Hiking As A Family-Our First Trip

My husband is very active. Because of this, we are a pretty outdoorsy family. We like to camp and take day trips to lakes, rivers, and streams.

Recently, he has gotten into hiking. A couple months ago, he took my 6-year-old son with him and they went hiking a very popular trail in our area–Blue Ridge Trail. When they got home, he said they had done the whole loop in about 2 and a half hours, and he was very proud of how well our son did.

Well, ever since then he has been trying to get me to go, so last week on his day off we loaded up the kids and our lunch, and set off to see the world! I figured that since the boys had done it so easily, it would be fine for me and the girls as well. I was a little concerned about our 3-year-old, because she doesn’t even like to walk in the grocery store, but my husband said he would carry her if need be.

We set off, and I knew right away that my husband had definitely downplayed the difficulty. After just 15 minutes, I was covered in sweat and wanted to give up! But my lying motivating husband kept assuring me that we only had a little ways to go.

You can see me trudging along in the back, where I was most of the hike. These pictures do not do it justice as to how steep it was.

The first half of the way up, I carried the baby and my husband carried the backpack. When we got closer to the top, I couldn’t do it anymore with a weight on my back, so for a little while he carried the baby and the backpack. (What a stud!!) You can see my 3-year-old hitched a ride on the way down, but it was more for my peace of mind. It was so steep that she kept tripping over her feet and falling. Yes, that is dirt all over her face!

About halfway up we stopped for a rest and a quick bite to eat.

 I know why my husband likes it so much. At this height, we couldn’t even hear the sounds of the road below, nor see any cars or signs of civilization. It was just us, nature, and the occasional hiking party passing us up or heading back down. It really was a gorgeous view, too.

I don’t know if you can see the sheer exhaustion on my face, but it’s there!

We kept going, and I was so surprised how well the kids were doing. They thought it was such an adventure! We kept stopping so they could look at lizards or watch the birds that were circling amazingly close to where we were.

And we also threw in a history lesson…we started talking about how the first settlers that moved West had to hike over miles of terrain like this, and there weren’t any trails back then for them to follow. They had to make their own way.

This is as high as we got. My husband said we were only about 10-15 minutes from the peak, but I had already heard that about 5 times, and the kids were pretty tired, so we decided to turn back. I didn’t get a picture, but you can see the valley between the peaks.

Going down was a lot quicker. We had to walk/run just to keep our balance on some spots.

And when we got to the bottom and looked at the posted trail map, it turns out we were only a couple turns from the peak. If we had kept going, we could have probably been there in 10 minutes.

I also noticed this sign at the bottom that I had somehow failed to see when we started out:

Notice the part that says “Steep, hot, strenuous trail?”

After knowing how close we were to the top, I definitely think we could make it all the way. We are planning on giving it another go on my husband’s next free day off. I am excited to get all the way to the peak next time. There is a view of Lake Berryessa from the top that will make the whole thing worthwhile.

I do have to say, I am glad we attempted it. Hiking may take a few times to get used to, but it is fun to be away from it all. Plus, it is an amazing workout!

Do you do any fun outdoor activities with your family?

Here is the baby carrier I was using. I love it because it works for both my 6-month-old and my 3-year-old.

You might find me linked up to some of these blogs. 

I wrote this post as part of Write or Die Wednesdays.