Lost in the woods

Carter has started to do some preliminary work on his Eagle Scout Project.

So far we have scouted out the location of his project

and looked at other similar projects for ideas on how to do it right.

The man in charge of the trails in our town suggested we go to a certain trail to look at a bridge there.

He showed Carter and Frank where the trail began and told them to follow the trail

and that "you can't miss it" --referring to the bridge.

Well, they hiked and tried to find it.

But the "trail" is not really all that clear.

They never found it.

So we decided to go out on Saturday morning and give it another shot.

We hiked on the trail until it appeared to end.

and then we began our search for

-something resembling a trail

-a bridge

-water that the bridge might be over

Do you see a trail?

Neither did we.

We were in swamps, sticker bushes (SO MANY STICKER BUSHES), and overgrowth of every kind.

We imagined all the ticks that were potentially jumping on us.

There was a fair amount of "ouch" "watch out" and "it's really muddy here"

And then we saw this:

Yes! A trail marker!

and the trail became much more trail-ish after that.

Until, what do you know?

We found the bridge!

You really couldn't miss it. 

...once you found the trail anyway...

We took measurements and pictures.

And just enjoyed the beauty of the place.

Check out the cool beaver dams:

They wreak havoc on the stream but they are cool looking.

And this weird log:

And then we headed back.

It was much easier going back.

And, as usual, Carter took off ahead.  

It's hard hanging out with your parents this much.