After taking ten and a half weeks off for maternity leave, I returned to work on October 11 with the realization that I still had ten vacation days left to use by the end of the year. During open enrollment last year, I had purchased an extra five vacation days without knowing that I would end up on short-term disability for part of the year. Even after using five days of vacation to extend my maternity leave, I still had ten days left to schedule. So, what was I to do with all of this time off?

I decided that the best thing to do was to spread the vacation days out and take some four-day weekends. It worked out that I would have three four-day weekends in November and another three in December. Then, after I submitted my vacation schedule, John scheduled the rest of his vacation time to correspond with mine. Although he didn't take exactly the same days as me, we would still have lots of time off together to do fun things...like go hiking!

The first of my four-day weekends began on November 3. John also had this day off, so the two of us decided to go camping. Our plans changed when we decided to invite Lori Ballard and her daughter Megan to join us. Since Lori couldn't take Friday off, we would only be able to camp on Saturday and Sunday, so we had to come up with something else to do on Friday - the obvious answer was to go hiking, of course. John suggested that we do the Ballentine Trail that day, because it would be the perfect day hike...as long as it didn't rain on us!

Unfortunately, our plans changed again when rain was forecasted for the entire weekend. We canceled our camping trip, which was very disappointing for all of us, and we nearly canceled our Friday hike, too. Then, Thursday morning we learned that rain was no longer in the forecast for Friday but that it was going to rain all weekend and well into the following week. That meant that our day hike was still on, but we weren't going camping during the weekend. Although we weren't looking forward to sitting at home on Saturday and Sunday, we were glad that we would be able to do at least one hike.

Our goal was to hike the Ballentine Trail to Boulder Flat and back, which would make for an eight or nine mile day, as long as the weather held. Of course, every time we have ever attempted to hike the Ballentine Trail together, we would be hit by terrible weather. On Easter Sunday in 1999, while hiking the Pine Creek Loop (which leaves from the Ballentine Trailhead), we found ourselves hiking in a freak snowstorm. Then, on January 2, 2000, we only managed to hike a couple of miles on the Ballentine Trail before the rain became too much for us to handle - that, and I had terrible morning sickness! However, in June 2000, John hiked the Ballentine Trail alone during his vacation and had beautiful, sunny weather! So, with that in mind, the big question of the day was, would we have rain or sun, clouds or snow?

We awoke at 6:00 a.m. Friday to a cloudy and cool morning...and I awoke with a sore throat - I was coming down with a cold. Instead of staying home to nurse my cold, I insisted that we go hiking anyway, so we gathered our hiking gear and loaded it into the car. By 7:00 a.m., we were all ready to go. After our obligatory stop at Einstein's for breakfast, John and Mary and I began our drive to the Ballentine Trailhead.

We arrived at the trailhead just after 8:00 a.m., but we didn't start hiking until 8:20 - of course, when taking baby along for the hike, it takes a little longer to gear up because we have to put Mary in the Snugli. Since it was so cool outside, we also had to bundle her up in a hat and a sweater and mittens - we didn't want her to catch a cold! Once Mary was ready to go, John and I put on our day packs and started hiking along the Pine Creek Loop Trail, stopping first at the gate to share a trail kiss.

The first mile or so of our trip began on the Pine Creek Loop, which is an easy trail that gently climbs towards the junction with the Ballentine Trail. The trail parallels Pine Creek, which is usually dry. However, as we hiked along, we were surprised to hear water running; and as we looked down at the creek, we saw that it was flowing with water from all of the rain we had gotten lately. What a wonderful site that was to see the creeks flowing again after the incredible dry spell we had had!

As we began hiking, I started trying to come up with a title for the journal entry - with a name like "Ballentine", there was a lot that I could do. I told John that, if the clouds ever cleared up, I could call it "My Sunny Ballentine" (a parody of the song "My Funny Valentine"). "Yeah, but it's not going to be sunny today," he said. (And just moments after he said that, we heard thunder rumbling in the distance!) After pondering for a while, John suggested that I call it "Over the Shoulder Boulder Beholders", because we were going to Boulder Flat, where we would behold many boulders. I laughed at the cleverness of his pun and considered it.

It took us about a half an hour to reach the trail junction. That was where we took our first break - not to rest, but to change Mary's diaper, which had begun to leak. Once we had a dry and happy baby, we began our trek along the Ballentine Trail.

By the time we began hiking along the Ballentine Trail, the threat of rain seemed to diminish as the thunder stopped rumbling; however, it remained cloudy all day long, so we remained wary of the weather. It also remained cool for the entire day; little Mary's cheeks became uncomfortably cold, which made her fussy for most of the trip to Boulder Flat. It wasn't until John covered her head with a blanket that she settled down and went to sleep.

