Waterfall Canyon 2013

It has been my dream for awhile to hike with the whole family up to a huge waterfall in the mountains behind our house.  This is a hike I have been doing since I was a teenager.  I took Sophie and Ian up twice when they were three and one-and-a-half.  I figured it would be an annual tradition from then on, but, by the next year when Isaac was born and my other kids were four and two-and-a-half, it became too much for me to accomplish on my own.  So, I have been waiting for the perfect time, when we could all go as a family.  Sunday evening, all planets aligned and we did it!

Sometimes, these things are a labor of love, if you know what I mean?  Not everyone was as excited as I was for this hike.  It is funny how it is easier to convince a very excited four-year-old to plug along on her tiny legs than it is to inspire an older, seemingly more capable child.  Everyone tells you that is how parenting is going to be.  "It's going to get harder," they tell you.  But, you don't believe it until it happens.  

I was ready to make this happen -- one way or the other.  But, in the end, it turned out to be a pure pleasure start to finish.  The weather even cooperated.  The extreme heat wave broke and we had delightfully cool temperatures on Saturday and Sunday.  We got a little nervous when we left that a storm was rolling in.  But, it missed us and just gave us a pleasant cloud cover instead of lightning and rain.

 

Here is a photo I took of Brian and the kids just before we reached the waterfall.  The final steps!

This is the view from the waterfall looking back over the city in the direction we just hiked in from.

Brian and the kids posed by the "waterfall."  It was just a trickle.  Some girlfriends and I did this same hike at the end of June and the waterfall was huge and flowing in full force.  I guess this is what a string of 100-degree days in July will do.  It is still a majestic cliff, and Katie and Isaac were impressed by the drizzle.  Next year, we will have to go in June for the full effect.  This photo only shows the bottom of the waterfall.  You can kind of see how high it is, off to the left in the first photo.  But, it was too tall for me to capture all of it without turning the people into specks.

We started down just as the sun was doing this.  Brian had a great idea to take a different path down so that we could walk along the ridge of the mountain and have a view of the sunset all along the way.

 This is the view I am talking about.  Breathtaking.

 And, we ended up at this perfect look-out point just as the sun made its final descent.

I love this picture of the kids.

After the sun set, we continued to head down the mountain.  The crickets began chirping and the city lights were twinkling.  It was a beautiful, perfect night for one of my favorite hikes -- waterfall canyon.

Did I mention that we walked to the trail for this hike from our house?

Thanks to my family for indulging one of my dreams.