Ahh....the many moods of my hiking children

You never know which children (good or whiny) you will get on any given day, let alone a 'hiking' day. This weekend Q started off sweet as pie and C was the never ending whining child.  I don't think he stopped talking for the first 20 minutes about how awful the hike was, how much he hated it, or how miserable he was.  After commenting on the beautiful forest, flowers, and company surrounding us and later just ignoring him he finally gave it up.  Maybe he got as tired of listening to himself as we were of listening to him.   Next thing I knew he and Daddy were walking ahead of us having one of their endless chats.  Once you get C talking about something he likes (license plates, states, state capital buildings, places to visit for spring break....) he goes to town.  Our other child started the hike off in an awesome mood, even giving this hike five stars.  She likes looking for the 'bell' flowers with me or she will find a cool bug or animal that none of us would ever notice.  However, as we neared the turn around point of the hike, hunger/tiredness set in and the switch flipped.  C was in a great mood and Q began the unraveling process.  A quick lunch helped a little but then we slowed to a snail's pace.  A cattle prod wouldn't get her little legs to move any quicker.  C and Daddy were long gone and I was left with the 'worst hike ever' child.  I kept asking about the '5 star hike' but was promptly put in my place.  Luckily we spied some wildlife on the way down (a grouse and a snake), took a potty break, and the switch flipped again.  The wildlife spotting saved the hike and restored it to it's '5 star' rating!  

Anyway....we started the morning off with the breakfast of champions!  Donuts!!!!

 We drove up the Poudre Canyon and did Dadd Gulch.  You could tell fall is rapidly approaching with all the berries on display.

We passed many rose hips.

On the way up Q saw this cool purple bug (Blue Fungus Beetle).  I don't know how she spots these bugs but she's always finding something low on the ground that is neat!  She even found the same bug or another one on the way down (2  hours later)roughly in the same place but on a different plant!

Cool mushrooms:

 A bee hive/nest:

 Pretty wildflowers:

I love my 'girl with the yellow hat' photos:

 'The Boys'

 'The Girls'

 Moss/Lichen:

 Pretty bark:

 'View'? from the top:

 Our turnaround point:

 Road Block:

 Grouse?:

 My snake...darn that slow camera...I really wanted the whole body sitting there!

 Long, tall boy legs!

 You've got to love a girl who can dress for any occasion!

Hike: Dadd Gulch

Trails Used:  Dadd Gulch

Distance: 7.35 miles

Difficulty: Moderate (difficult for the kids, Q was tired near the end)
Overall average: 1.9 mph
Overall Time: 3 hr, 55 min
Total Ascent: 1439 ft.

Loving Summer...Summer Loving

I caught this butterfly in my flowers last week.

The kids had fun watching this guy.

So hidden you couldn't even see it!

We drove up to Wyoming today and visited Curt Gowdy State Park.

It's a very scenic area with melted marshmallow type rocks located between Cheyenne and Laramie.

After the first 1/2 mile or so of open, dry, hot land the topography got more interesting.

We found water, 

water bugs,

rocks to explore,

and cattle guards to cross.

I wanted to visit the hidden falls since the temperature was suppose to reach 90 today.  I thought it'd be a good place for the kids to dip in their feet.  What I didn't count on was the 20-30 mph winds that brought that temperature down to about 70 around the falls area.  The falls weren't even much at this time of year...barely a dribble that you had to look at from the side to see.

We shared our lunch area with about 15 kids from a day camp around Cheyenne.

I passed some time watching the clouds move quickly across the sky.

 It was still a great hike with beautiful flowers through pine and aspen forest.

Gold Weed:

Wild Rose

Common Mouse Ear:

Indian Blanket

Prickly Pear Cactus:

I couldn't let my daughter's outfit go unnoticed.  I love how she rocks her outfits on these hiking excursions. At least there weren't any tights this time!

Hike: Hidden Falls

Trails Used:  Stone Temple to Pinball to Crow Creek to Hidden Falls and back

Distance: Approx. 4 miles (no GPS that day)

Difficulty: Easy  (can get hot out there so start early)