Waterfall hike

My kids are troopers! Rebecca decided to take them back up to the same area the next day following the scavenger hunt hike to try some harder hiking.  The destinations were Dark Hollow Falls (70' 1.4 miles, rated very steep) and Lewis Falls (81' 2 miles, rated moderately steep and rocky with a stream crossing). That's right, just her and the kids. Because Emma automatically got to ride and the jogging stroller wouldn't go so far, the other three had no choice but to walk and climb.

About 5 minutes or less into hike number 1, Gabe tripped and hit his head on a rock. There was quite a bit of blood but truly it was a small hole. After starting to clean him up, Rebecca managed to get him to smile for a picture. :)

There was lots of climbing using hands and feet for the kids. Also, there was lots of slapping away flies as you can see Gabe doing here.

The kids did so well. They took it slow and Rebecca helped them along, literally and with song and encouragement. It had rained the night before so it was a rather wet hike making them muddy, especially Ezra. I am so impressed that he hiked this whole trail with only some whining/crying towards the end.

There was lots of speculation as to what this was. Olivia said that it looked like the house that Mary and Lara lived in at one time. She said that she read about them living in a house dug into the ground. (On the Banks of Plum Creek is the book she is referring to.)  :)

The kids were much more tired on this hike. They had taken a long break for lunch after the first hike and Rebecca was able to get the jogging stroller about 3 tenths of a mile down this trail giving the boys a bit of a break from hiking. But they did it! Rebecca did report that Ezra was to his "I don't like" stage. That is when he is tired or moody and his response to everything is "I don't like ______ " with a serious or frowning face. You can put anything in that blank, even things he likes or wants normally. The boys were super happy to see the stroller. Rebecca said it was much harder to push back up the trail than it had been getting it down.

They got a lovely view at Lewis falls. Unfortunately, the trail simply took them to the top of the falls and there was no safe way to climb down with the kids. So this was a mountain view and the sounds of rushing water but no actual viewing of the falls.

There were a larger variety of wildflowers and many butterflies to watch. God's creation is just beautiful!