Today we headed to Borden Creek in the Sipsey Wilderness area with the kids. We piddled around and got going late, knowing we'd be hiking 4 miles tops. On the way, we stopped in at Dutch Oven Bakery and promptly exploded my budget buying Amish cheese and bread and goodies. eep. They've upgraded the store, it's twice the size it was the last time I was in there and now they have a sandwich shop. It's a good thing we could not keep things cold today, or we would have really affected the grocery budget. Chandler was mesmerized by the cheesecake case. I was making mental notes about the 20 or so soup mixes they had. Perfect for backpacking dinners!
We got to the Trading Post at Wren and stopped again, to use the bathrooms and then drove to the trailhead at Borden Creek. It was PACKED. A couple pulled in just ahead of us and hopped out, walked down the hill and then came right back up and left. Eep!
There were Boy Scouts set up JUST below the start of the trail and they were loud and squealing and making a huge racket. But, we kept going and sure enough-about 50 feet past the camp, it was clear sailing. I don't know that they brought 20 cars for the one troop, but all day, we only saw the scouts, one family and a few couples and singles scattered around in the woods, most with dogs, so Zep had to yap at ALL of them. She was so worked up that she actually yapped at Wonder and Jessie and Kuma as we came into the yard. *sigh*
But, back to the trail. We went slowly, letting the kids run around and climb rocks and trees and go up all the side trails to little overhangs and waterfalls and play in the creek. They have not been gung-ho to go hiking with us as much, I think because Matt and I want exercise and they want to play. So today, we played.
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| Zep, being physically restrained. Yorkies are known for their bravery and she was going to defend us all from every dog in the woods that day! |
The Sipsey was as beautiful as ever, wildflowers EVERYWHERE and high cliffs, the green water of the creek, the blue of the sky, the dark of the hemlock shade and the sudden bright as the trail curved around and was in the sun again-it was a wonderful day to be outside!
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| This is where we stopped, 1.6 miles from the trailhead. Hardly even a decent walk, but we all agreed we wanted to hang out here for a while. The kids ran around playing in the open, there were butterflies all over and the bluebells were starting to show. |
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| This is the falls at the tunnel you have to scootch through on the trail. It was MUDDY! |
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| Lunch! |
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| One of a zillion butterfllies in the valley |
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| Bloodroot |
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| Fiddlehead fern |
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| Saxifrage |
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| Spring beauty growing on a knot on a tree |
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| Trillium |
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| Not sure, but check out the puppy in the background! so cute! |
