40 Acre Rock in the Rain

"We are taking a picture and we are happy about this hike!"
- Dad to complaining Peter and fussy Ezra

Two weeks ago, we decided we needed some adventure. We needed to get out of the house and get outdoors. We went to hike 40 Acre Rock. We've gone a couple of times before and we've loved the hikes each time. It's very family friendly and has lots of interesting areas. This time around, we met up with my brother and his family. They did the upper trail and we did the lower trail and met on the rock. It was the perfect weather, and we were one of the only ones on the trails.

"Mom, take a picture of my leaf."

Peter braved the huge hill that he couldn't conquer last time.

Little hiker

"Mom! I found a dung beetle!"
Not quite, but still cool. 

This tree has a mouth...

Nelson family 21 Jan 2017

We got to the rock and had a little picnic. The rock is not actually 40 acres, but it's pretty huge. We ate and talked about different things we could see. We got in touch with Andrew and met up with them after our break. We all went down to one of the waterfall areas and let the kids play and run around for a bit. They had a good time playing and it was so nice to just be outside.

Ezra and Robin, picnic on the rock. 

Jonathan and Ezra at the small waterfall

Cousin party!

 We knew there was rain in the forecast for the afternoon, so after letting the kids climb around on rocks and go "fishing" in the stream, we gathered up the kids and parted ways. Peter was an awesome hiker this whole trip. It was about 2.5 miles round trip, and he walked all but about 15 minutes of being carried. He was a trooper. On the way back, we saw another trail that we hadn't explored before. Jonathan said, "What do you think? Should we check it out?" I said, "I don't know, it's supposed to rain soon." His response, "What's the worse that will happen? We will get rained on. Not a big deal. We have jackets and I have a rain jacket for Peter. I think we should check it out. We don't have anything else going on today." So, we did. We took the path less traveled.

We found a tree that was eating its trail marker.

 So, of course, it started to rain. And you know what? It wasn't even that bad. Our jackets did a great job of keeping us pretty dry. Ezra was in the carrier with a rain guard, and Peter looked like a little gnome in his (Jonathan's) rain jacket. I was a little nervous because we didn't know how long this trail was, and I knew the boys were reaching their limits. The rain got harder, and we got a little wetter, but we saw some cool things, and we will definitely do this hike again on a clear day. There was a cool bridge, and a bamboo grove, and a really cool overlook area of a marsh.

Little one hiking in the rain.

Rainy, but beautiful. Please note, Ezra's small foot poking out.

Gosh yes. We live in a beautiful world.
Jonathan says it looks like the dead marsh from the Lord of the Rings.

It was a great adventure. It was so nice to get outside, and it was great to have a free weekend where we could do something. Hopefully we'll get a few more hikes in here in different seasons; I'm banking on it will be beautiful when it's green! Here's to hikes, even ones in the rain.