I was so looking forward to a nice and easy 1 mile loop hike around Lake Elizabeth, imagining the kids catching frogs and skipping along the trail, wading in the cool waters of the lake. Instead, we found the road to be blocked by a boulder avalanche and fallen trees. According to my spedometer, we had 2.5 miles more to the lake. Upon meeting some hikers at the blocked road, they indicated it would be an easy hike for all the children, that it was only 1.3 miles to the lake, and that they had taken this trail before. We never made it to the lake, but we had a great time along the way. Money Creek was cold and clear, its flow raged loudly through large boulders and we saw at least 4 unnamed falls on the way.
We continued to walk 2 miles and just couldn't go any further, as I ran out of games and talk to get their minds off the slight inclined climb towards the lake. The main event that kept them going was the break/play in the snow patches along the way. I got hit in the eye with an icy snowball, thank you very much! Several minature snowmen were left as our marks.
We turned back and decided to stop and play at a small waterfall, with just enough waterflow to allow a safe short rock climb On the falls themselves. No slippery rocks, thank goodness. Great photos were taken here.
We were finally glad to be back where we started... this was one hike they didn't beg to go further! I rewarded them well with some saltwater taffy on the ride home.
Hike Rating (out of 5 stars):
Get your own Free Home Page