The woods are so big

On the trail
Originally uploaded by Allan & Cheryl.

.. and we are so small!

We skipped camp meeting this Sabbath to head out into nature. My choice of adventure as it was my birthday.

I picked the Lynn loop at Lynn Headwaters Park. I hadn't been there since I was pregnant with Michael. But Allan and I had hiked this loop many times with our late friend Richard.

We did the short loop - to my disappointment - having never actually done the longer loop or the hike up to the peak. Allan said the kids weren't ready and he was right! Another season.



The longer loop can also be used as a jumping off point for long treks into the backcountry. We were reminded that this is not an urban trail by park entry signs - 1 asking people to sign in their route and how many in the party and another notifying hikers that there ARE bears in the area.



This was a good opportunity to educate the children about staying safe while hiking and what to do if we actually saw a bear. Of course we didn't see any bears - any wildlife within miles was probably scared away by general noise level of our crew!



They did great though! It took almost less than hours with the kids (babies in backpacks). With Richard and me pregnant the last time we hiked this it took us close to 6 hours!

We ate our sandwiches on the trail while walking. The babies had bottles in the backpacks. They were fascinated with the sights and sounds.

There were some incredible views across the valley to the mountains beyond and while we didn't do the peak - we definately had quite a bit of elevation on this hike!



There were several skinned knees/elbows though - but oddly on flat sections not climbing up or switchbacks down.

On the way back we stopped to wade in a mountain stream. Megan kept going into the water - but not far - just to her ankles.



Maribeth let one TOE touch the water - felt how cold it was and jerked her foot out and wouldn't go within 3 FEET of the water after that.



Maddy got completely soaked through falling in and had to be changed into her spare clothes.



The rest of us just waded in a bit. Melissa and Michael managed to wade and play in the water without getting wet!



It was a good hike - we need to get out and do this stuff more often. I'm not wiped out completely and could have gone farther. So that means I'm definately started to get back into shape physically after the twins even though I still have not lost any weight at all.



Maybe I"ll feel it tomorrow though! I'm surprised I'm not sore already because last night after Allan got home from work I bicycled to Curves - worked out and THEN cycled into Langley and back just for the heck of it. That's just over 10 miles total. Way more than I usually do - but I'm very encouraged that I was able to do all this!