hiking

Yesterday, my family and I went on our first hike. I searched the Net prior to going for a family-dog friendly trail and all signs told me that this would be a safe bet. Sturtevant Falls in Arcadia had a beautiful picture of a waterfall and thought how special it would be to see. Little did I know that we would have to drive up a winding mountain to get to the trail. I'm not a big fan of driving up winding roads especially when the edge is just a few feet away. No room for error. I couldn't snap shots on the way up because I didn't want to look over and even when we pulled off to the side, I felt very uneasy. I'm a worry wart that way. I felt better once we got out the truck and started walking but the cliff-like trail with 3 kids and a rambunctious dog was little more stressful than I had anticipated. Needless to say, when it was all said and done, we all had a great time. It was a great change of pace from our regular Saturdays of baseball games and basketball tournaments.

My son snapped this shot of our dog in the truck. This was sometime during the car ride just before she threw up. Yeah, it was an ugly mess. Not a good way to start our adventure.


I really don't like signs like this.




It was a cloudy day, which turned out to be a good thing. We got so hot on the trail.


It was a gorgeous, breathtaking view despite the overcast.


A quaint Arcadia neighborhood down below.


Pointing out all the little things he thinks I don't notice.


This was taken after we finally found a parking spot. Had I been the driver, we would have gotten prime parking. My friends don't call me the Parking Angel for nothing. ;-)


And so it begins............


This part of the road was blocked off because THERE WAS NO ROAD!! It was gone! (Not a good sign)


This guy was way out there. Hope he wasn't thinking about jumping.


Pick your poison.


Figuring out which way to go.


The beginning of the trail.


Walking the trail. If I didn't have the dog on my arm then it was my 2-year old. I wasn't able to take pictures the way I would have liked.


Steep fall. Hold on tight!


A little pit stop for a photo op




The beauty of nature.....


We reached our destination....the waterfall!


Private residence in the middle of the mountains.


You can own a home in the middle of the mountains too for a mere $15,000.


The stipulation to owning a home in the middle of the mountains is that it cannot be your prime residence. You must prove that you have a primary residence.


This house has a prime location above the waterfall. The park ranger said there are 81 houses in the mountains.


Aloe .... one of my favorite plants.


Heading back uphill.


My mountain!


Back to semi-civilization.


This pretty much sums it up.