first day hike

First Day Hike, a great collaborative effort between the state parks to get us active once again, starting on the first of the new year. We chose a local park, instead of a state one, but the intention and result were the same....a gorgeous day spent walking outside and some amazing photos. I took the old saying, "Take only pictures, leave only footprints," to heart.



I had Isabela take this shot in case I didn't make it into any of the pictures...just to prove I was actually there, too.


Joaquin ran across these jagged rocks that lined the path as if he was running on a paved track. He really has an amazing athletic ability and I'd love to see him use it a lot more this year. Joining the circus has been suggested and crosses my mind regularly.


The paths life leads us down are so amazing. I was never an outdoorsy girl, never liked hiking or climbing. Then I married a man from the Andes Mountain chain. Add in some kids, and hiking just fits now....plus it's great exercise.



Diego found a little chair carved into a rock. What a perfect seat.


This pose is from a cartoon that I never would have let my children watch if I held any weight in this family...it's called Kick Buttowski. Enough said, right? But I do love the pose.


"Remember that time spent on a rock climb isn't subtracted from your life span."
-- Will Niccolls
I think it was here that I stopped watching and had to walk away, just to preserve my own life. Watching my two year old scramble up on this round rock in the middle of a river made my heart lurch. Juan Pablo couldn't get up there as fast as him, but I give him credit for taking the kids on an adventure that they won't soon forget.


“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
-- John Muir





This was the only way across the river at one point. And it was Isabela who crossed it first...she is my brave one.


"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
-- T.S. Eliot
I'm married to one of those...and I'm the opposite of one of those. It's a perfect match.


Look at Joaquin perched on the slope of this rock. It's like watching Spiderman.


“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
-- Frank A. Clark


We all have different strengths. I can't watch my kids teetering on the edge of steep prefaces overlooking rushing currents, and Juan Pablo, strangely enough, cannot carry Diego in his arms for more than a minute. Joaquin can climb like a mountain goat and Isabela is brave, pensive and talkative, at the same time. Diego loves to investigate things from the tiniest bug to tall trees. Walking with the family in nature has something for each of us to enjoy.

“After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value.”
-- George Macauley Trevelyan


“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”
-- Raymond Inmon







"It's always further than it looks.
It's always taller than it looks.
And it's always harder than it looks."
-- The 3 rules of mountaineering.

Definitely true on the way home ( although Joaquin could have gone another five miles). If you could only have heard the whining.... and not by me, I might add. But if we took a divergent path towards the river, they were back investigating again....proving that it's purely mental.


Here's to more happy hiking days.