A Hiking We Will Go!

Saturday was a beautiful day. A perfect day, really. And we decided to make the most of it. I've really been wanting to take the kids on a nature scavenger hunt. And a co-worker of Aaron's told him about a cave up Rock Canyon, that Aaron's been really wanting to go see. So, we doubled up. We printed out our nature scavenger hunt, and packed some snacks and Subway sandwiches, and headed up Rock Canyon.

Keep in mind, that none of my children have ever gone on a hike longer than about 10 minutes. I had no idea how this little adventure was going to turn out, or how long it would last. But the kids did fantastic. They really were champs! Adelia rode about 2/3rds of the way in the hiking backpack and walked about 1/3 of way (not all in one chunk, she'd get down and walk 'til she got tired, then we'd put her back in the pack. It worked out.). But my boys were awesome. They walked the entire way. (I did carry Ivan piggy-back the last 100 yards to the car, but that doesn't count, because technically, we were done hiking by then.) And when we got home and mapped it out, our rough guess it that we went about 3 miles. It took about 4 hours. And we had fun! (And yes, Ivan carried his "baby rabbit" the WHOLE time.)

We stopped pretty often for rests, water, and snacks. But mostly those were just excuses so I could take pictures. :) And yes, I dressed my kids in bright colors on purpose so I could spot them very easily, should they wander too far ahead. I'm a little bit paranoid like that.

It was so beautiful, and so nice to just "get away from it all". I think I need that a lot more frequently than I get it.

Cave #1, not the cave we were looking for, but we decided to stop and check it out anyway, just in case we couldn't make it as far as our goal, then the kids would still get to see a "real live cave!" and not be disappointed. The entrance to this cave is narrow and goes down first. I did not let Adelia go down in it. She and I stayed behind while Aaron took the boys down.  She was not happy about being left behind.

 We stopped for lunch in a nice spot by the stream. The kids threw rocks in the river, and had a grand old time. All three of them scarfed up their sandwiches like nobody's business without me having to beg them to eat. We should probably go hiking more often. :)

We had decided to start heading back down after lunch. We didn't know how much farther the cave was, and we wanted the kids to make it back down the mountain. Then another hiker came past on his way down, and Aaron asked if he knew how far away the cave was. He said we were about 25 yards from it. So we decided to keep going. And sure enough, we found it!

I'm not gonna lie, the cave made me super nervous. Not because I'm scared of caves, I actually really like caves. But the impossibility of holding three small hands and a flash light in the dark, where at any moment one of them could fall off some unseen edge into a never ending pit of darkness, was a little bit unnerving for me. At one point there was a small hole, and Aaron was standing in it, lifting our kids over the edge onto the other side, and he set Adelia down, and she immediately got up and made as if to continue on down the path deeper into the cave...and I about lost it. I demanded that Aaron hand me Adelia and that she and I would wait outside. At that point Ivan wanted to come with us too, he was scared because he thought it was a bear cave, and he didn't want to meet the bear. So, Ivan and Adelia and I came out, and Lincoln and Aaron finished exploring the cave (it wasn't much deeper than we'd already gone, so they were only a couple of minutes behind us). In my mind there is nothing more terrifying than feeling incapable of protecting my children. This isn't the only time I've felt it, but I hope I don't have to feel it too many more times. I think maybe we should save caving for when the kids are a little older, even the little caves.

After the cave, we headed back down the mountain. The boys found walking sticks (or bear killers, depending on who you talk to), and had fun using them to get down the trail. Down always goes faster than up, and we didn't have to stop nearly as many times.

Oh ya, I almost forgot. This is what was on our nature scavenger hunt. We found everything, and the boys loved it.

Something Fuzzy
Two kinds of seeds
Two pieces of man made litter
Something straight
Something round
Something smooth
Something Rough
Two different types of leaves
Something the makes noise
A chewed leaf
A beautiful rock
Something you think is beautiful
A pine cone
Something green
A stick
Something you think is a treasure
A butterfly