A couple of weeks ago, in the middle of January, my daughter and her two children came to spend the weekend with me. It had been cold, below freezing for a few weeks, but was not too bad on Sunday.
I wanted something fun to do with them and decided that a hike would be a good idea. The grandchildren are six and eight, so I didn’t want anything too strenuous. Taking my own advice, I decided that a short hike to a waterfall would be a good idea, especially since the water was likely to be frozen.
We went to church that Sunday, came home and then had lunch. They we were ready to go. We made sure we had plenty of kid snacks and water. It was about a thirty minute drive to the trail head. We were dressed warmly, having layered our clothes. We all had hats on and I had my trusty trekking poles.
Once we got to the parking area, the kids were ready to go. The trail was fairly level, with a gentle uphill slope. There was only one part where it got a little steep. It was hard to keep the six year old, Ethan, in sight. He kept running ahead. He and his sister, Rachel, both wanted to “lead” so there was a bit of competition between them. There were lots of large rocks along the trail, and I think Rachel climbed on top of all of them.
Finally we got to the falls. They were truly beautiful and frozen as I had anticipated. There was a partly frozen pool at the base of the falls right by the trail. Ethan’s challenge was to try to break the ice by throwing rocks in the pool. That’s what little boys do! Rachel wanted to cross to the other side of the stream via a series of icy rocks. Not for me…but her mother rose to the challenge and they got across where they could get even closer to the base of the falls.
After about twenty minutes of exploring, we all regrouped for snacks and water. We began to get chilly once we stopped moving around. After we ate, we decided it was time to return to the car. It was an easy hike back, with a gentle slope down this time.
We all climbed back into the car and turned on the heater. It sure felt good. One or both of the kids fell asleep on the way home. It was a great outing, just the right size and scope for little people. We decided we would return in the summer, when they could actually play in the water. Good idea!
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