Hiking with Charlie

Charlie and I did our first big hike together last Saturday and it was a blast.  We hiked the Lake of the Clouds trail, which I believe is actually called the Gibson Trail.  The problem with the Sangres is it's hard to find a kid friendly trail.  All the trails there start at 8000-9000 feet and terminate at 12000 feet.  When we started, I had no expectations as to how far we would get down the trail, it was all up to Charlie and how he felt.  He was very excited except he did tell me it took a long time to get drive to the trailhead.  Charlie talked the entire time, and I think that was his excitement, but we were going uphill the entire time so I am suprised he didn't get more winded.  We took an easy pace and I stopped to point things out to Charlie.  We ate some wild strawberries, climbed on rocks and tree stumps, built a beaver dam, threw rock in the stream, listened to woodpeckers and squirrels, and on and on.  It was fun to see him take intrest in things that have always intrested me.  We made it to the point were the trail crosses a stream, which is two plus miles down the trail, and stopped there.  Again, for a little four year old boy, I was really impressed as to what he could do.  Charlie did start to get tired on the hike down and I had to carry him for a couple of short stretches, but he hiked 99% of the trail on his own.  I looking forward to more experiences like this with each our kids as they grow.

The start of our journey.

Having a snack break at the wilderness boundary.

Showing off a wild strawberry that mommy would be jealous about.

The beaver dam Charlie built.

Hiking home.