Just a little hike

So yesterday dawned beautifully and we decided that we were going to take advantage of not only the weather but also of Daddy spending a Saturday with his family. We figured we'd go for a hike and since Erik has always wanted to see the end of Lake Como where the headwaters are, we chose to go there. The trail is mostly flat and follows the lake so we figured it would be a kid-friendly hike with a great destination. We had a leisurely drive down there, I think it took us 1.5 hours to get to the trail head and by the time we got there Lindsay was already hungry for lunch, which it was almost one by that time, so we ate our sandwiches on the beach before starting our hike. We started off on the trail and Lindsay was loving it. She stopped every few feet to take pictures with her camera and made comments like "this is so fun" and "I love nature."

Well we got about an hour into the hike and realized we had a bit further to go, but excited to see it the end and thinking we were getting closer, we trucked on. Kera spent the weekend with her grandparents up in Big Arm so it was just Lindsay with us, which largely determined our course of action. We would've turned back much earlier had our littlest one been with us, but Lindsay was game for getting there and wasn't complaining at all, so we kept on going. We saw some cool things, like the snowy hillsides and peaks, waterfalls and cute little yellow flowers. The trail was really busy too, we passed people all the way there and back, and saw many at the headwaters fishing.

We finally got there, about 1.5 hours after starting the hike and it was pretty cool, I'd have to say it was worth it. By then Lindsay was hungry again, so we stopped for a snack and rest, flicked off several ticks and then decided we better head back. We didn't stop much all the way back despite Lindsay's pace slowing and her complaints increasing--although she hardly whined at all, so it was more like she started to complain about tired legs and hurting feet--all in all she was a total trooper. She went a whole 8 miles (four in and four out) with very little complaint, I was extremely proud of her.

All the hike back out we kept doing tick checks because they were really bad, we probably flicked off like ten to 15 total by the time we got back to the car. It was disgusting. But we made it in one piece and then made the drive home so we could shower and make sure we were tick-free. Oh and to eat dinner, I think we got home around 7 so we were all ready for some real food. Even though the hike was twice as long as we had anticipated and the ticks were nasty, it was a really fun time and I'm really hopeful we can do more hikes together as a family this year.