The Trail That Almost Won

Friday night, Aaron went out with his work buddies for some drinks. Because of that, we decided to do our hike on Sunday rather than Saturday. Instead, on Saturday we went exploring. First we hit a shopping center that we had never been to. Upon arriving at said shopping center we discovered that they were also having an art festival. We wondered through the exhibits and then into the stores when it got too hot. We also headed over to a huge shopping center on the other side of town. We only made it into one store. It was the largest sporting goods store we had ever been to. We ended up getting a new hiking carrier for Caleb. The old one just wasn't made for the types of hikes we do and was starting to hurt Aaron's back. We had a great day as a family just exploring the local area.

On Sunday we got up at 6am and headed for Roosevelt Nat'l Forest. We had read about hike where you get to see old homesteads that were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Campbell absolutely loves the Little House book series, so we knew that something like this was right up her alley.

The hike started out fine. There was a quite a bit of uphill in this first leg. Campbell decided that she would rather clean her room than hike uphill with rocks. (She changed her mind on the way back when it was mostly downhill.) She did, however, make the 2 1/2 mile trek with little problems. She amazes us everytime we go on these hikes. She is such a tiny kid, but has more strength than we do at times.

We reached the point where we thought the homesteads were only to learn that we had to walk even further to find the homesteads. We decided to only see the two that were within a half mile of where we were. The first one was the home of the only female homesteader in that area. Campbell was thrilled to learn that a female had established a homestead. There was only the foundation of the cabin left on this one. The second one had about half the walls still up but no roof. It had been established in 1923. We sat on rock in front of this one and had our drinks and snacks. We had to keep shooing away a chipmunk, but otherwise it was a lovely picnic.

It was as we started back down the trail that all the trouble began. First, I stepped off the trail to let some other hikers go by us. Apparently the shoulder of the trail there was not good and I rolled my ankle. I knew I had to hike 2 1/2 miles to get out of the gulch, so I had no time for a twisted/sprained ankle. I walked through the pain. After a bit, I only felt the pain once in a while so we were good to go. I was thankful that we were going mostly downhill on the way back, especially in the rocky parts.

Then, Aaron was playing around with Caleb. Keep in mind that Caleb is on Aaron's back in the carrier. Well, Aaron kept spinning and got dizzy. He almost fell flat on his rear. Luckily he saved them from a fall. Caleb declared a very loud "OUCH!" No one was hurt in that incident.

Finally, we were about 100 yards from the end of the trail. Campbell really kicked it in gear to get to the car. Unfortunately, a rock got in her way and she tripped over it. She skinned up her knee. That slowed the pace for the last of the hike, but we all made it out alive.

After the hike we headed into town for a little festival they were having. It was small but fun. We got lots of yummy goodies and the best homemade rootbeer. We continued to walk around town and hit a few shops before leaving. It was during this easy walking that my foot really began to hurt. By the time we got home I was beginning to think that maybe I had broken it. It is much better today, so no broken bones.