Last weekend the sun finally came out, and Zoe and I decided to celebrate by going for a hike up Blue Hill. It was a beautiful day; the sun was out and it was the perfect temperature for hiking!
Zoe took this picture when we stopped for a water break. There are a lot of blueberry bushes behind me, but unfortunately, the berries won't be edible for a month or two now (Zoe didn't know that - she took a bite of a green one, thinking it was just a different species of blueberry, but spit it out barely a second later! She strongly advised me to stay away from them).
We stopped for another water break near to the top. The ground around the bench I'm sitting on was littered with rusty bolts and screws, and there were four huge concrete blocks arranged in a square. Zoe and I were very curious as to what they were there for, until a passing hiker told us that a big tower used to stand there. There were about five flights of stairs that led to a big deck at the top, where you could look out and see the whole town and the ocean stretched out in front of you! Zoe and I were disappointed that it had been knocked down - it sounded awfully fun!
While
we were up by the bench, Zoe and I spotted a snake!! He slithered off
into the bushes soon after we came over to investigate, but not before
we got in a couple good pictures!
Zoe took another picture of me in a tree near to the bench. It was a perfect place to sit - there was only one problem. It was covered in sap! Of course, I didn't know that when I sat down, so I ended up getting sap in my hair and all over my hands. Yuck!
I asked Zoe to give me the camera and I took a picture of the view from the bench. Isn't it pretty?
Here we are at the very top of the mountain. Zoe got a picture of me with some long grasses blowing in my face. She hates pictures of herself, so unfortunately on this trip I didn't get any, but next hike we go on I think I'll bring my own camera and take some pictures of her when she's not looking! :)
Here I am at the peak again! We found a very nice spot to sit and eat our lunch (peanut butter and honey sandwiches and leftover dumplings from last night, along with chocolate-chip cookies and lemonade). It was under a very nice, shady pine tree, and there was a big hole in between the two rocks I'm sitting on. Zoe and I climbed down there after we ate and pretended that we had been thrown into the hole by an evil witch and were about to be killed by a fire-breathing dragon. Unfortunately, we got stuck in the hole and had to be helped out by the friendly hiker that had told us about the observation tower.
Here's me AGAIN... almost at the end of our hike. From the peak, we had to climb down a very steep boulder flow, and I couldn't help worrying about what would happen if we fell. We finally reached flat ground, which is where I am right now. We were about to climb down another very steep section, except for here the boulder flow had been arranged into a stairway, so it was much easier to manage.
On our way down the mountain, we looked out at the fields stretched out below us. They were blanketed with lupines! I think lupines are my favorite flower; they come in a bunch of different colors and are so resilient - they can grow practically anywhere! Zoe and I took a lot more pictures than this, but I decided to share just the best ones :)
I love going for hikes, especially with my sister! I hope I'll be going for a lot more now that summer's come around! Do you like hiking? Where's your favorite place to go?
