Monday, February 13, 2006
On Top Of The World
The Chick Family went hiking yesterday. In our town there are several butte's that people hike. We chose the bigger of the two - a well-known hike in these parts - and enjoyed a GORGEOUS winter day in the Pacific NW. Truly beautiful weather -sunny and warm. What a treat after such a long, ugly stretch of rain, rain, and more rain. And on the same day as the people on the other coast were getting FEET of snow dumped on them. I'll take this anyday!
The hike is only about 1.5 miles long each way. 1.5 miles UP, and 1.5 miles DOWN. Down is trickier, believe it or not. You go on a well-marked path through tall forested sections and have to climb some rocky sections in order to emerge at the top and see this:
The view from the top. Nicholas took this picture! Stunning, yes? An impressive vista of the whole valley laid out before you.
The kids did fantastic on the hike. Nicholas was able to do the whole thing, up and back, all by himself. He really enjoyed climbing up the rocks. Lauren did better than we thought she would. She probably did 70% of the hike on her own. Mr. Chick and I got an extra workout when one of us had to carry her - an extra 32 pounds being carried up or down a big-ass butte makes a huge difference! UG! There were lots and lots of other people/families with the same idea of hiking the butte. And it seemed that most of them brought their dogs along, too. We brought Abby with us. She needed the outing almost as much as we did. Like so many, she's gotten to be fat over the years so the exercise did her some good, too. Mr. Chick says he bets there were at least 50 dogs hiking the butte at the same time we were. That's a lotta crap to pick up (or not, depending on the type of dog owner you are).
MP & kiddo's at the top of the butte. Gah! I look so fat! I'll blame it on the big fleece I had tied around my waist, but still - ! The rock we're sitting on was pretty steep and it was hard for me to perch there next to Lauren.
My two cutie kids on the way up during a brief pee break. Nicholas just got his hair cut and it's a tad shorter than usual so it's prone to sticking up like that.
After getting home from this hike I had to sit in the hottub. My butt was sore! I can run 3 miles 4-5 times per week without really feeling it, but hiking for one afternoon? Kills me. I guess I need to vary my activity so I use the different muscles more often because this is ridiculous. The kids don't seem to be feeling any after effects from the hike. No complaints about any soreness. But we obviously wiped them out because they each napped for 3+ hours that day! Whoopee!! And I got to soak in the hottub during that time without getting splashed and was able to read my entire new People magazine cover to cover. What a great day.
The hike is only about 1.5 miles long each way. 1.5 miles UP, and 1.5 miles DOWN. Down is trickier, believe it or not. You go on a well-marked path through tall forested sections and have to climb some rocky sections in order to emerge at the top and see this:
The view from the top. Nicholas took this picture! Stunning, yes? An impressive vista of the whole valley laid out before you.
The kids did fantastic on the hike. Nicholas was able to do the whole thing, up and back, all by himself. He really enjoyed climbing up the rocks. Lauren did better than we thought she would. She probably did 70% of the hike on her own. Mr. Chick and I got an extra workout when one of us had to carry her - an extra 32 pounds being carried up or down a big-ass butte makes a huge difference! UG! There were lots and lots of other people/families with the same idea of hiking the butte. And it seemed that most of them brought their dogs along, too. We brought Abby with us. She needed the outing almost as much as we did. Like so many, she's gotten to be fat over the years so the exercise did her some good, too. Mr. Chick says he bets there were at least 50 dogs hiking the butte at the same time we were. That's a lotta crap to pick up (or not, depending on the type of dog owner you are).
MP & kiddo's at the top of the butte. Gah! I look so fat! I'll blame it on the big fleece I had tied around my waist, but still - ! The rock we're sitting on was pretty steep and it was hard for me to perch there next to Lauren.
My two cutie kids on the way up during a brief pee break. Nicholas just got his hair cut and it's a tad shorter than usual so it's prone to sticking up like that.
After getting home from this hike I had to sit in the hottub. My butt was sore! I can run 3 miles 4-5 times per week without really feeling it, but hiking for one afternoon? Kills me. I guess I need to vary my activity so I use the different muscles more often because this is ridiculous. The kids don't seem to be feeling any after effects from the hike. No complaints about any soreness. But we obviously wiped them out because they each napped for 3+ hours that day! Whoopee!! And I got to soak in the hottub during that time without getting splashed and was able to read my entire new People magazine cover to cover. What a great day.
// posted by MP @ 1:07 PM 
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