Erving State Forest: The owls ask, "Who cooks for you?"

[gwendally]

We went camping this week-end at Erving State Forest, a place we'd never been to.  Well, I didn't think we'd ever been to it, but it turns out that C. went to a graduation party at a lake house there and brought Small Boy with her the week-end we were in Maine being hit by a deer.  Well, that's good.  My goal was for the kids to get to know the

Comments

[allyphoe]

Remind me to tell you about the time that my dad and a teenage version of myself hiked the 4-mile unmaintained trail from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls at Tahquamenon Falls.

[gwendally]

That sounds challenging!

I loved having those topo maps posted. I tried to bring one with me but I failed. Instead I had a hand-annotated mountain biking trail with arrows suggesting where hills were. They had the arrows wrong in some of the sections (suggesting up hill grades when they were downhill, and vice versa.) Sometimes a map is worse than useless if it lies to you Anyway, the topo maps set us straight. Even the nine year old can read a topo map.

[allyphoe]

Not all all in the way you'd think! I just posted it in my own journal.

Those maps do sound great. Someone must hike that trail (or must have at some point) to put in the markers.

I'd love to take Alex hiking, but she suffers from a complete unwillingness to walk in my presence. Getting her to move from the grocery store door to the car under her own power is a struggle, and the parking lot is too car-ful to leave her to her own devices while she makes up her mind not to be abandoned.

[rev_mac]

Glad to hear the backwoods aren't getting jammed up while I'm away.

Oh, and what are some of the signs of a stroke, just because most people don't actually know:
Signs of Stroke:
Stroke is a medical emergency. Know these warning signs of stroke and teach them to others. Every second counts:
• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Call 9-1-1 immediately if you experience symptoms!
Time lost is brain lost!
http://www.strokeassociation.org

[gwendally]

I taught them "F.A.S.T.", but they'd already learned it on the tv show "House". :-)

F - Face droops
A - Arms can't be held evenly
S - Speech slurs
T - Time lost is brain lost.

B. was a good sport about falling victim to this malediction. I had your situation in the back of my head when I came up with the scenario, but the real purpose is to be able to transport anyone who is down for any non-spinal reason: diabetic coma, passed out from hypothermia, whatever. I'm fine with the harness carries or firemen carries or any of the splint then limp stuff, it's just the litter construction that I needed to practice.

[rev_mac]

I'm just doing my job of spreading the word, after all strokes are the number three cause of death in the US, right behind heart disease and ALL forms of cancer. Strokes are the number one cause of disability in the US. Most people don't know the signs of a stroke. FAST works, there are more complete examination methods, but barring other good reasons, these are effective to get people to treatment.

Tie 'em down and drag 'em off. :)