Father's Day Hike
J really wanted to take a long hike (short hike, long for the kids) for Father's Day, so we drove on out to a trail that took us to the Twin Falls. We have infant-carrier backpacks, but we're also a little outnumbered. Luckily J has a friend of his from work who hangs out with us (they share a love for hockey etc.) So we each got a girl, J took Charlotte - the heaviest, Andy and I split up the twins.
Of course, C didn't want to stay in the pack the whole time, so it was complicated, but we worked it out.
Apparently everyone else thought a hike was a good idea because there was about a half mile line of cars parked back from the trail head. We saw the line, and immediately parked at the first open space and then walked, but it was funny to see how many people drove all the way to the trail head and then either turned around to get the farther away spaces that were available or idled fishing for a spot to open. It's so weird, you came to hike, but you don't want an extra 5-10 minute walk?
Anyhow, of course, just the half-mile paved walk got me a little winded. So we decided to switch things up, gave J a twin, got Charley on her feet and she and I would go at our own pace while the men headed out with the two boys and the twins. We sort of stuck together on the flatter early parts of the trail. Despite the number of people hiking it wasn't crowded, I think path to the top of the Falls was about a mile and a half and people take up less space than cars, so even when the trail got narrow it wasn't too bad.
The boys had argued on the car ride about how they were going to divide up who was the leader on the trail, and I was concerned the day would devolve into on long argument, or worse, the two of them racing to be in the lead the whole time, but they worked out that one of them would take the lead on uphill stretches, the other on downhill, and they'd share or switch off on flats and bridges. And even though they sometimes got eager and took off running for the most part they were well behaved.
The tricky thing was switching between letting C walk and getting her back up and onto my back in the carrier when she had had enough. She and I ended up pulling aside by the river a short way into the hike and just got to exploring, my hips got sore enough and I got plenty of burn/workout keeping her out of trouble. Once we separated I didn't see the men, boys or twins for probably and hour and half, they made it all the way to both falls and back, J took some nice pictures. Some other time we'll come back and I'll get a look with my own eyes. Apparently the boys did great, but they were definitely dragging their feet on the way back from my river spot to the car. We were all pretty pooped, grimy and sweaty by the end of it, and had spent maybe 4 hours total out there. No-one got upset, the twins seemed to love being out in the woods but they were pretty cranky by the time we got home, even though all 3 girls napped on the way back and everyone was fed well.
All in all a really good day, but I'm feeling it in my thighs, back and shoulders for sure this morning.
Of course, C didn't want to stay in the pack the whole time, so it was complicated, but we worked it out.
Apparently everyone else thought a hike was a good idea because there was about a half mile line of cars parked back from the trail head. We saw the line, and immediately parked at the first open space and then walked, but it was funny to see how many people drove all the way to the trail head and then either turned around to get the farther away spaces that were available or idled fishing for a spot to open. It's so weird, you came to hike, but you don't want an extra 5-10 minute walk?
Anyhow, of course, just the half-mile paved walk got me a little winded. So we decided to switch things up, gave J a twin, got Charley on her feet and she and I would go at our own pace while the men headed out with the two boys and the twins. We sort of stuck together on the flatter early parts of the trail. Despite the number of people hiking it wasn't crowded, I think path to the top of the Falls was about a mile and a half and people take up less space than cars, so even when the trail got narrow it wasn't too bad.
The boys had argued on the car ride about how they were going to divide up who was the leader on the trail, and I was concerned the day would devolve into on long argument, or worse, the two of them racing to be in the lead the whole time, but they worked out that one of them would take the lead on uphill stretches, the other on downhill, and they'd share or switch off on flats and bridges. And even though they sometimes got eager and took off running for the most part they were well behaved.
The tricky thing was switching between letting C walk and getting her back up and onto my back in the carrier when she had had enough. She and I ended up pulling aside by the river a short way into the hike and just got to exploring, my hips got sore enough and I got plenty of burn/workout keeping her out of trouble. Once we separated I didn't see the men, boys or twins for probably and hour and half, they made it all the way to both falls and back, J took some nice pictures. Some other time we'll come back and I'll get a look with my own eyes. Apparently the boys did great, but they were definitely dragging their feet on the way back from my river spot to the car. We were all pretty pooped, grimy and sweaty by the end of it, and had spent maybe 4 hours total out there. No-one got upset, the twins seemed to love being out in the woods but they were pretty cranky by the time we got home, even though all 3 girls napped on the way back and everyone was fed well.
All in all a really good day, but I'm feeling it in my thighs, back and shoulders for sure this morning.