Climbing the Elephant's Back

Today we took Zoe on her first hike.  It was also my first hike in many months.  There was something amazingly wonderfully great about being outdoors in the sunshine exploring a small mountain! 

Daniel navigated us there on our motorcycle with the help of his GPS.  We only turned around three times.  He even asked a couple of men for directions when we got close.  We drove the motorcycle up the first 100 meters of the trail to see if we were in the right place.  Then we met a family who insisted that we park our  motorcycle inside their house!  They invited us in, and, while I nursed Zoe, Daniel ate the vegetables and rice that they eagerly served him.  They were sure that Zoe was too small to go on a hike and would get very hot and they tried as hard as they could to convince us to leave her with them while we hiked the mountain.  We wanted this to be a family hike, though, so we politely declined the offer.

All the way up the mountain we walked on a small footpath.  This was a cultivated mountain--it was terraced and people grew vegetables there.  We also saw people harvesting grass and sticks which they carried down on their backs, heads, or on scooters.  The views were wonderful on our way.  We saw several other beautiful and bigger mountains, including Mt. Merbabu which Daniel has already hiked once and hopes to hike again.  That hike is too difficult to do with a baby.  But this hike wasn't!  I was full of energy.  The air was cooler there than at our house because of the higher elevation.  It felt refreshing!

On top of Gunung Gajah something-or-other (Mountain Elephant's Back, but we can't remember the Javanese word for back) there was a rock marker that is a virtual geo-cache.  We took our photo with the rock and then headed down.

Zoe slept for most of our hike.  We put a thin blanket over her when it was sunny to protect her skin.  As we neared the base and the house of our new friends, we were made sure the blanket did not cover her head, so they would not worry about her ability to breath.  We visited again for a little while, and then headed home for lunch.

Here is our adventure in photos:

Starting up the mountain

Note the ladies carrying grass and sticks

Mt. Telemoyo

Family photo!

Mt. Merbabu

This is the marker at the top of the mountain.  Daniel is showing off his GPS,

Zoe slept a lot!

Mt. Merbabu again. 

Daniel parked the motorcycle inside this house

The kind people who asked us to park at their house and offered us food and water.  This is a husband, wife, and their 5-year-old granddaughter.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I think that hiking is going to become a regular family activity for us!  On the drive home I realized that today I wore the same shirt that I wore when I hiked up Mt. Washington a year ago August.  That was pre-Zoe, pre-pregnancy, pre-Indonesia.  Somehow it was comforting in my life that is filled with changes to see that I still am hiking and wearing the same shirt.

I was so happy all the way home that I wanted to dance and sing (but I didn't, because that would be dangerous on a motorcycle).

What has made you feel happy and grateful lately?  What do you enjoy doing with your family?