Brad has recovered mostly from our trip to Ohio, and was finally able to get the pictures finished of our hike on my parents’ wedding day. It was a 9 AM wedding, so there was plenty of time left in the day! They wanted to take us all on their favorite hiking trail, which happens to be a level 4 hiking trail. Not a trail you typically take a wheelchair on! But Brad and I decided to see how far we could go so we could spend time with family too, and just stop when we couldn’t go any further.
My cousin and her partner had brought their dog with them to Ohio, so she was able to come along on the hike with us! She is a silver Frenchie. The dog, not the cousin! So all the people who were there were my parents, my mom’s brother, his wife, their daughter, their daughter’s partner, my mom’s college friend, and Brad and me.
It was a lovely warm fall afternoon, and the leaves were just past peak color.
The trail started out easily enough with a thin layer of crushed gravel after the paved connecting path. We were able to get about 5 minutes in before we ran into any problems.
We came up to a large rock outcrop blocking the trail. For our walking people, it wasn’t too hard to get over. But for wheelchair users it was! We could see the trail a long ways in the future was clear, so we knew if we could get past this rock outcrop, we’d be good for a while.
Brad was able to go around the worst of the rocks, but he’s very skilled and his wheelchair is narrower than mine so I was afraid of plunging into the ravine below. Luckily there was a very fit passerby who offered to help me carry my wheelchair across. It is 114 lbs, so with two people and a good grip it is doable to carry it short distances. Brad got pictures of us carrying my wheelchair across the rock outcrop.
Shortly after the rock outcrop, there was a lookout point that had a step to get down to it where you could see a waterfall. Brad and I stayed up above on the trail, while the rest of the family enjoyed looking at the waterfall.
We continued along the trail, which got increasingly bumpy and rocky. But we were still able to make it pretty far! The other pup got tired and had to be carried some. There was a wooden bridge that had a very low step to get on it, but Brad and I were able to make it over with a speedy approach.
About 20 minutes into the hike, we started going uphill, and they had some wooden planks as steps to help you climb up the hills. We made it over the first one because there was enough dirt and detritus up against it, but couldn’t make it over the second. Even when my dad gave me a push! So Brad and I hung out there for a while, taking pictures of Felix and me, while the rest of the family went on the trail further.
We got a video at the point where we couldn’t go any further. If you don’t like seeing Brad, don’t let his face on the thumbnail for all the videos deter you. They’re mostly of me, but YouTube seems to like him more! LOL
We got lots of great pictures of Felix, including some of him with leaves in his hair! We also got some good shots of Felix and me together, looking into each others’ eyes and looking off into the distance together.
Eventually the rest of the family got done with their hiking and came back down the trail to us. The Frenchie was overheating so had to head back to the car immediately to cool off. My dad had nerve pain in his leg from doing the trail with my mom once before the rest of us arrived, so we had to go slowly for him.
On the way back, we got video of us crossing the bridge that had large lips to get on and off of it. Brad challenged himself as a videographer and did it backward!
And Brad got some pictures of that, too! Along with pictures of us on our way back down the trail. My dad was walking with his arm around my mom, so sweet!
We ended up with a few more videos along the way of the rough trail conditions. Our wheelchairs handled them pretty well!
When we got back to the big rocky bit blocking our way, Brad was unable to go around it on the same side as before. He was afraid he’d tumble into the ravine because would have to shoot toward the edge more this time! So instead, he went over the craggy obstacle!!! His Permobil F3 has really good suspension and high clearance—and he put his spatial problem-solving abilities to use—so he was able to do it, just barely! I got video!
Then it was my turn. I knew my wheelchair couldn’t make it across those rocks, and there were no fit people around to help me. So I took my wheelchair apart and my mom’s friend helped me carry all the parts across the rocks. Brad got video of that!
He also got pictures of it, too! It was just a few minutes from that point to the trailhead, so he didn’t get too many more pictures. Though he did get one of the sign saying it was a level 4 trail!
No surprise, level 4 trails are too risky and not a great idea for wheelchair users. But as always, Brad and I like to go on adventures in our wheelchairs. It was fun to go on a hike with our family, even if we weren’t able to make it the whole way. And it was a good way to spend the afternoon after my parents’ wedding.
We ended up at one of my parents’ favorite restaurants for dinner afterwards, Ambar India. We had a wonderful meal! And a fun rest of our trip, as well. Brad didn’t get any more pictures of our trip, as he was getting quite tired. But we hung out more with people, went on more walks, and enjoyed an açai bowl restaurant.
Overall it was a good trip. A long drive, but hey at least our wheelchairs didn’t get destroyed by the airlines like they probably would have if we had flown! Felix was a good boy, though he got stressed by the end of the trip from all the activity and ended up with some loose stools. Heck, I got stressed from having to be out every day, too! So the last couple of days we were there, we ended up spending quite a bit of time in our hotel room relaxing. That made the drive back home much easier for all of us.