fivebyevif

The last time we went to Taum Sauk was just shy of six years ago. Which means I was turning 27, not 26 or 25 like I thought on Saturday.

Early birds get the best tent pad. Despite being perennial nightowls, Mike and I can be goaded into getting up early if we feel there’s any chance that tardiness may cause us to not secure a good campsite (Taum Sauk only has about half a dozen to pick from). With our registration secure and our tent up, it was time to do what we came for: hike.

I’m happy to report that the Mina Sauk trail — which has already attempted murder on us once before — remains a homicidal maniac. She had an extra bonus for us this time: after the trailhead, and with few exceptions, the entire trail was flooded. This meant picking our way around an already formidably rocky path. Slime covered the rocks in parts, and steep drops waited to embrace us on one side. Fun!

But the falls were breathtaking, and well worth the potentially grave bodily harm. We had a dandy lunch with water spilling around us and the sun high overhead, and got back to the site well before sunset.

This meant we had time for Elephant Rocks, a new and exciting locale! Unfortunately, I am old, and after an hour my knees protested. Also, someone was cooking steaks. Dear god, they smelled wonderful. We went back to camp, Mike built us a fire (his specialty), I cooked us some meat (my specialty), and we went to bed happy — despite the teenagers in the camp across from us, who were happy for other reasons.

Are any of you acquaintances with six a.m.? We are now, apparently. Sunlight on Sunday morning actually managed to wake me up at hours I previously thought of as only belonging to milkmaids and madmen. As I lay there, mumbling good morning and trying to convince my body to ignore nature and go back to sleep, Mike said the words I’d dreaded.

“I found a tick.”

Welp. So much for sleeping in. We got up, broke camp, and left Taum Sauk. Mike was at first all like, “Eh, we can get to it later.” but I said the magic words — “Lyme’s Disease” — and suddenly it was an episode of House and I was racing to get tweezers and rubbing alcohol. This is now the second tick I have plucked from his side in as many weeks. I am grimly preparing for when the tables will be turned. (And yes…I checked. If there are ticks on me, they are stealthy as ninja and worthy of my blood.)

After breakfast, we visited all the local camp-and-hike parks, found some future campsites, and finished up at the Blue Owl at around 3 PM. Yes…we spent five hours driving around state and federal parks. There are that many in this one part of Missouri.

The car is now empty, and all my potentially tick-infested clothing is in the washer. My car is blessedly empty of camping supplies. I still have to figure out dinner. It was, once again, a great weekend.