the lodge and the sky-lift. At least the road would have been a lot easier to walk down than a mountain trail! Hazel said, “Well, I guess we should have listened to Rachael then.”

Despite that Mommy and Hazel refused to go down the Original Trail and therefore not let me repeat a large part of the hike Mrs. Cook and I had experienced, I got to love this new adventure as it was taking place. Both adventures are very memorable times at Natural Bridge, kind of rivaling each other. I still want to go back and hike the Original Trail again, though at Dairy Queen, Mommy had said she did not want to go back to Natural Bridge for a long time. I, on the other hand, would be eager to return to Natural Bridge. I also think of Mommy's earlier statement before the sky-lift ride that she wanted to stay behind with Sage while the rest of us go up. I now imagine her worrying about me if I had been descending the trail in the dark without her. She might had come up looking for me at some point. I was grateful for Mommy with me. This whole weekend will remain in my mind, both the Kentucky Horse Park and Natural Bridge.