So the Tuesday before Memorial Day weekend, Clint announced that he wanted to go camping. One of the guys at work had told him about this beautiful place only an hour or so away. Since it was National Forest we could camp wherever we wanted and we would only have to hike in about a mile!!!! Usually, I am a good sport about these kinds of things. We have taken both kids on backpacking trips before and we all have a good time. Being 36+ weeks pregnant, I was not quite so accommodating this time. We compromised on a day trip with some hiking. After all, Clint's friend had said that it was pretty flat and a blog Clint had found said that the scenery was spectacular just over a mile into the hike. After driving on an isolated dirt road through a burned up forest for nearly an hour, we finally found our destination. We were sure we would find solitude, but were shocked to find the parking lot completely full and many cars parked alongside the road. Encouraged that the scenery really did justify the bumpy, dusty ride to get there, we headed off through the burned forest.
We only had to hike a quarter mile before we got into the forest. It was beautiful, but hardly flat! Both kids are good hikers, especially if you have all day.
Haden tried to collect every stick, pine cone, or rock he passed. Regan picked a beautiful bouquet of dandelions for me. Clint tried to hurry their pace, but was not too successful, although M&M's do wonders when it comes to bribing the kids to race to the top of hill!
Nearly 2 miles into the hike we passed a couple who said that we were only half way to the fabulous views. The kids were getting bored hiking and I was running out of energy, so we turned around. Clint had brought his fly rod, so we had a picnic and unsuccessfully fished. The wind picked up just as Clint started his first cast. Hiking out, Haden found a pile of crushed pine cones. He and Regan had the best time throwing it up in the air and letting it fall back down on them! They would have stayed there for a long time, but, with the promise of ice cream in Deckers, the kids made it back to the car in record time.
We'll have to try the trip again next year. Maybe this time we'll even get to backpack in and stay overnight!
What I wouldn't give for even half of Haden's energy. This picture was on the way to the car after 4 miles of hiking!!
1 comment:
So we camped at Buffalo Creek not too far from there. Decent camping but you have to get there early to get the good spots...best part is it was free!! That foresst that was burnt is the one where the forest ranger wanted more time for work so she started it. Crazy huh!! Sounds fun...maybe we will try it out.
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