Now that we're fully into the swing of back to school, it's only appropriate to share a little bit more from our family vacation in Vail last month (thought feels like many more moons ago than that). Nothing makes getting used to our new earlier morning schedules like remembering all the freedoms, such as that family hike in beautiful Colorado.
You can't go to Colorado in the summer time without hiking, and I LOVE hiking! So, we looking into ones that we thought our kids could do with us, since this was obviously a family vacation, and we all wanted to get out there. We landed on Booth Falls Trails which was marked as moderate and about 4 miles long. Sounded perfect.
And it was great, but the last mile to the waterfalls was STRAIGHT up and completely rocky. It was a challenge that Liam, my 4 year old, probably did the best at conquering. Nora did great, too, and thankfully for my parents, they took her and turned back about 1.2 miles in (2.4 miles roundtrip). It had started to get steep, and hot out, and Nora was slowing down, so it worked out.
I was so proud of Nora - at only 3 years old - she powered up and on and then back down like a big kid! She was really fun to hike with, too. She loved the dirt (evident by how much dirtier she got then the rest of us), all the different wild flowers and snacks along the way.
If I would have known this hike to be a bit harder than we originally planned for, I might not have done it - but I'm glad we didn't know, and glad we did it! It was a fun challenge that Liam talked about for weeks after. And it was a beautiful hike! I haven't even mentioned that yet. The views were breathtaking, and the hike took us across streams, fields, ledges and more. So much variety, I was certainly never bored (a challenge).
So, if you're up for a family challenge and find yourself in this area - I do recommend this hike!
I'm sharing a few photos of the hike below!
Going down might have been the hardest part, actually. I had broken my toe a few day before (really bad stub situation), and the steep decline shoved my toes into the front of my sneakers. Ouch!
But thankfully, Liam had found us some awesome walking sticks to help us!
I was so proud of this little guy. Liam was the best hiker out of the bunch! I can't believe how easily (he) made it up to the top and then back down. I can't even remember him complaining - and I know the adults were certainly complaining some... ;)
And a true sign of a tiring hike? This lil chic passed out straight up on the floor - full snore and all - about 2 hours before bedtime (with her shirt on backwards...).
