Hike with the kids

With the kids moving to Texas shortly (little did I know at the time, in only 4 days), I thought I better get out and make sure they didn't forget how to hike! So we went to one of my favorite hiking spots at the end of 200 West in Hurricane. From SR 9 head north on 200 West and follow it all the way to the end. It will turn to a dirt road for the last few hundred yards.

The trail is a dirt road that takes you all the way down to the river. When we went on this hike last week, we saw one of the naturalists who had driven down in his truck, working in the Desert Tortoise habitat - an area near the river that is fenced off with cages in it. I never saw any tortoises though. He was impressed that the kids had hiked all the way from the top.
On the way down, we saw a perfect spot for a picture, overlooking the Virgin River down below. The kids love using my hiking poles and since they are so stinking cute doing it, I always oblige. For the most part, they have little trouble with the down hill portion of the hike with the one exception of a steep down hill section lasting about 100 yards. I held Trey's hand as we went down it, but Shelby was able to make it on her own.

Before we knew it we made it to the turtle habitat fencing. This part of the trail has soft dirt where the kids love to draw lines and poke holes in the dirt with their hiking poles. The river is not much beyond this point and it's always fun to have the kids listen for it as you can hear it before you can see it.

After our last hike to the river, the kids talked alot about how we had lunch by the river and pretended that the log we sat on was a chair. So when we approached the river this time, the first thing they saw was the log and were so excited. They immediately sat down on it and said, "time for lunch, Dad." So we ate our Penut butter and Jelly sandwiches and then played a litte around the river.

They weren't ready to go, but after about an hour of playing I thought it best to get going while they still had a little energy left for the long uphill climb. On the way out, just past the Tortoise habitat, I spoted a porcupine up in a tree (it looks like a big birds nest from a distance). So I brought the kids over to see it. It was sleeping up in the tree so when I asked what we should name it, Shelby said, "Sleepy!" We also learned what porcupine tracks and scat look like.

By this time most of the energy had been drained from the kids so the hike up hill was a bit more strenuous for me than in was the last time since I had Shelby on my shoulders and Trey in my arms up the steep part. The kids love watching for the fence/gate on the way out - probably because it means that they don't have much longer till they get back to the car!
We made it back after about 3 hours of hiking and exploring, having hiked almost 2 miles (1.93). And neither of the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home!