A Walk to Remember

Yesterday we had basically nothing to do, so we decided to go for a hike. We love hiking. We go all the time. This wasn't a crazy insane idea- or so we thought.

I wanted to try out a new hike. Or, at least a hike that had a lot of shade. It has been very HOT this week, and I didn't want to be in the sun the whole time. I did a little bit of research, and found a new hike that looked awesome- a 3-mile loop to a water fall (my favorite!), in the shade, and great for 3-5 year olds.

Perfect! I got the picnic ready, and off we headed for our adventure.

Oh, if only we knew what kind of adventure we were heading to!

The hike is Maxwell Falls- HERE is the review that I read. We decided to do the Cliff Trail Loop. I thought it was perfect. Three miles isn't far for our girls, so I figured it would be a nice, easy hike.

But, I was wrong. It ended up being quite a difficult hike. It ended up having quite a steep terrain. The girls kept tripping over tree roots. At times the trail was quite narrow and a little scary with a three year old. They kept slipping and sliding all over the trail- hiking boots would have been helpful. I would absolutely not say this was a trail for 3-5 year olds! Audra did OK, but not great, so I would say 8 is the youngest you should go with.

However, it was gorgeous. It reminded me of hiking in Seattle, which is lush and has majestic views. The waterfall wasn't amazing (in fact, by the time we finally got to the main water fall, we were so tired we just walked right past it without stopping to look. Go us!), but it was shady and the girls did enjoy playing in a lower part of the falls for a bit.

If we had to do it again, we wouldn't have done the loop with the girls- just gone straight to the falls and back. It would have been an awesome hike if it was just Ben and me, but it was just too hard with the girls.

Oh, well. Lesson learned. At least we got out in nature and discovered a new trail.

And, of course, got a million pictures.

This is the main falls. You have to walk down somewhat dangerous terrain to get to them, and we were so hot, tired, and done with hiking that we didn't bother.
We had to take turns carrying Camille. She is getting so heavy! However, it reminded me that she weighs about as much weight as I lost. It's hard to believe I once carried all that extra weight everywhere I went! I actually was proud of myself- my working out is paying off. I did alright carrying her for over a mile up and down the steep trail. 

And, she fell asleep. I actually don't know what was worse: Carrying Camille, or not carrying her but having to deal with Claire's constant whining. Tough call.

All the girls ended up with scrapes and bruises. But, we survived. We won't be going back anytime soon, however.

You know it's been a rough day when all three of the girls fall asleep.