September 17, 2007
Today's hike took us to Black Mountain. A 3 mile out & back hike with a rocky, flat summit and beautiful views. We packed soup for lunch, which Damien heated with our backpack/camp stove that he built (yep, that's my man). Unfortunately, our post lunch apples attracted wasps, one of which stung Brienne on the neck. So, our time at the summit ended abruptly. We descended much faster than our trek up, in pursuit of plantain or self heal. We didn't find either until a good 2/3 down the trail but once I chewed them up and applied them the sting, swelling and redness went away.
Our experience made me think I need to make a backpack/hiking dried herbal mix to apply to stings, cuts, abrasions, bruises etc... Since the herbs you need aren't always where you need them, like the summit of a mountain. So, I'm inspired to experiment but I'm hoping we don't get anymore stings any time soon.
Once again, our kids were absolute troopers both up & down. I'm ashamed to say I complained more than all them (they didn't whine once) about the hike - I was tired, I wanted to be relaxing, yah dah, yah dah. Even with her sting Brienne didn't offer a word of complaint but just sniffled and snuffled down the mountain (after an all out cry at the top). We met a guy at the summit who thought we had carried our kids part way up the trail!
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Karen on Sept. 17, 2007, 1:12 p.m.
Sounds like you had an interesting hike - they can't all be the best of experiences. Once the pain is gone and everyone's home safe and happy then it can be viewed with heroism and adventure! Brienne has proven once again she's a tough little nut. This isn't a natural solution but an idea for you until you discover your elixir mix: when my neighbour got zapped by 40 wasps this summer his wife crushed aspirins and mixed in a little water to make a paste. It prevented him from going into an allergic reaction and took the sting away. I got one sting this summer on my heel and should have done something - it was itchy and bothersome for a whole week. Pretty potent venom.