Hikes of Late

So many hikes, so little time. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but May was kind to us and gave us amazing weather and we took full advantage!

Date night up Beus Canyon. I'm nursing a leg injury, so Nate and I have been hiking lately instead of trail running, but we're loving it.

Hobbes with the homeschoolers. We got a little wet (especially Emmie) and saw fish, huge tadpoles the size of pickles, and crawdads. We also lost one of Emmie's shoes to a muddy riverbank. We searched and searched but never found it, so I got to carry her back out. Luckily Daddy works from home and met us at the top of the trail to drive us home!

Nate and I liked the Beus trail so much that we took the kids back with us. They were fans. Lots of water and explorey places. And a very friendly butterfly!

The butterfly was still there at the end of the hike!

Nate and I decided to rediscover Taylor Canyon, which we haven't done for years. Snowpack is super low this year, and while the streams would normally be swelling this time of year, this creekbed was dry. It was sad and kind of eerie. It was date night, and we wanted to get some exercise, so we just kept hiking and hiking and hiking. Before we knew it, we'd summited at Malan's Peak!

We had to hoof it back to the car, and didn't get home until pretty late (and we were starving by then), but we really enjoyed the view as the sun was setting.

The next morning we hit the trails early with the kids. Nate and Asa had found out about one called The Grotto that we wanted to try to find. All told it was about three miles, and the kids, Emmie included, crushed it. A gorgeous hike with varying terrain, and a big payoff at the end.

We also found an actual real-live tarantula! It was the kids' first time ever seeing one in the wild.