Vacation post #2

We spent half of our mountain vacation hiking beautiful trails.  We visited Dream Lake, Eugenia Mine, Alberta Falls, Copeland Falls, and Calypso Cascades.  Some trails were about 2 miles round-trip and our last day we went almost 4 miles total.  On our shorter hikes, we packed snacks and water.  On our longer hikes we made a day of it, taking sandwiches for lunch.

While all the trails and destinations were wonderful, I had two favorites.  The first was Eugenia Mine.  The trail was manageable, we stayed for lunch, we didn't seen very many other hikers, and the kids got to run and explore quite freely.  There was a little stream running next to the mine area.  We let the kids explore their hearts out.  They ran up and down the stream, over it and back again, leaping from rock to rock and balancing across fallen trees.  And there wasn't anyone else there to disturb, disrupt, or distract from their own special moments in nature. Lige and I alternated between running with the kids, exploring off on our own, and just sitting in God's glorious creation with contented smiles on our faces.  It was a truly delightful day.

 My second favorite hike was up to Calypso Cascades.  It was an absolutely beautiful hike.  And the cascades were so very lovely. It was our longest hike, but the grade wasn't as steep as some of the others.  We ate lunch  right at the cascades.  Since it was late the year, the cascades were tamer than they would have been in the spring.  The kids were able to get a lot closer to water than I would have wanted if the water was crashing down in the spring melt-off!  And I'm not sure if it's just my kids or most kids, but mine are drawn to water like magnets.  At Alberta Falls I was sure we were going to lose one to the waves! 

I have another vacation post in the works.  The final one will include some of my favorite pictures of the kids and maybe a few special memories.  Hard to believe we've already been home for over a week!  Oh, vacations!