Hikes

My older grandson and I went on a hike today. It was loads of fun. I have been talking up climbing Mt. Lassen with him in the summer. When I was a bit older than he is now I went up it with my family and got a great sense of accomplishment. So today we wanted to try out hiking. We went near our house for about 90 minutes. My grandson did fabulously. Before we went we got something to drink and some Gourmet Cookies. (Essential for a hike)

He decided he wanted to take along all of the following - a still camera, a video camera, a journal and the food and drink. I had three different routes - a long and a short and an in between. In the end he chose a route that I had not thought of - about 4 or 5 miles with a couple of big hills. We stopped along the way to allow him to write in his journal, to drink some Gatorade and eat some cookies. We had planned to call my wife and have her pick us up - but when we got back up to the top of the hill we decided to walk back to the house (stopping of course to play on the swings and also to look at the Vernal Pools). Because we got some late rain this year, the Pools are especially wonderful this year. They are a natural condition in areas where the soil has a high clay content. The Spring rains accumulate in hollows and then as the water dries - wild flowers appear.

We had a good time this afternoon. I normally hike a lot faster - but he helped me to slow down and enjoy the day.