Up to a waterfall!

Remember the campfire in the woods? Brian, who showed us the spot told us that if you keep going about 2 miles on the path you'd get to a waterfall. I knew immediately what our next hike would be :) Last Saturday we packed waters and snacks and decided to brave the trip which would be about 5 miles round trip. I immediately knew we were in for a challenging day when Cruze started complaining of his legs hurting about a quarter mile in. In his defense, it was hot and steep! Onward we pushed!

Trip is usually at the front of the pack so you know that if he's dragging it's hot!

We had to start making rules.... "we must go half a mile before more snacks." Otherwise it would have taken us 12 hours with how many times these guys wanted a break😂

This was the scenic view of the falls. It was "only" about 20 more minutes from this point but I was dragging!

When you walk through water you know you're close! This water is snowmelt so it was very chilly and refreshing. On the way back I was getting a bit overheated and JT told me to dunk my hat in the water... genius!

To get to the actual waterfall you had to go down this very steep hill. There is a black "slack line" to help with balance but I think it was a bit too loose to help anyone with balance. Nonetheless we made it down.

This rock was a bit dicey but we had come too far! 

I just can't get over the views. They're incredible.

We made it! We were hoping/thinking there was a reservoir to swim in but we arrived to no such luck. We didn't stay as long as hoped because it was slippery and dangerous at spots. We're wondering if we missed a spot but it was hot and hard to climb down. So we took some pictures and headed back. 

This snack break was more stressful than the picture captures😁

The way back was full of complaining and tired bodies but we're building character here :) MVP goes to this guy who carried both Pace and Cruze the last quarter mile. Both were asleep so it was dead weight. 

 Back at the car we're always glad we pushed through and had yet another family adventure. Not sure about the boys' opinion but they'll thank us one day. Off to get take out, showers, sleep like babies and wake up feeling like old folks😂 These are the days! 

A Campfire in the Mountains!

We have learned that there are burning laws here to prevent forest fires (considering how dry it is here we totally get it). However, if you're in a national forest it's fair game! JT has been working with a guy named Brian here. Brian, his wife Shailynn and their daughter Emeri have had us over for dinner and been so welcoming! They invited us to a campfire and we excitedly said yes :) They brought all the wood and supplies for smores. We hiked up about a quarter mile into the forest. Then, Brian took us down a side path that led to the bank of the river and the perfect place for campfires and playing. Brian let the boys help him split the wood and Shailynn handled making smores for 5 boys like a pro.  If you can handle our chaos without flinching you're truly special people. Thanks Brian, Shailynn and Emeri for helping us make our way out here :)

A little football action before we headed to the site.