Rowan was ready with his hiking stick in one hand and the other hand tucked in his pocket.
The guide that we had said the hike would take about 1.5 hours, but with Rowan stopping to pick up every leaf along the way we would have easily doubled that. We convinced him to hop in the pack and take a ride. Here are Rowan and Esten looking down into a cave.
Here is another cave. They were all closed due to white nose syndrome. It's a fungus that causes bats to come out of hibernation too early and since the insects they eat are not available yet, they starve. And I suppose that humans are spreading it from cave to cave and so we are not allowed in them now. Honestly, the caves were kind of scary and I probably wouldn't have gone in anyways.
We passed a wet weather waterfall and then took a break on a log bench at the bottom. Someone should enter this picture into a "Parents of the Year" contest for us. I promise the backpack is really stable and he wasn't going to fall, the look on Rowan's face tells a different story.
Me and Rowan taking a banana break.
He decided he would hike the rest of the trail himself and at this point was climbing onto things so that he could jump off of them. Esten put him on top of this tree that had fallen over and we tried to convince him to jump. Didn't happen.
Still trying to convince him. He didn't do it until I went and held his other hand.
Esten and Rowan crossing a little rock bridge. They were probably looking at a rock or piece of mud that Rowan found intriguing.
For the record, there were some parts on the trail that were not kid or grandma friendly. Narrow trails with steep drop-offs and muddy, slippery rocks. We enjoyed ourselves and maybe if you come and see us we'll take you there.
