We did a bit of hiking in the early summer to prepare us for our big backpacking trip at the end of July. I'm of the opinion that a good hike is best rewarded by a refreshing swim. So we took the kids to the Hesperia end of Deep Creek.
Ryanne invited Kate to go with us. She's a great hiker and always fun for all three of our older kids to hang out with. Here we are at the trail head. The trail itself is part of the Pacific Crest Trail. From where we started, you could hike all the way up to Big Bear and on past . . . but we only hiked for about 45 minutes.
The first part of our hike was across the paved spillway--a reserve dam placed in case
Silverwood Lake ever heaves beyond its bounds.
Elias is trekking cheerfully!
Leah thinks she is already too hot to continue and it's only been 5 minutes!
This was a cool lizard we saw. It was big!
Part of the trail had been washed away during winter rains. It was a little hairy-scary,
but we managed to get around it.
In a bush overhanging the trail, we found a little hummingbird nest.
Finally! We are at the water. Deep Creek lives true to its name this year and is actually quite deep.
Here is Kate. She is letting us know that the spot we picked is definitely a great swimmin' hole!
Ryanne and Kate: swimming guppies.
I swam downstream until I found a suitable boulder we could jump off. You can't always do this at Deep Creek; some years the water just isn't deep enough. But it's deep enough now! I swam under first to search for large rocks lurking below the surface before letting anyone jump off.
And now I test it out!
Kate is not afraid to fly!
I was--it took me a lot longer to push myself off the boulder!
Ryanne, praising the water Gods.
And Mckay leaps!
Wes wants to try it out too. It reminds him of his bridge-jumping days in Yreka.
Whahoooo! Yeah!
Now he is trying to convince Elias to jump off. But it is too daunting a dare.
Elias and Leah both stick to jumping off down at the base of the rock.
See where Ryanne's foot is? That's where Elias and Leah jumped from.
Yeah Elias!
Kate the muscle-maker; she's not afraid of anything!
Oh look: Wes finally convinces Leah to try the high jump.
And I thought we were supposed to teach our children not to give in to peer pressure!
Ummm . . . .Cute poses???
Elias, Leah and I are trying to dry off in the sun.
Little did I know how much I would regret this later. I grabbed sunblock on our way out the door . . . and there was just enough left in the bottle to cover all the kids.
Yes, it was the worst sunburn I have had in my life. I even had blisters. My skin peeled under the skin that peeled.
This is Wes teaching Leah how to look like she grew up in Yreka.
You hicks!
Awe, there so cute!
Hmmmm . . . I think I rather like my Cowboy-redneck husband!
This is me laying on my back, looking up through the leaves of the trees.
I love the shapes and colors of the leaves, the way the sun catches that spider web, and how the branches criss-cross, forming different shapes of blue sky.
Mckay needs to catch a fish for his Boy Scout merit badge.
He can see the fish. But the fish ain't havin' none of it!
To get to the creek, we had to hike way down from the trail, and then way back up.
I'm not sure what Leah is thinking; maybe she is crying that she wants to go back to the creek?!
Daddy, Ryanne, Kate and Mckay trudge back to the car after four hours of swimming.
Ryanne needed a break.
"What's hapennin' dude? Catch ya'll next time!"
No comments:
Post a Comment