Spring Break and Hiking

We past the hump of Spring Break yesterday, by hiking up in the foothills (little mountains) of Oliver Lee (in Dog Canyon). We drove all the way out there, and the road was covered with cows and bulls!! Eric got out and tossed some rocks at their feet, I was on the phone to Tony(yeah I was scared), Biscuit was barking, and Boo was too. The kids were all so excited. That could have been the highlight of the day!
The museum was closed, so we kinda hit and missed the trails. We took the nature trail first. It is a short trail that leads to the water. We followed it a bit, well til it disappeared, and figured we weren't gonna find any mysterious waterfall on this one.  We pressed it thru and it brought us back to the front of the museum and  ran us into Frenchie's cabin. The History of Oliver Lee and Frenchie is bad, and cool for kids. Bondre was just amazed at this.  We looked in the windows of the  museum and there were some things they found from the cabin, Guns!!
We finally got on the right path and had a blast! Gabe, Eric, Bondre and Whitley were like mountain goats, bounding up the hills!

I was so proud of the boys, it was really tough hiking for them, and they just pressed in! Little J was not impressed with his mom's love of going up mountains.  He keeps explaining that he is small.  I just laugh and say keep walking little one.

The twins were feeling the fact they haven't been walking up the space hall in the morning! That really does help keep a person in shape! I felt so good on the walk!!
The weather was cool, and the clouds had rolled in and were dark.  I was hoping for some rain so we could see the creek bed rise a bit.  But it didn't happen.
We stopped about 1/2 mile in and had some water and snack.  Jordan had an energy bar! He got running and said he had energy. It was actually nap time for him, but a good hike is always better than a nap in Mom's brain.  We trudged on and views were better and better the higher we went! I even called Tony, and the reception on the cell phone was excellent!

We had a great flat land to cross, and I have to admit, I was glad for it too.  The dogs were running all about from the front runners to the slow pokes in the back.  Looking up the hills was a bit intimidating, and yet beautiful.  I do love the desert and all that it holds.
When we reached the first bench. (found out that it is a hiking term, we were hoping for a bench).  It was cold, and Eric(who had been ill the day before) was feeling a chill pretty bad.  We decided a mile was a good hike in for the day, and that was gonna be two by the time we got back.  I promised sodas to everyone for good attitudes and we headed back down.
It went great.  The steep portion, that seemed like shale of some kind, was not my favorite, but it went quick, and we were motivated.
I kept the camera in my hand, so I could snap more scenic shots.  I made sure to get one of me!  The ol' lady keeping up with all her hoard of children! bhahah
I was indeed the last one down.  I just do so much better going up!
The kids were all exhausted, but happy and that makes a momma smile.
We didn't make the round trip, but I did find a man that did, and he took photos. Here is HIS blog.  We are gonna try in the fall (cool weather too) and plan it for a full day.  I think it would take us about 8-9 hours, with a 1/2 hour lunch break!