I got bit by the hiking bug again this month and decided to take the boys for one final hike. We have had some cool days but it warmed up again and I figured this was our final hurrah for a while both because of approach of winter and also because next spring baby sister will be here and may make getting out into the mountains without Benjamin exponentially more difficult. I had hoped we could catch seeing some of the beautiful fall colors as down in the valley they were in full swing, but it became obvious before we even started the hike that we had missed the peak colors and the majority of the trees were nearly bare. It still was extremely beautiful, and I there was enough gold left on the trees that I could imagine it was breathtaking a couple of weeks ago.
You will be glad to know that this hike was only about 1.5 miles round trip (a much more responsible choice for an increasingly large, slow pregnant lady after Dog Lake). It was funny, though, because there was far more complaining from Miles about the whole thing, and I had to use the "forced family fun" technique my parents utilized several times in my youth. I have distinct memories of both my parents (my mom at Arches in 100 degree heat, my dad on some bike ride/hike to petroglyphs also in extreme heat are the most vivid) telling me basically, "Too bad, you can't quit this "fun" activity because some of us are enjoying it and you will be glad you did it later. I know you can do it so stop whining." I swore before having children that I wouldn't force "fun" activities like that on my kids. Well turns out I was clueless then, and sometimes the only way to get your kids to do what should be truly fun activities is to force it on them, old-school style. My parents would be proud if they could see all the "fun" I'm making my kids have : )
But seriously, Miles did end up enjoying himself and I could barely keep up with his racing down the trail. It turned out to be legit fun after all the fuss : )
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