As a family, we attempted to complete the #52hikechallenge2017, which essentially is a hike each week. We were unable to make the goal we set for ourselves. For the purposes of our challenge, we only counted evening walks that were at least 2 miles, though we did in fact take many additional family walks to the nearest park that is just under 1/2 mile from home. In addition we didn't count any of the backpacking excursions that Chris went on, both with his brothers and with Kayla and Elise. Had we chosen to count these things, we could have made our goal, but our goal was 52 hikes as a family, which simply wasn't meant to be in 2017. We also ran into problems getting out with the many visitors we had all summer long, though we were able to convince some of them to join us for a hike or two. But when all was said and done, we were 10 hikes short of our goal with only 42 hikes.
That being said, we finished out December strong with our final 3 hikes in the last week between Christmas and New Year's. We are quite proud of our kiddos and all the growing, learning, and persevering they did hiking this year.
Hike #40 was a hike along a nearly trail that connects some of the neighborhoods in our suburb. It was a chilly evening, but we caught some beautiful views of the sun saying goodnight to the mountains as we headed toward home.
Hike #41 was a stretch of a long trail that follows alongside a canal not far from home.
Sophie and Kolbe were rather enamored by the trucks doing work off the side of the trail.
Eventually Kolbe decided he was done with the chilly weather (doesn't the sun shining make it look deceptively warm?) and cried for the last 1/4 mile which was....not pleasant. This picture was taken when he was still content and enjoying the scenery.
The trail also wound alongside some train tracks, and eventually crossed them. The girls held hands for a cute picture.
Again we were able to walk along as the sun dipped down toward the mountains for the night.
These mounds of various materials (mulch, stones etc.) were at the very end of the trail section we hiked and Elise called them the little mountains. ha.
And our last hike of the 2017, Hike #42 was the next stretch of the same trail.
This section passed by a reservoir.
This time the girls found a bridge to pose on (they love bridges just like their mama)
What water that was in the canal was frozen.
The end of this section of the trail was a park. The kids enjoyed a little break swinging and going down the slides before we turned around and headed back to our car.
And once again, we were able to say a cheerful goodnight to the sun as it dropped in the sky for the night.
All in all, we had a wonderful year hiking and exploring together.
We still plan to hike a lot as a family in 2018, but we have a different idea that should mix things up a little and add a bit of extra fun and novelty to the year.
Cheers to family, fun, and spending time enjoying God's creation together in 2017!
We hope 2018 is filled with many more hiking adventures.
