Two hikes

Chickadee joy

It may not be all warmth and sun and flowers, but we have decided to embrace whatever hints of spring we're given around here these days. Mostly, that has meant layering on a few more clothes than one would hope for in mid-April, and hitting up some trails.  Today I have pictures from two outings: one spontaneous afternoon hike around Shubie Park (which is very close to our house), and then a much more ambitious outing to Crowbar Lake.

Shubie Park

The Shubie Park outing happened on a relativy random Thursday afternoon - the kids came home from school as usual, and did their usual things (got a snack, buried their nose in a book or got out some lego, respectively):

Sporting a sweater that I bought from the WOMEN'S section at Winners.  She's getting old! 

And then who shows up a few minutes later, but Clark!  BIO had closed down due to a water pipe incident or some such, so I just looked at everybody, and said "it's a gorgeous day, let's go for  walk in the woods!"  I would love to paint a picture of the kids jumping up exuberantly, giving each other high-fives, and rushing to get on their outdoor gear, but sadly this was not the case.  They had both, it would seem, become a little too invested in their post-school relaxation routines. After some whining and bad attitudes and literally strong-arming them out the door, however, we were off.  The compromise - they were both allowed to bring ninja forest training gear with them.  For Linden, this was his precious wooden sword and the sheath I made for him, for Juniper it was the sword and shield from last Hallowe'en, paired with a makeshift sheath.

Forest Ninjas!

Despite the initial reluctance to go, they had a WHALE of a time.  They would run ahead, dart off the trail and through the forest whenever they had the chance, and took advantage of whatever nature-ready obstacle courses or training grounds presented themselves.

Log balancing

Guard duty

 Whenever we caught up with them or crossed paths, I would catch snippets of the make-believe world they were currently inhabiting.  It involved monsters and portals and warriors, and all sorts of magnificent other things that made me a *little* bit jealous that I wasn't a part of it (or at the very least sad that I hadn't been able to catch more of it and use it as fodder for a kick-ass YA Fantasy book!).  AND, as the title picture reveals, they even both managed to get a chickadee to feed out of their hand.  A magical impromptu outing, indeed! 

These poor, cold fluffed up cedar waxwings are also trying to make the best of the uninspiring April weather

Crowbar Lake

The second hike we undertook was a much more carefully planned (and ambitious) outing.  Linden showed up last week with Simon the Sock Monkey (or, more accurately, Simon Le Singe -  Linden is very quick to correct you if you don't pronounce "Simon" with a heavy French inflection). Each child in Linden's class gets Simon for a week, and crafts a story (complete with photographs), to bring back and present to the class.  It is pretty much exactly the same exercise as Linden had in Junior Preschool, back in Kanata, with Ziggy the Zebra (Ziggy Blog Post).  Naturally, Linden wanted Simon's adventure to be a hike.

Dressed in a doll jacket of Juniper's and a very quickly sewn backpack, Ziggy prepares for his adventure

After much consultation, it was agreed that Crowbar Lake was the destination of choice.  We dressed Simon in appropriate hiking attire (as the picture above reveals), and made sure to prepare for a full-day adventure. This included the proper gear (obviously), trail lunch and snacks, and even the camp stove so as to make hot-chocolate at some mid-way point. 

At the trailhead. Simon is perched on top of the sign.

I almost, ALMOST stayed behind. Besides knowing that Crowbar is a little bit steep and technical for this increasingly large belly and reduced lung capacity, I am also currently battling a super aggressive, deep-lung hacking cough.  But... I missed Crowbar the last time Clark and the kids went (that was in the fall when when I was newly pregnant and oh-so-very miserable), and figured I could always just lumber slowly behind everyone if need be.  So off we went!  Here are some shots from the adventure:

Linden faithfully carried Simon the whole way there and back...

... even though he also needed to be carried over some particularly deep water!

Simon, super chill despite some patches of snow still scattered here and there

It was all smiles, all the time.  Linden kept exclaiming what a good time Simon was having.

Simon takes a rest by a tiny picturesque waterfall

Group shot!

Most of the time, the kids were far enough ahead that I could only catch glimpses.  They really are an adventure-loving duo.

Simon valiantly scales a boulder. Check out his backpack.  He carried a toy mushroom, a tiny pencil, and a hand-made field book with him at all times 

Lunch break...

... for everyone!

Due to Clark's super-keen eyesight, we stumbled across a Geo Cache! The kids were pretty pumped.

There was a whole lot of this kind of thing that needed to be forded.  Though Clark carried the kids over that first obstacle, after that, everyone just got wet and muddy. I suppose you could argue that is the mark of a proper hike!

I just thought they looked super cute sitting like this.  This was our turn-around point.

Simon was in charge of the hot chocolate

Family photo!  I almost didn't include this, as I feel very strongly that I look like a fat man (rather than a pregnant woman), but it's' important to get over one's self, non? 

Nestled with the Caribou Moss (or what I assume to be Caribou Moss)

A boy and his monkey 

And that's it! In the end, the kids were super champs - not one word of complaint the whole time we were gone (which was a round trip of a little over 5 hours, over VERY steep, rocky, muddy terrain).  I cannot claim the same.  My initial intuition was correct - it was just a little too much for me in my current state.  In particular, I thought my lungs would surely collapse, and my pelvis would crack in two by the end.  But on a trail that beautiful, the trade-off is that you come home with a replenished soul.  Really and truly.  So I'm glad, the end, that I weathered through it.  Maybe next time I'll just turn around a bit sooner!