Hiking

We took the kids on their first real hike over Memorial Day weekend. It started because Dave and Nathan wanted to go Geocaching and Dave saw that there were some Caches in this area but it was a bit of a hike. I said, well, why don't we all go! So we packed some water and sandwhiches, lathered on some sunscreen and off we went.

I LOVED it. Truly. I'd forgotten how much I love hiking. I was raised hiking every summer and it's just in my blood. Compared to what I used to do, this was mild but considering I havn't hiked in probably 9 or 10 years and I had 4 kids with me, one of whom spent the entire time on my back...it was perfect.

I considered taking my SLR camera but knew that would be a dumb idea. It would likely get broken or at the very least be way too heavy to carry so far. So I brought my point and shoot which has a broken LCD screen (thanks to one of my kids dropping it off a balcony onto concrete) but it still works I just can't see anything. It's like a throwback to film. I literally pointed and shot and then found out what I got when I got home and put them on my computer.







The kids were really excited about all the little things like looking for 4 leaf clovers and finding a snail.







It was a 3 mile loop and much steeper than we were expecting. About halfway up we were considering turning around but a couple came up behind us and I asked them how the rest of the trail was. They said they had hiked it a lot and we were almost through the worst of it and once we got to the top it would level out for a while. They also said there were a lot of little trails leading off the main trail and that they'd mark the path for us. They left sticks laid down like arrows and the kids loved looking for them to make sure we were going the right way.





Clara fell asleep near the top and slept the whole way down.


The whole way up was following a creek and we were surrounded by trees and shade. But once we rounded the top it opened up and we had gorgeous views and lots of sunshine.









The rocks were so pretty. They were all sparkly and glittery with this silver stuff and I commented on it. I said something about it looking like silver and Nathan heard me. He said "That's not silver Mom. It's Mica." I had never heard of Mica so I just said okay then I cam home and googled it. Turns out, it was Mica.

Smart kid.

Nearing the end. We loved Dave's camel pack. It really came in handy.


When we got to the car, Dave and I started cheering and congratulating the kids for making it. Gabe burst into tears and just sobbed and cried because he didn't want to get into the car. He wanted to go back to the trail. Guess I have a little outdoorsman on my hands!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Dave's GPS wasn't cut out for wooded areas so they didn't find any of the geocaches. Bummer!