Learning Turkey Mountain

The first really big question that must be addressed by any 5 year old that is raised by a hunting dad is "Where are the turkeys?"  This was the first of many disappointments on this our first trip to Turkey Mountain.  My sister went a few weeks before and said what a great time they had.  Our experience was lacking the "great time".  Now before I go complaining about Turkey Mountain you need to know we were in no shape prepared for this adventure.

The only map we had in hand was one of the zoo which isn't very helpful at turkey mountain. Although I had gone to the website and looked at their map before visiting.  The "trails" just were not lining up with my expectations of what they would look like.  The other thing that would have helped was better markings for each trail.

This being said the kids wanted to go DOWN.  I warned them that if we go down we will eventually have to come back UP.  Did they listen? No, and they whined the whole way up.  Except for a brief moment I'm not really sure we ever made it on a trail.  I think we were actually on the Riverside Bike Trail towards downtown.  It just seemed to go on and on without any sense of curving back to the parking lot.  It was also lacking in wildlife which to my kids made it "boring"! Not one worm, bug, or grasshopper...nothing aka boring!

Another visiting Mama who looked as prepared as us asked me where the playground was located.  I had no idea but I did remember seeing something about that on the website.

Our one detour onto an actual trail was rough.  I had forgotten the cell phone, the trail was not marked, we didn't have a map in hand, the terrain was rocky and rough, and I had the little two in the double stroller.  We didn't last but 5 minutes on the "trail".  The further we went the worse it got and I didn't know the destination of this so called "trail".  All I could envision was a tire going flat or popping on the rocks and we would be stuck and the word stuck does not really capture my fears.  That I would be carrying in some form or fashion four kids plus a heavy camera up an impossible hill that I am barely in shape enough to survive on my own.

We returned to the bike trail.

Now turkey mountain on the hot hot day we were there was covered in trail hikers (with their walking sticks) and mountain bikers.  It seemed very safe.  We just didn't have a plan or working knowledge of what we were supposed to do there.  Next time and there will be a next time when everyone can walk we will try again more prepared.  This was not the mountains fault.

Before leaving we did see the "playground" which one could easily miss if they didn't know what they were looking for.  Climbing rocks.  The kids apparently were not as tired as they seemed whining up the steep incline to the parking lot because they had plenty of energy to climb.

Caroline preferred to stay on the ground.

To those who may think I scarred my children I didn't.  They still ask "is that the mountain I climbed?" when we pass a tall hill. :)