It started off as this great idea to get the kids out into nature and for the moms to have a break. This past weekend I (Nick) decided to brave the elements and go on a hike with me and the kids. Awhile ago I had joined a casual group called Outdoor Dads where we go on hikes once a month that are kid friendly. This time I brought a friend and his daughter, who plays great with Mylie, and went to Wahclella Falls in the Columbia River Gorge and saw some great scenery.
First I have to say how fun it is to hike in the Columbia River Gorge. There is moss everywhere and the high canyon rock formations are amazing. There was even a small cave-like shelter made from rock. The hike to the falls is about 1 mile and goes uphill and downhill probably about 50 feet. Even though there was no rain, it sometimes felt like rain near the falls and was quite cold.
I sure have to say all the kids did amazingly well and they hiked both to and from the falls (a whole 2 miles by themselves) on narrow, rocky, and muddy trails! Even with the cold weather, they seemed to warm up once they got moving. But poor Nolan didn’t get to warm up since he was in the backpack and when we stopped to eat at the falls, his hands were quite cold. In the picture of him drinking water you can see a string of snot.
At one point in the hike back to the car, Mylie was saying how something in her shoe was bothering her feet. After asking if I should take off the shoe she said no and that we can wait until we get back to the car. A little while later she complained about it again so I removed the shoe and found a good-size pebble and thought, what a trooper.
There really were not any issues except for when Mylie wanted to go to the bathroom near the falls and I told her she could go behind some rocks. Somehow she did not find that funny even though I assured her there was no bathroom around, not even at the trailhead. I did NOT want her to go in her underwear so I took her up the hill a bit and got her to squat. She was quick to change her mind and decided she would be able to hold it, and she sure did until we got home. Nolan was a bit difficult to work with but he slept the entire hike back to the car.
The best part of the experience was seeing all the kids’ attitudes, even Nolan’s, after we got back into the car. They were all smiling and happy for accomplishing such a task. I was quite proud of them.