A Walk In the Woods

As you might have guesses, our little trip away was to the family cabin where my dad lives and my brother was visiting. It was nice to get away from all the commercialization around Christmas. On our first full day there, we opted to go for a hike, the longest one we have taken our youngest daughter on thus far. Due to the popularity of the area, we chose a hike that is much lesser known and as it turned out, it was a fine day to do it as the temperatures were warm enough that a coat wasn't even needed, rare that time of year. 

Above we are on an overlook looking over the river valley and a park camping area. Perhaps those with sharp eyes can see our vehicle parked on the grass alongside the road in the left center of the photo. It seems like a terribly far distance and indeed coming back, had there been a zip line there, I would have over ridden my fears and taken it. But in reality, it was probably only a half hour of walking to get from here to there. 

Father down the trail near where we took a break underneath a red cedar tree we have eaten under a number of times over the year, we can look across the river valley to one of the most popular hikes in the park. On the bluff face, one can see a groove running horizontal across it, the remains of an old cave system that the river eroded into daylight. There is enough of it left that one can hike clear across the face on what it locally referred to as the "Goat Trail" and get some spectacular views of the river valley and the bluff we were on.

 Eventually we turned around and with lots of rest breaks and cajoling, got my youngest daughter back to the vehicle after seven rugged miles. It was probably pushing her envelope because she spent the rest of the day very quiet and slept very well that night.