Help Wanted: A Co-pilot to Help Find Trail Heads

The hike this week was to John A. Kleber Wildlife Management Area somewhere north of Frankfort, KY. How do I know that it was north of Frankfort? Not because I studied a map or anything before we went (that would make too much sense), but for the sheer fact that we got lost on the road three times before we finally made it to the trail head, and it wasn't even the trail head that Tamara York directed us to in the book. My hiking companion was my buddy Cheryl who has many, many wonderful qualities, but being a co-pilot and helping with directions - NOT one of them!  When I would ask her for support as I was driving her standard response was, "I don't know, I'm not driving." Somehow we missed 3 important turning points and I will seriously take partial responsibility for too much female chatter! You might wonder why we are not using a GPS. We don't have addresses for these remote places and cannot set them as a destination. So we are trying to use the directions from the book and our GPS maps and Google maps as we drive.

My favorite part of one of our detours was to a little gas station/mini market. The people were lovely! Customers and workers alike were all trying to help us find Cedar Creek Road.  One of the ladies who works at the mini market listened to a couple of fellows give directions and then she made us a map on a paper bag. They were so helpful! When I watched her create the map, I realized that the directions were taking us back to where we had already been (my co-pilot at this point was surveying snacks and was uninterested in directions!) I quickly realized that we were lost because we had made that dreaded mistake of going to far. So, with paper map in hand, a fresh set of perspective, some Pringles and sodas we set back off to find the trail head.  Despite our lack of ability with street directions, we found a trail that was amazing and was still part of John A. Kleber - the mistake ended up being a prize! It was 32 degrees and sunny when we set off on the hike.  We hiked 2 miles out and 2 miles back in 2 hours.

This was the first hike with some actual snow on the ground. It gave a beautiful look to the winter woods. I never thought I could enjoy being outside so much on a wintery day, but because we were moving around so much, the cold was very easy to deal with. This was a walking trail but also a trail for horseback riding as well, so it was very wide and well taken care of. As we traveled along we soon reached a wide turn and the view of a fairly good sized creek that was frozen in some spots and flowing in others. It was very pretty! We followed this creek for most of the hike and I loved it. Because we had so much difficulty finding the trail head and knew from the author's directions that we were not on the correct trail, we set a goal for ourselves of walking 2 miles out and then we would turn around to get in a total of 4 miles of hiking.  We felt that a longer hike might justify the fact that it took us about 2 hours to get to our destination! Cheryl was keeping tabs on her pedometer of how far we traveled on the trail. At one point she said that we had about 1/10 of a mile left before we needed to turn. I asked, "Is that about a city block?" She said, "I don't know, but I do know that my old boyfriend's driveway was 2/10 of a mile and it was pretty long." Now, if you don't know Cheryl, let me clue you in: she's been married for about 29 years!!! Her story didn't really help me to know how far 1/10 or even 2/10 of a mile is!

Most of the time that we hiked, we had to keep our eyes to the ground to keep our footing.  Because of this, I spotted a fossil in one of the rocks on the path! I couldn't believe I saw it because most of the rocks were covered in snow.  The funny thing was that after this we were checking every single rock. It reminded me of walking on the beach and looking for seashells.  There were some good hills throughout the hike that allowed for some nice views of the woods and the creek. While we were out in the middle of this beautiful and peaceful place, we both had a moment...we shared out loud how cleansing it is to be so inside of this natural place...so far away from day-to-day routines and duties...so far away from noise of traffic and human existence.  It was truly a wonderful feeling!

So, I am looking for someone who has the skills of a possible co-pilot. Someone who can read a map, read from the book, and give directions as I drive. Although, Cheryl might not be the best co-pilot, I have to say that she is a wonderful hiking companion because of her enthusiasm, ability to keep up, and her sheer companionship. If I am not lucky enough to secure a co-pilot, here are some new hiking rules:
1.) Must have road map
2.) Talking should cease within three miles of a turn off
3.) Study the book more closely before heading out (which was on my things I learned from last week, but obviously I'm a slow learner!)

4 hikes down and 56 to go and it's only January 14th!  Woot!  Woot!