The Jardine Juniper Trail

On Friday night, Chris sent out a text asking to see if anyone was interested in hiking the Juniper Trail on Saturday afternoon. It just so happens that Bill was walking me home to my apartment when we both got that text. I read the message and became very excited about the idea of hiking to Old Juniper. Bill looked at his phone and groaned. I laughed.

At that moment, a hike was one of the last things Bill ever wanted to do, but I told Bill that I was going to text Chris back and tell him I wanted to come along, whether he did or not. Bill sighed and knew he'd probably end up going out of peer pressure...so he consented anyway. (Pushover...heh heh)

On Saturday afternoon I attempted to convince Taylor that she wanted to come along with us, but alas, she had some studying to do, so I left her alone and made my way over to Bill's apartment. That girl is one of my ultimate examples - I tell you what!

Turns out that Chris, Bill, and I were the only ones going on the hike because of various reasonings and plans amongst people. But I was okay with that! I remember walking up to Old Juniper when I was a little kid, and I figured this hike wasn't going to be very long. We stopped to look at a map before heading up Logan Canyon to find the trailhead, and then I called my Pops for more clarification.

We found it easy enough (thanks Pops!) and parked the truck. We looked at the trailhead and it said the hike was 5.2 miles...Chris and I both looked at each other. Neither of us remembered it being that long...in fact, the parking lot didn't look familiar either. But the trailhead distinctly said Jardine Juniper Trail! So we set out on our course.

It was hot...really hot...but we plowed on and talked a little here and there, but mostly we were focusing on breathing and not stumbling into the person in front of us. We came to a mile marker saying we had four more miles to go, and Bill was a little miffed. It was hot...really hot... ;) I begged to let us keep going on ahead, and he agreed.

Chris

We made it a couple of miles further and then Chris was wearing out too. The men talked about turning around and I sighed. I put in my plug about "how great we'd feel by making it to the end of the hike" and I nudged a little here and there. Ever the annoying optimist. But then I agreed that if they wanted to turn around, we could certainly turn around...I guess I must have guilt-tripped them both because we kept on going anyway.

Bill

We were nearing the top of the ridge and we ran into a Grandpa with his two grandsons. We asked him how much further it was to the tree and he gave us a pretty thorough overview of what was to come. He was so wonderful. But he also made it sound like we had a lot to go...and Bill was not excited about this. We were almost there - no use turning back now! So we kept going... :)

Along the trail, you come to a fork where you can take the "shady route" or the "scenic route." I suggested the scenic (because that's what the Grandpa suggested) and we started off to the right.

At last we came to where the two trails convened and it was a "straight shot" to Old Juniper.

We made it!!! Here's what trails.com has to say about the the tree.

The Old Jardine Juniper is a curious sight. Anchored tenaciously above the craggy cliff-lined walls of Logan Canyon, the stoic cedar clings to life—even after 3,000 years! Grossly twisted limbs stretch from its weather-tortured trunk. Although the tree appears dead and decaying, a small garland sprouting from its crown confirms that the conifer is very much alive.

It's amazing to me that something can be so old and still be living. 3,000 plus years old! Imagine everything this tree has seen. It was here when Christ came to this Earth, and it was also here when the Earth wept over His death. Not to mention all the storms it has withstood, and the changes that have occurred in the landscape! If only this tree could talk...

Old Jardine Juniper

I pulled out the book you can sign to show the accomplishment you've made by getting there. I walked back up to Bill and Chris, who didn't come down to the tree, and had them sign the book with me.

Then we started our descent...which was a whole lot cooler, and a whole lot less strenuous than before. Bill perked up and I thanked Chris and Bill over and over again for sticking to it.

Yes. It's true. The 5.2 miles to Old Juniper was not the mileage of a round trip - it was one way. We hiked 10.4 miles in 5 hours. Not bad! I was impressed with our little group. :)

We were all wiped out and extremely sweaty by the end, but I felt great. I thrive off that sense of accomplishment!

But this hike made me realize many a great thing. I need to remember that hiking is certainly not everybody's forte...like it is mine. Not everybody is in the same physical condition, so it's important to be able to sympathize with others. And men's moods are heavily influenced by their stomaches. ;) Next time we will prepare for a longer hike - and truly know what we are getting ourselves into...but I also happen to thrive off spontaneity. This hike totally made my day and I have Chris and Bill to thank for being great friends and sticking it out with me.

Aw...Troopers through and through!

(Side story: That Saturday morning, as I was weeding at Reva's, I had chewed a piece of gum for four hours - to the point where the gum lost all chew and was starting to dissolve in my mouth. The next day, out of all the reasons I had to be sore over, it was my jaw that ached. Heh heh.)