Total miles hiked: 10ish
Total # of elk Austin saw: 196
Total bottles of water consumed: 12
Total "falls" on hiking trails: 4
This is a picture I took right after the kids fell asleep last night, all in different positions. They are too cute.
We started out the day with some cereal. When we first got into town, we went to the store for some breakfast items... bacon, eggs, bread... I wanted to have a good breakfast. What I should have done before going to the store was to check out what kind of pans were available. Well it was a total waste of money buying those things. I attempted breakfast the first day and let's just say it didn't turn out. You cabin owners should really invest in some non-stick pans.
After cereal, I tried to find a show for the kids to watch. The only thing I could find was Diego on Telemundo. Do you know that they sat through that entire show in Spanish the whole time totally intrigued. They haven't stayed that quiet this whole trip. Maybe I need to try this at home. Mucho bueno.
We went back to Rocky National Park to hike a few trails. The first one we went to was a little more challenging, straight up a mountain. We only lasted about an hour on that one when the girls got tired.
Taking a break.
The weather was great.
Here's Emily getting a little snack. Not exactly trail mix...
A picture from as high as we got. What a great view!
We asked Austin if he thought he could move this boulder. No dice.
Onward we went to the second trail - to see a herd of elk. This is a fast-moving stream. There were several people fly-fishing. Didn't see anyone catch anything. However, we did spot a really cute mallard duck cruising downstream - a really funny site to see. He was having a great time!
Here's part of one herd of elk. All of the big bucks were about a mile to the East.
Here's Austin striking a pose. Looks like he's trying to smuggle something under one of his shirts.
Elk, elk, everywhere.
This guy was sticking his tongue out at us. "I get to live in the mountains and you doooon't."
We took a break for lunch and back to the house for a nap before we attempted our next trail - Cub Lake, a total of 4.6 miles. James even didn't mind the chatter of the girls on this hike - since noise keeps bears away.
Abby's bruises are FINALLY starting to go away.
"Hey, what's in the cave? I hope it's a Happy Meal." The kiddos were getting hungry.
We saw a few of these critters which I thought were beavers. I discovered later they are actually marmots (also known as woodchucks or groundhogs).
More hiking.
And even more hiking.
We made it! Our final destination, Cub Lake!
Thunderstorms were rolling in and we had to head back - and fast. Everybody did such a great job on this longer hike. Austin had a pretty good fall on the way back, but he was a trooper. Nothing that a bandaid couldn't help.
Next stop - Aspen!
