Just for Fun

Saturday, R and I went on a date hike. Last summer R played two gigs at the Mohonk Mountain House and received a total of 4 passes to spend the day at the resort and enjoy the outdoor BBQ. We used two of them last summer and the other two were going to expire at the end of the month so we went on Saturday and left the kids at home.

We at a delicious lunch and then took a relaxing hike...more like a walk since the trails were pretty gradual and very well groomed. Last year, we hiked to the top of this hill and then climbed the stairs to the top of this tour.

This time, we hiked up a trail on the opposite side of the lake, where we got to enjoy these views.

I love how the one section of the hill just kind of pokes out from the rest.

Then we walked the lake trail and made a complete loop of the lake.

We weren't quite back to the resort when the rain started to pour but, we made a run for it and managed to not get completely soaked.

10 more

Today we took our second 10 mile hike and this time headed out into the wilderness. We only had to drive 3 miles from our house to get there.

Before I show you what we saw, I have to announce that today's hiking award goes to P. She can hike. About 70 percent of our hike today was on unmaintained gravel roads. When we're walking there, she trudges along, wants piggy back rides, and needs lots of encouragement to keep up the pace. But, as soon as we get on some trail, she is off... and she can move. She leads off in front and sets a pace that keeps the rest of us moving right along and hustling to keep up.

Today we did not get to see any bears ... a good thing. We did see lots of other great stuff though and just had fun.

Our first exciting find, a man made waterfall over the dam of one of the 8 ponds we passed.

Next stop, a really cool rock right by the side of the trail.

In one portion of our hike there were tons of these trees in bloom all along the trail and across the hill.

Here are the kids on top of the world (well, on top of Eagle Rock).

And here are a couple of different views from up there.

We took a walk through the wetland where the wooden path was exciting,

And the big boulders we used to cross two other sections of the wet lands were even more exciting.

We tried to hold back the rocks at "split rock".

And we encountered a pine forest. It looked like we had left NY and were hiking in WA or CA. It was just bizarre how different this area was from the rest of the areas we hiked in today.

We stopped for a picture at the old Stone House.

R and the girls took a short cut while B and I did a 1.25 mile hike over Rattlesnake Hill. We didn't see any rattlesnakes but we did have a great view. I realized, too late that my camera was in the back back R was carrying so I didn't get to take any pictures.

Like true kids, P, C, and B, can't wait to go back and see the exact same places all over again. The good news is that to see their favorite places, we can take some short cuts and we'll only have to go 5 miles next time.

Now, I'm off to soak my feet in the tub.

10 miles down, 60 to go

This summer B is working on the hiking merit badge and we've decided to do the hikes as a family. That means we'll be taking five 10 mile day hikes and one 20 mile day hike. We did a couple of shorter prep hikes to see if we really could do this. We knew that P would need to be piggy backed for a good portion of the way so we needed to try things out and see how it would work.

Monday, we took our first 10 mile hike with 800 feet of elevation gain. It was our tour of W.P. hike. We started at our house and made a loop of all of post. We had decided that it would be wise to not leave post for our first hike. We weren't sure how long it would take us (it took us 5 hours including our lunch stop) and that way, if we had problems, we could just take short cuts and get back home...but we made it. Well, almost... the girls and R cut out the last mile.

Here's what we looked like after 6 miles and a lunch stop.

Here are the girls at Trophy Point. One of the many places we took a rest.

And here are the kids in a fun tree we found, just a little ways from the end of our hike.

While the kids climbed the tree, R found a shady seat on a rock wall.

We really didn't expect to see too much unusual nature, since we weren't leaving post, but we were wrong. We saw a turtle and a heron (as well as the typical squirrels, chipmunks, and ground hogs). But the big sighting of the day happened in the first five minutes of our hike when we saw a bear cub up a tree.

The MPs had been chasing two bears around post all morning, trying to chase them out of the populated areas and into the woods. The cub ended up climbing a tree right by one of the main roads and just minutes from our house. By the time we got back to that area of post later in the afternoon, the cub was gone. We heard from others that live in the area, that they eventually shut the road down and after a few hours, the cub came down and was chased down through one of the housing areas and into the trees.

If we are lucky, that will be the only bear we see on all of our hikes this summer.

A lot!

It appears that there is an inverse relationship between the number of things I have to blog about and the time that I have to write those blogs. The past 4 weeks have been busy ones so now I have lots to share.

May was the end of B's track season. He ran the 800 and threw the discus each meet. A couple of times he was on a 4x100 team or a 4x200 team. Here are some picture highlights.

C had her dance recital. She did a beautiful job. Sorry the pictures aren't too great.

I went with P's class on their end of year field trip to the farm. It was great fun. We got to see lots of baby animals. Here are a couple of pictures from that day.

B celebrated his 14th birthday and Grandma J and Grandpa K came to visit for B's ordination to Teacher.

We attended the memorial day service on post.
R was part of the ceremony.
Then we went with some friends on a short hike to Bear Mountain, visited the zoo there and then had a BBQ back at their house. Here we are on the trail from Ft. Montgomery to Bear Mountain, with the Bear Mountain Bridge in the background.

B had his end of year awards ceremony where he received a certificate for A honor roll. He was one of only 6 in his grade to have straight A's the whole year. He also received an award for going "Above and Beyond" in making the school day better for everyone. And, he also received a shout out from his science teacher as being the person that knows all kinds of information about creatures and animals, and being the person that everyone, including her, goes to if they don't know the answer to a science related question.

B also had his 8th grade promotion. I can't believe how grown up he is looking...and getting. There is a good chance he will be as tall as I am by the end of the summer.

Since P's birthday is in the summer, she had a pre-birthday celebration with her class at school.

R, and the Steel Band played a concert at a local community River Fest.

B was selected for Order of the Arrow and had his Ordeal Weekend camp-out.

We also managed to squeeze in a Court of Honor, Stake Conference, a "welcome" dinner for some members of a family moving in this summer, Cadet Graduation, a farewell dinner to some really good friends who moved, two trips to the temple, a day with C's class where I provided the games for their end of year festivity, two trips to the airport, and a drive to and from scout camp. There were a few times this last week that I thought I wasn't going to make it without a clone, but I did, and we were all where we needed to be when we need to be there... and I found out that I can hem scout pants, start to finish, in under 20 minutes.

Hooray for the arrival of summer. I need a vacation!