Highland Mary Lakes

I feel like we haven't been able to get out and hike too much this summer - we've just been busy and Ben's free days usually were taken up with Lewis & Clark planning - so when I found out Ben was off on Monday, I made an executive decision that our family was going to go hiking.  Wahoo!  I had wanted to do the Highland Mary lakes trail as I had seen some posts on facebook and it looked awesome.

So we got up early on Monday morning (5am early - the kids were like, "What?!  It's 5am!") and made it on the trail by 8am.  We wanted to make sure to beat afternoon showers either on the trail, or on Red Mountain pass.  Turns out we had a blue-bird day, but it was still nice to just get up and at it.

The trail was one of my favorite hiking trails - just beautiful with wildflowers, streams, waterfalls, pine smells, etc., etc.  We made it up to the lakes (there were 4 of them that we saw) in about 1 1/2 hours.  Since that wasn't too long and we like to make sure our kids suffer, we decided to do the whole loop.  We weren't planning on it at all, but we had the whole day before us.  The loop took us to the Continental Divide Trail and gave us some pretty awesome vistas.  It dragged on towards the end (ugh, we don't totally enjoy going down steep switchbacks!), but was still an awesome hike.  We had some ice cream in Silverton and then made our way back home.

Bella did great on the hike, too.  The total hike was 7.7 miles and I bet she hiked well over 6 miles of it.  She was exhausted, but also didn't want to be held.  Brigham was totally in his element and had a great time chasing little wildlife.

It was just about a perfect hike!

 We knew it would be a bit cooler - but we weren't expecting it to be 37 degrees at the start!  But we warmed up quickly.  It was dreamy to have weather like that after the awfully hot summer we've had!

 Bella tries hard to keep up with Brigham!

 A beautiful waterfall (only slightly ruined by Miles' handmade pocket shirt . . . ).

 Another beautiful spot!

 Jonas collected flowers and made a lovely bouquet.

See how lovely?!

 Another beautiful spot - which of course a camera doesn't do it justice.

 Ben and Emmy hiking up a rocky spot.

 The first of three Mary lakes - so quaint and pretty!

 Emmy took a selfie and her and Lucy (is it still called a selfie then?!).

 Maybe the third Mary lakes?  Whatever it is, it's lovely!

 The cool peaks in the back were awesome.

 Bella hung out in the doggie pack for maybe 1/4 of a mile.  :)

For a bit of the hike, I was definitely the weak link in the group!  I didn't feel so good - light-headed and tired.  It's either because I'm dying, I'm a wimp, or the altitude.  I'm still not sure which one it was.

Brigham was probably chasing off some grouse at this point.

 Pretty girls can hike, too . . . but the wee ones might just get a bit exhausted.

 We finally were getting close to our original trail!  At least Emmy was still smiling!

Ice scream for everyone!  Except Brigham was stuck in the back of our car and didn't get any licks . . .

As I posted on facebook and instagram . . .this was just what the doctor ordered!