distance: 2.5

elevation: not much

hikers: Me, Rose, David, Mom, Scarlett

It was the first hike of the summer, and my kids were not pleased about it. I managed to finagle a date for Rose, but David had to just grump along. We started an hour later than we had planned, it was hot, and because we started so late hard parking and crowded trail.

Actually, it was fine. The ride up was lovely. Mom drove, so I got to concentrate on the gorgeous scenery and laugh along with Wait Wait on podcast. Parking was bad but not impossible. As mom said, it does limit the number of hikers. There were lots of hikers, but I actually found myself alone on the trail many times, and it smelled good.

The kids recovered their mood, mostly. Everyone obeyed me when I said bring two water bottles and use sunscreen. I did not get dehydrated though the balance between drinking enough and not wanting to bushwack for a place to pee is a delicate one.

The trail is ridiculously well maintained. I happily donate to The Washington Trails Association every year, and this is one of their projects. Usually, the crossing over to the slide area is pretty dicey, but the water was so low, it was not a problem. Anyway, who cares? I brought my water shoes and climbed in. Usually, the weather and water are too cold for me, and I just watch the kids cavort on the natural water slides, but this year I spent standing in the water.

The girls were in their bathing suits, so they had a gay old time. David could not find his groove. He threw rocks too near the toddlers for my comfort. He was uncomfortable walking around in his bare feet, and he did not want to change into his suit. It made me sad that the best part of the hike did not make him happy. Of course, having a friend there would have changed all that. I tried; his friends were busy.

It took us 50 minutes to get there and 90 to get home. The traffic home is gruesome. Every year I try to figure out when to leave in order to beat the traffic. Perhaps leaving my house at 8:00 a.m. Ha!

I know it's not a physically challenging hike and hiking along with a dozen three year olds is not the real wilderness experience, but the trees were green, the sky was blue, and the water came from a mountain.