Punchbowl Falls

Last week, we went hiking.  We included the five of us, my sister and her son, my brother and my mom and dad.  According the website, the hike was “easy”.  Overall, I’d agree with that assessment but there was parts of the trail that were narrow and dropped off at the edges.  If someone slipped, it could have spelled disaster.  The hike is 4.2 miles roundtrip.  We walked past several waterfalls to get to our destination: Punchbowl Falls.  We actually went to Lower Punchbowl Falls and ate lunch.  My youngest was carrying this huge hiking stick.  Luckily, I was able to convince him that it was kind of heavy for the whole hike, and he put it down.

When we got the lower falls, we saw that there was two men in kayaks.  We got to see them go over the falls.  It was so very cool and everyone was impressed.  It was a little nerve-wracking when the one pictured above broke his oar before going over.  Then when he flipped upside down and had a hard time righting himself, it was a little scary.  But it was amazing to see. 

To get that bottom picture, I had to go out in the middle of the icy river….you can’t get to the falls….you continue up the trail and end above it, but this was by far the best view of it.  Totally worth the cold feet and wet shoes on the way down. 

It wasn’t long ago when my kids weren’t much of hikers.  Short hikes would involve a lot of complaining, and dragging and carrying of children.  Not so much anymore. Hiking is actually fun with them again.  Luckily, we live in an area with a lot of hikes that aren’t far away.