Jeff and I decided it would be fun to buy one of these for Kaeden's Birthday:
Now we're not Birkinstock wearin' tree huggers or anything, but we both do enjoy the outdoors really nicely.
Being born of our loins, I guess we figured Kaeden would too.
So, baby backpack it was!
Kaeden did enjoy getting more acquainted with nature.
Especially this tree.
And because I couldn't resist those eyes, here we have pretty much the same picture as above, just zoomed in a little. I can't help it. The boy is mesmerizing.
The stats: 2.6 miles. And that's all we really knew.
So we begin our hike.
It was nice. Peaceful. Beautiful scenery. All around good.
We kept tromping along. Me constantly questioning Jeff when he wanted me to take a turn with the baby in a bag. When we found our prized birthday gift, I guess we overlooked just how heavy another 25 lbs on your back really is.
Along the way there were a lot of mountain bikers. Usually a good sign, since I don't tend to think that bikes can make it up any gnarly inclines that my body couldn't handle. [I was wrong].
After a long while we reached a sign saying we were 0.6 miles away from the prized Dog Lake.
Never ones to give up, and knowing we were close, we kept pushing on.
What the sign failed to mention was that the remaining 0.6 miles were straight up.
I kid you not. We all wanted to die.
Like take-a-few-steps-then-take-a-break kind of die. Few steps...break. Few steps....break.
Pathetic.
But we [slowly] soldiered on.
And when we finally reached the top....
I had never been so disappointed in my life.
Dog Lake is nothing but a cesspool.
A small pond infested with mosquito larvae.
Definitely nothing to write home about. [But I guess enough to write a blog post about. Ponder that.]
After the excruciating hike we had no choice but to sit a minute by the lake and enjoy the "scenery."
My boys had a bottle:
Topped off with some H2O shots:
And then I took one of the ugliest pictures of my life:
But remember?
0.6 miles straight up a mountain?
Yeah, let's see what you look like after that. [And I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I literally went from pajamas to hiking clothes that morning. Nothing.]
Besides, I have very few pictures of my baby and I together, so I guess the humility has to go out the window at some point.
And yes, those are sweet rolled up sleeves. Because I'm special like that. And it was hot.
I may be hideous, but at least I can procreate an make beauty such as this:
What now?
For the hike back down, I volunteered to give the Baby Bug a ride.
It was not easy.
Going straight downhill with an extra 25 lbs on your back was rough.
But somebody enjoyed the ride:
Moral of the story:
1. Rent a baby back pack before actually purchasing. I've had a hard time convincing Jeff we should do another family hike .
2. Family hikes should be treated as beauty pageants. Perfectly coiffed hair, and pearls are a must.
3. Dog Lake sucks. Seriously. Bane of my existence. Don't do it. Don't.
2 Comments:
we hiked timpanogoes cave and thought all the same things...well except the end was worth it. but seriously i took 100 breaks!
kaeden is adorable and sweet and handsome and i love those eyes too. cute pictures! and i think you are gorgeous...rolled up sleeves and everything!
i am a little sad that you didn't take pictures of the lake...was it really that bad?! that TOTALLY sucks!
Oh ashley, you crack me up! First you dont look anywhere near hideous. Second... Humility- is that what I need? Because the reason that you havent seen a picture of me on my blog in the past few months, is because I havent been taken a descent one in for.e.ver. third... I hate hiking. Im in Moab right now (random) and theyve been planning on a hike since we got here, I really really don't want to go. Loved this post. K just looks so happy and content. So I say the backpack was worth it.
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