April had some beautiful hiking weather and Michael took a day off here and there for an outing, so one day we drove down to Pickle Springs for a hike. The trail has lots of fun rock formations, boulders for clambering, and a stream for splashing. Agnes hiked on her own feet for quite a while, and rode on my back towards the end. Edie was determined to climb everything the bigger kids climbed and I think she succeeded, although her eagerness for going up occasionally outstripped her courage for coming down. I think Catherine, Mary, and Gussie all performed a rescue or two, giving the hand or guidance necessary to get her down. Pickle Springs has an alarming amount of tiny cracks and holes in the rocks for kids to slip into and disappear, but thankfully at this point the big kids are all capable enough that it's not really a big deal if one of them disappears into a crack in a rock for a bit.
The hike starts out in an ever-deepening ravine.
Michael disappeared in the ravine and reappeared through this little hole, which Agnes thought was hilarious so she and I had to travel the same tunnel. There is no picture proof that I made it.
Then the trail opens up to boulders, boulders everywhere.
I think this was "Operation Rescue Edie, Version 1."
Agnes often attaches herself to Mary on outings like this, and Mary is such a good sport / companion / big sister.
I love this picture - Edie could not possibly be any closer on Gussie's heels.
Edie really wanted her picture taken in front of this creek, and Daddy was nice enough to photobomb her. He was trying to give her bunny ears but didn't get the height quite right.
He earned himself a solo picture for those shenanigans.
Near the end of the hike there was an extra dose of "disappearing into cracks."
Edie was pretty nervous about following her brothers into this unknown crack, but she decided the adventure (or the not being left behind) was worth the risk.
Agnes was still skipping along at this point - I was impressed with her stamina.
When we hike in this area we usually stop at a little restaurant on the way home. Their tables have chairs that look like our living room chairs, and they have giant chocolate chip pancakes. Maybe this is the motivation that kept Agnes hiking all that way.
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