Despite those problems, we still had an enjoyable hike, and I found that, without the rain, the Ballentine Trail is really wonderful after all. The trail itself is not very difficult, even though there are a lot of uphill climbs. Instead of one, long, trudging climb, though, there are a lot of "stair-steps", where you have to step up. Also, after each uphill climb, the trail would flatten out for a while, which helped me get back up to speed.

What made the hike even more pleasant was the scenery. One word best describes this mountain range: boulders - and lots of them, in a vast variety of shapes and sizes. There were huge, twenty-foot tall and five-foot wide rectangular monoliths standing everywhere you looked, and next to them, there were piles of round boulders, both large and small. Then, after cresting one of the passes, we came to an area called "The Boulders", which is a huge mountain that is literally covered with red boulders. I was completely amazed by its beauty. As John and I stopped to take pictures, we both wondered what this range would look like during sunrise, as the first rays of sun hits it in the morning. It must be spectacular.

But the Ballentine Trail isn't just about boulders. Another interesting thing that I found was the foliage along the trail - something I had missed the first time I was there (I blame the rain). Just before we reached The Boulders, we came to an area that was completely choked with chollas and saguaros. They were everywhere, standing majestically among the boulders and rocks. The chollas were lush and bright green, thanks to the recent rains. Upon noticing it, I had to point it out to John because I thought it was a very beautiful forest of cactus.

It was here that we began to follow Camp Creek, which, like Pine Creek, was also flowing with rain water. At one point along the way, we could a waterfall, and we looked to see water rushing down the hill from the canyon. It was quite peaceful.

As we came to The Boulders, we began to follow a fence line for a while. On the other side of the fence, I saw something so interesting that I had to stop and take a picture. We called it the "four-fingered saguaro" - it was a saguaro with four arms on top of it, all in a row, like a set of fingers. Not exactly something you see everyday!

About a half a mile from Boulder Flat, there was a creek crossing - we had to cross over one of the smaller creeks that dumps into Camp Creek. This, too, was flowing with crisp, cool water. Soon thereafter, the trail began to climb again, and after it crested a hill, it dropped into a valley of boulders. There was a sign at the bottom that read "Boulder Flat". Since it was already 11:00 a.m., we decided to stop there and eat lunch; then, after Mary was fed and diapered, we would turn around and return to the car.

We didn't linger in Boulder Flat for very long. While we rested, we looked at the clouds overhead and noticed that there was rain in the distance, both to the north and to the south. John suggested that, since most of the trail was downhill on the way back, we should probably try to hike faster and take fewer breaks, to ensure that we were back at the car before we were hit with any rain showers that might be coming our way. "I think that's a good idea," I agreed.

Although it took us two and a half hours to reach Boulder Flat, it only took us an hour and a half to return to the car. This is due to the fact that the Ballentine Trail is not too steep, which makes traveling downhill much easier - and that made it easier for us to hike at a quick pace. There were maybe two or three sections of the trail that were steep and slippery enough that I had to slow down and be careful, but those areas were short, and as soon as I passed them, I was able to get back up to speed.

Another thing that made the return hike so easy for us was the fact that Mary was asleep for most of it. Having had a half of a bottle of formula during our lunch break, she was ready for a nap, so she slept for most of the hike. Without her fussing, John was able to concentrate more on hiking and less on her needs.

It was a good thing that we made such good time on our return hike, because as soon as we reached the trail junction (about a mile from the car), it started to rain! Fortunately, it was a light rain, but it was rain nonetheless! Once again, we had been cursed by bad weather on the Ballentine Trail. John insisted that it was my fault, because the one time he had hiked the trail alone, he had had beautiful weather.

With only a mile to go, John hiked quickly back to the car so that he could get Mary out of the rain - he would meet me at the car (I would only be a few minutes behind). Halfway back, though, the rain stopped, so John stopped and waited for me. As soon as I caught up to him, he said, "I've got it - the title for your journal. How about 'Park on the Shoulder Boulder Beholders'?" (We had parked on the shoulder of State Route 87, and we beheld boulders.)

And that was when I decided on "My Punny Ballentine" - because John was being "punny".

We made it back to the car at 1:00 p.m., and we were home by 2:30; our adventure for the day was over, and we had had a wonderful time. Although I shouldn't have been out hiking with my cold (I managed to make it worse), I was so glad that we had had the chance to hike the Ballentine Trail in better weather and that I had finally seen The Boulders, which was something that I truly enjoyed.

As I said, though, it didn't come without a price. I was at home with that cold all day Saturday. And wouldn't you know it! It didn't rain at all that weekend! We had canceled the camping trip for nothing. A bit perturbed, John and I stayed at home anyway and rented movies (including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) to pass the time away.

Return to Naked in the Woods.