So what if I don't like spiders??

BJ had the afternoon off so we decided to head out of town and go hiking. We went to the Lake Sylvia Recreation area which is a part of the Ouachita National Forest (it's pronounced Wash-a-taw which I would never in my wildest dreams have guessed). It was nice and sunny with low humidity - for Arkansas- therefore a perfect afternoon for romping through the forest.

Early on I took the lead until running into a few cobwebs spanning the trail. It's probably never been mentioned before on this blog, but I am DEATHLY afraid of spiders. It's a phobia I've had for as long as I can remember, and quite honestly I don't care if it makes me a pussy. So from that point on, I let BJ take the lead and destroy all cobwebs crossing our path. Of course we didn't destroy all the webs, just the ones we couldn't duck under or step over. You might be thinking, what's wrong with a little cobweb?? And I will clearly state that I have no problem with the web, it's the MASSIVE SPIDER attached to it that freaks me out!!! And yes, along the way we saw several of those blood sucking monsters, clinging to their webs just waiting to pounce on a cute, unsuspecting red head. It may not make me the best environmentalist, and it's not like I want to kill the spiders (if they're in my house on my own turf that's a whole different ball game), but I just wanted to keep them far away from me. So yes, perhaps they'll have to work all night to rebuild their web and I'm destroying their ecosystem, blah blah blah ... well that's just tough shit as far as I'm concerned.

I was actually surprised at how little use this trail system gets. We only saw one other pair of hikers all afternoon, and from all of the cobwebs spanning the thoroughfares, clearly no one had been through earlier. The area is only 45 minutes from Little Rock and the main loop is a nice 5 mile trail that would be perfect for train running, taking the dog out, or just getting away.

I must commend BJ on his willingness to forge ahead and take the cobwebs for the team (we did try to notice them before hand and remove them with a nice stick but sometimes he just walked right through them). Of course, we were both smart enough to let the other pair that were behind us catch up after about 2.5 miles and go ahead which was an excellent way of allowing them to be the spider web finders from that point on. I did, however. find that BJ's comment, "you do know that you are completely shattering the big outdoorsy girl image you portrayed, right??" was unnecessarily harsh in response to my very occasional squeals.

Whatever!!! Can't a girl take a hike and NOT have to be attacked by spiders?? Seriously, I don't think it's asking much!