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.

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

We went downtown this weekend to see the end of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.  The hubby biked up to the reservoir to see some of the race and then met us down there.  It was a pretty exciting atmosphere.  All the support cars, advertisers, and police sped by us before the bikes passed.  

Coming down from Horsetooth Reservoir

Nearing the finish in old town

 After the race we had a tour on the trains that were parked in the middle of downtown.  We've never known the city to shut down the train tracks for any event!  It was pretty cool seeing the inside.

We promised the kids if they made the bike ride and were patient with us they could have their first ever Slurpee.  

Bike: Old Town

Trails Used: Power Line to Spring Creek to Remington to Old Town, to CSU, to Mason Trail, to Boardwalk and home 

Distance: 14.42 miles

Difficulty: Easy (for the adults, not so bad for the kids-this was their longest bike ride ever)
Overall average: 5.4 mph
Overall Time: 2 hr, 41 min
Total Ascent: 111 ft.

Flowers Trail Hike (Pingree Park)

Took a short hike this weekend.  Next time we won't have anything we need to be back home for because we didn't tire the kids out.  They were still picking at each other later in the day.  They definitely needed to work harder.  

View of one of the beaver ponds.   We didn't get to see any beavers though.

Lunch spot:

We passed some raspberry bushes right in the middle of the trail on the way out that had luscious looking berries.  I only had one...thought the animals in the woods might appreciate them more than I.

The flowers were out in abundance but beginning the decline to fall.  

Aster

Campanula or 'Bells' as my daughter likes to call them

Aster/Yarrow

Leather Flower

 Aster

Yarrow

Potentilla

Geranium

Rose Hips

 Waiting for 'the girls':

Hike: Flowers Trail

Trails Used:  Flowers Trail to Beaver Park (up Old Flowers Road from Pingree Park exit)

Distance: 4.00 miles

Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.8 mph
Overall Time: 2 hrs, 10 min
Total Ascent: 893 ft.