Barefoot Path

I made her wear a hat, but she flipped it up. She looks like a dork.

Em's red legs

There is an interesting thing in Europe called a "barefoot path." It's a park with a walking circuit that you do barefoot. There are different textures and materials on which you walk. Explanation of barefoot paths We went as an end-of-year fun thing with Em's GS troop. We had a picnic and then took off walking. The first thing we walked through was muddy water. It was cold! It actually would have been quite nice if it hadn't been for all of the pokey rocks in there. All of our legs were stained red when we got out.  It didn't come off fully until after we got home and showered, despite the fact that we walked through some rapids later.

Different textures

After the mud, we walked on some wood chips, some packed dirt, and some grass. Then there was a little balance course to go through. We walked through a trough-like thing of freezing water and then some more sand, dirt, river stones, etc. Then came the rapids. There are ropes to hold onto, and it isn't too deep for older kids or adults, but we did have some younger siblings that needed to take the bridge option.

Looking down into the water.

Up until this point, I had been feeling pretty cool that I had thought to wear shorts. I didn't get muddy, nor did I get my shorts wet in the trough of cold water. I rolled up my shorts as high as I could get them (not pretty, but oh, well) and got ready to go in. The girls all went in first, and I realized that the rolling of shorts was inconsequential. I was going to be wet, because my legs are not those of a supermodel. I am comforted by the fact that the legs of a supermodel would not have been able to hold her in that current. The picture on the left is looking down at my legs. You can see how wet my shorts are already, and this wasn't even the deepest part. By the time we got to the deep stuff, I didn't feel comfortable having my camera out.The girls ran back over the bridge and did it again!

Girl Scouts wobble, but they don't fall down!

After the rapids, there were a few more areas of different textures
and materials, but mostly it was just walking the back half of the circuit. To get back over the river at the end of the loop, there were two choices - you could either take a rope bridge or a hand powered barge thing, where you pulled yourself across with a rope. The girls went around and around and did both several times.


 

















Emma says - I flipped the hat up because it wouldn't stay on. The girls & I loved the mud, and while were were waiting at the end for the slow grownups, some of us jumped back in! The rapids were awesome, and no matter what Mom's caption is for the rapids, most of us did fall down. Except for me. Booyah! I did get awfully wet helping somebody else up, though. At the end, another girl and I went back through the mud again one more time.