# Lemonade

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Posted by LeviLovR on April 19, 2020 at 20:43:29

Today was supposed to have been the Dirty Dog Mud Run, the first mud run of the season and one of my favorites. Obviously it didn't happen, which is a shame because it was an absolutely gorgeous day and I had been waiting all winter for it. But like the saying says, when God hands you a lemon make lemonade. I had the lemon, but in order to make lemonade you got to add some water.

I put on my old black cowboy boots, favorite 501s, light colored denim shirt, black belt, Levi denim trucker jacket and old black cowboy hat. Probably would have worn the majority of this stuff to the mud run, maybe all of it, except the jean jacket. Might very well have switched that out for a suit coat and tie like I usually do.

Anyway I got in the car and headed to my old home town where I grew up, parked at middle school, and hiked the trails through the woods there. A few years back they actually held some mud runs there as well, which was awesome, but they have since stopped doing that. It's been a while since I've been there I am familiar with the trails. Years ago I used to ride my horse through there and the trails and woods extended over to the high school. The high school track team used to practice by running on these trails. A huge housing development is there now, as well as the new middle school. I had to laugh to myself because where many of these houses sit now used to be the old town dump. Who'd have thunk it? Anyway, for some reason this particular parcel of land has remained undeveloped and is used for recreational purposes. A lovely little stream meanders through it at the bottom of little gully with quite steep bankings. Most of the pathways and trails are along the top, but some do go down to the stream and there are a few wooden bridges for hikers and bikers to use to get across. However, that was not my intention. I planned to do some stream walking.

Surprisingly not many people out there today. A few people walking and jogging and most people on bicycles. Everyone maintained a safe distance when we met or passed. The bikers went by so fast you hardly saw them.

I came to the first little bridge. I had no intentions of using any bridges at all today and stepped down off the bank into the stream that was quite shallow there. Got a bit of a surprise when my foot went ankle deep in mud, which I wasn't expecting there. Not a bad thing, just unexpected and a good excuse to wade out into the water and rinse it off, getting both boots and the bottoms of my jeans wet. Got back on the trail and was looking for the path that went down a really steep bank to the stream. At the bottom is a huge mud pit that they utilized for the mud run in the past. Some new trails have been created that run down along the edge of the stream so I cut off on one of those hoping to reach that spot sooner. I soon came to a spot where I could get into the stream easily from the bank and stepped in. The water was ankle deep to knee deep in places and quite cold when it flowed over the tops of my boots and filled them. This was going to be some cool lemonade! Eventually I came to a nice spot in the bend of the stream that was a little deeper and fairly secluded. I took deep breath and sat down. Crikey! That was cold! I managed to soak my 501s thoroughly and the cuffs and bottom of the jean jacket. Could not force myself to lie down totally in the stream. Kept walking in the stream enjoying the wet jeans until I came to a spot blocked by some fallen trees. Had to get back up on the bank and pick up the path to get around. The path suddenly veered off to the right going back up to the original trail at the top of the hill, so I went up it still not having come to the spot where the mud pit was. Then I saw it. The banking is incredibly steep here. When they were holding the mud runs they rope netting that you had to maneuver down to the bottom and then go through the mud pit. No rope to grab onto today though. I started walking down the hill, trying to stay erect. Not easy when you have on cowboy boots with slick, wet leather soles on top of leaves. I kept gaining momentum and was almost running as I approached the bottom of the hill. I thought for a second I was actually going to take a dive head first into the mud pit, but I managed to grab a tree and hug it and stop myself before that happened.

Sorry to disappoint everybody by not winding up in the mud. But I haven't been there for a few years and the pit was full of old dead leaves and other crap, maybe even some sticks and branches hidden underneath. I know from past experiences that it is very thick, gooey mud that is difficult to maneuver through at best - not the nice creamy "clean" mud I would have had at the Dirty Dog that would have washed off easily. If I had landed in it face first I would have had a heck of a time getting out of it as it just is so thick that it grabs you and hangs on, making it almost impossible to move. Can explore that another day. Got back into the stream and walked along, giving my Levis a few more soakings. Each dunk was easier than the previous one, but still pretty cold. I was looking for the large bridge which would be where I would go up the bank on the other side and head back to the car.

Because the leaves have not filled out yet on the trees you can look straight down from the paths into the stream with unobstructed view, so I could be seen by people from the paths above. Fortunately they were empty as I waded along. Before reaching the bridge I climbed back out and walked along the bank. There were a few bikers on the other side waiting to come down the hill and cross. As I said before these bankings are pretty steep. The first guy came hell bent for leather down the hill, across the bridge and up the other side, peddling like mad. He made it to the top and waited for the others to follow. I had stepped off to the side into a little clearing area and continued to walk a short ways looking for a spot to get back into the stream after the bikers crossed. The rest of them sort of hesitated at the top. It is very steep and an easy place to wipe out, but one by one they gradually made it across and up the other side. With them gone and out of sight I got back in the stream and gave my jeans another soaking. Got out again and a second group of bikers approached from the other side. They didn't attempt the hill, but decided to continue on down the path in search of an easier place to cross. So back in the stream for my and another denim dip next to the bridge before clamboring out and up the hill on the opposite side.

At the top of the hill you can pick up a nice road that leads out to the street where I had parked. But a new trail had been made called River Run, which followed along the top of the bank all along the stream, so I took that which eventually lead back to the very spot I had come in on. Stopped for one more soaking of the jeans and boots. When they held the mud runs there the last obstacle had been a huge mud pit where you climbed over a bank, slid down it into the mud pit, then climbed up over another huge bank and out. There was still a huge mound of dirt there that bikers had been riding over. I thought I would check it out to see if there were any muddy spots on the other side, but there weren't. The whole area had been filled in been overtaken by grass. You would never know the mud pit had ever existed.

From there it was just a walk across the street to car. Spread out a few towels on the seat and drove home. Then had a nice hot shower and soaked everything completely from hat down to my boots. Absolutely love wet denim!

Everything considered it was pretty good lemonade.

Follow Ups:

- Re: Lemonade Ry 05:15:06 4/20/2020 (1)
  - Re: Lemonade LeviLovR 12:30:26 4/20/2020 (0)
- Re: Lemonade Sam 21:23:08 4/19/2020 (0)

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