The first time we went on this hike, Luke was only 3 months old and we didn't make it to the end. We went again today. Luke is now 9 1/2 months old and this time we did the whole hike! It was completely exhausting and Luke managed to get a total of about 5 minutes of nap time in, but it was absolutely gorgeous and a fantastic way to spend a Saturday.
We crossed a bridge at the very beginning. We saw a lot of this little river throughout the hike and we crossed it several times. I just love hikes with water. I think it makes the experience exponentially better. And it's already great to begin with!
Pictures never quite do the beauty justice. The red cliffs that surround a lot the trails in this area are so gorgeous.
The picture didn't quite capture it, but this rock was really colorful! It looked like someone had dyed it about six different colors.
One of the many beautiful river crossings. A lot of the river crossings were made up of wobbly rocks and narrow logs. We got our shoes wet more than a couple of times.
We found a nice little spot next to the river to stop for lunch.
Luke sat in the backpack carrier like it was a high chair.
Jeff and I had scrumptious turkey sandwiches for lunch. Turkey has got to be the best kind of sandwich to have on a hike.
We shared with Luke. He was much more interested in our lunches than his own.
The baby food was banished to the ground.
It was more than an hour past Luke's nap time and he was tired. We thought he would nap in the pack like he normally does, but this time, that plan was a total failure. Luke took it like a champ though. He whined and cried a few times, but for the most part, he did great. We were sure that when we got home at 3pm, he would be more than ready for a nap. He was completely exhausted. But he was so excited to be free to crawl around that he refused to go down until 6:30 for an early bedtime.
Luke thought it was so funny when Jeff shook out his blanket after lunch, that Jeff kept it up for a while just for Luke's amusement.
This boy has the best laugh.
After a while, we came to the most serene place along the trail. It was shaded by tall trees, the water was still, and there was a slight breeze. There were two ducks in the water taking a bath and making ripples. We stood there for a while enjoying the peace. Although we saw a lot of people on the trail that day, not a single person walked by while we were standing there. It was so beautiful.
It's really an amazing sight looking up at the tall cliffs along the trail.
We saw a big orange mushroom on a tree along the path. It was so cool! I've only ever seen mushrooms like this in animated movies!
The end of the hike. We made it! I don't look too enthusiastic because at this point we were just looking for a shady place with somewhere to sit so our very tired boy could take a nap. About a half mile before the end, Luke had finally fallen asleep, but that had only lasted about 5 minutes so we booked it to the end, hoping to find a place for him to nap when we got there.
We laid him down and gave him a bottle (of water - we forgot the formula). Luke seemed content, but he wasn't falling asleep. Despite being exhausted, he was pretty happy so we decided to start the trek back to the car, stopping along the way if necessary.
When we paused to put some sunscreen on Luke, we noticed a snake in the leaves next to us.
Jeff commented that these woods reminded him of Beauty and the Beast (I love that he loves Disney like me). The trail suddenly went from bright and sunny to dark, dead, and gloomy (it was darker than it looks in the picture). While we were walking through the trees, Luke kept letting out long, high pitched squeals, one after the other, while looking up into the branches. It sounded like he was singing to the forest like Sleeping Beauty. Yep, another Disney reference. Now get ready for another one ...
We found Pride Rock (it's hard to tell in the picture, but it looked just like Pride Rock from an aerial view), so I roared like Simba. Majestic, I know.
We made it back to the car in one piece (albeit dirty and tired and Jeff's heel had about been rubbed off by the back of his shoe). After a very long day of hiking (it felt like a lot more than the 7 miles it actually was), we were happy to go home and relax.
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