Walking the Countryside

Hello all!

Today the sun rose, so we called up some friends and hooked up the pup and headed out. Cash and Amanda joined us as we went out to explore Braid. We went out towards Blackburn Hill where the decision was made to climb all the steps to get up and over the shoulder of the hill. We discussed heading to the top, but with the wind already stiff 3/4 of the way up the top was not going to be fun.

We all sat around, enjoying the views and sun. Andrew and Cash decided to climb an out cropping to get a better vantage point of the surrounding countryside. Audry was enjoying sniffing around and taking in the sun while being swapped between everyone walking her.

Soon we drooped off the backside of Blackburn to head towards Braid. At the base of the hill we came across a small stream. As we stopped to admire it, Audry decided it was time to cool off for a bit and walked straight in. Lili, Cash, and Amanda found some twigs and played a quick game of Pooh Sticks. The winner was undetermined as everyone lost their stick in the shallow stream. Meanwhile, Andrew decided to follow Audry and cooled his feet in the shallow stream. Cash soon followed and the two of them wandered around, feet numbing in the cold water, and avoiding the sharper rocks obscured by the moving water.

When everyone was sufficiently rested and cooled off, the 5 of us made our way up the base of Braid Hill. Skirting the base and following a path along the golf course, we soon dipped into the woods. Cash had stolen Lili's selfie stick and was having fun taking photos. We stumbled upon a tree with names carved all over it and Andrew soon set to work leaving a mark for Lili and himself.

This led to us dropping down into the Hermitage and back following the stream we had found early. If there was more water around it would have been a full on rivier at this point, but it was a nice wide, shallow, slower moving stream. Trees in full green, it was magnificient and we all got lost in the beauty of it all.

We were soon climbing out of the Hermitage and making our way back to the flat. This mean only one thing, time to stop at the Hermitage pub and have an after hike drink. Cash his IPA, Amanda cider, Audry her bowl of water and Andrew and Lili a pot of tea. The day was too much for Audry to handle, and was soon passing out inbetween the chairs of Andrew and Amanda while they all finished their drinks. It was then time to head home and call it a day.

More soon

-L&A