Category: hiking

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do those hiking poles come in pink?

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The juxtaposition of the Barbie cake, tea set, and hiking poles is a crack up. But look how happy our little seven year old is! We had a low-key, at-home celebration. What was on the menu, you ask? Awww, yes. Pasta con queso con chachichas, sin ketchup. Yeah, mac-n-cheese and hotdogs!!!!!!!!!! Gross, right? At least, it was the cheapest birthday dinner ever requested. :) We spent the evening playing the Wii and eating yummy chocolate cake. Nikki’s best friend, Erica, also joined us. That is who gave Nikki the tea set. It is currently the favorite toy in the house. Thank you Stewart family. The kids absolutely adore Erica…she is a wonderful friend.

On a serious note, Nikki’s birthday brought tears to my eyes. It is the first birthday party she has ever had. It is the first time anyone has sung “happy birthday” just to her. It is the first birthday cake ever made in her honor. It is the first time, that she remembers, getting any birthday gifts. Pretty amazing. And we get to do it three more times this year!

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Since Nikki’s bday was on a Friday, we took her new hiking poles out for a spin on Saturday. We had a blast finding the Anniversary Narrows out at Lake Mead. It was a pretty easy hike, and the kids had a great time. After walking down a wash for awhile, we entered a slot canyon that was really cool to traverse with the ninos. They did well. You’ll notice the backpacks loaded down–we are still training them for this spring. We can’t wait to do some overnighters.

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After that, Aunt Marisa picked Nikki up to take her to Build-A-Bear for her gift from her tios. She hasn’t let go of the bear yet! We ended the weekend of celebration with a February Birthday Party at the McCracken’s home. Zoe and grandpa both had birthdays this month too. I think that Nikki was sufficiently spoiled, and the other children were sufficiently jealous. :) Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be?

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mouse’s tank and more

Adam was lucky enough to have MLK Day off. It was gorgeous here in the desert so we went on another hike–of course. The Brummett Family joined us with their newest addition, Sammy (their dog). There are only three places close enough to do any sort of hiking here in Las Vegas–Mt. Charleston, Red Rock, and Valley of Fire–which was our choice yesterday.

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Valley of Fire has many short easy hikes for families. And it is beautiful. We only had time to do Mouse’s Tank yesterday because of our late start. It is pretty wimpy, only a 1/2 mile round trip…but the kids had a blast. Look at Wompy and Carter–their first slot canyon!!!!!!!!!!! :)

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The funniest part of the excursion happened on the drive there. From the freeway turn off, you must drive 11 miles of flat desert to get to the Park entrance. Adam and I pulled off in the open desert to try and trick the kids. The best part about the video is that the kids thought we were totally serious, and they didn’t care where we were. They just wanted their packs on.

And what you don’t see on the video is Danny standing in the desert with his pack on staring at us as we tried taking off. He thought we were really going to leave him there–stranded. I guess I should have more sympathy for my adopted kids–maybe be more sensitive. But really, it was just hilarious! And Danny tried to get back at us later. :)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybcavnnMmT4

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la madre springs

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Welcome to McCracken Hiking 2009. We are very serious about whipping our little band into hiking shape (including us ring-leaders) so that we can have some serious adventures this summer. They LOVE the “mountains” aka desert rocks. And they are getting less and less wimpy as time goes on. So we ventured up the desert trail and found a fountain of freshness in the middle of oblivion.
Dave and Jena came along, but had to cut their trip short due to a prior engagement. The rest of us put in four miles and about 700 feet in elevation. For the small 40 pounders, that is quite a lot, and we are very proud of their attitudes. I must say that the six year old little princess can out-hike the rest of them when she decides to.
We had a great afternoon. It was 65 degrees and sunny with a little breeze–perfect January weather for a hike. And how adorable is my husband with our kids….

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I can’t wait to scrapbook these pics…is it wrong for me to title the upper pics “mother goose?” :)

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the wimps of rocky gap road

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Adam took the ninos, Kavika, and Jordan up to the top of Rocky Gap road. It was super windy and super cold. You can’t tell that from their faces, can you? In fact, it was “so cold” that the teenagers wussed out and turned back from the hike to hide in the truck most of the time.

Whenever Rocky Gap road is involved, I stay behind!!! I hate driving it with a passion. My Sisters in Canyoneering who have driven up it understand what I mean. One time, one of the trucks got stuck and there were giant boulders flinging everywhere as the tires spun to gain traction. (Yeah, you can stop laughing now husband) I feared for my life, and have not returned since. To sum it up–the Four-Wheeling Club of Las Vegas maintains the road. They have to. Noone else has the equipment to do it.

Anyway, here’s a little video of the windiness at the top of the pass. And if you think they look cold here, wait until you see the pictures from our latest hike….

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm7IvL9a3d8

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Ice Cube

That’s what you feel like when you swim through the water in this canyon. Seldom traveled, this is one of my favorite places for a fun day in the park. Our intrepid group of five included me, Duane Woodmansee, and the three Leas — Rob, Eric, and Troy. Dave was kind enough to drive us up to the trailhead to save us the time of driving back at the end. Being Dave, he hiked the first part of the approach in his flip-flops!

We had a great time and our 3 noobs did a great job! All of the pics (as if these aren’t enough!) can be found in the photo album. Special thanks to Rach (because she is amazing!) for watching the kids for the day so that I could go on this — love you!

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snow, anyone?

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Is it ever going to be possible to hike without snow again? We went on one last hike with Brooklynn before leaving Utah–and there was snow, in JUNE! I know that some hikes aren’t possible until July our August–but Limber Pine Trail? Give me a break. We did the hike regardless, and we are really glad we soldiered on. There actually ended up being fairly dry ground most of the way. After several of our spring hikes were thwarted by the nation’s WEIRD weather this year–we are grateful to have finally completed one. And per her usual, Brooklynn was the leader the whole way, except during the deep snow crossings. :) She made uncle Adam go first so she could step down into his tracks.

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rachie day, take 4

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The last two years, we’ve celebrated Rachie Day. Adam is so great on this particular day. He does whatever I want (I know, that’s most days) and he is extra-loving. This past Sunday we went on a hike to the Logan Wind Caves. It was the perfect hiking day. There weren’t too many people on the trail. The weather was overcast, but not windy or cold. And it was a good warm-up for Angel’s Landing in Zion. Since it was Rachie Day, however, we didn’t go to the top. I was done about three quarters of the way up, and my sweet husband said he would turn around with me. I told him to go ahead and I would wait at the truck, but he said, “no this is Rachie’s Day so we do what Rachie wants to do.” That was sweet music to my ears. We had an enjoyable descent.

During the rest of the day we made a pizza and had hot-fudge browning sundaes. Yeah, it was definitely a non-diet day, but I did skip dinner to make up for a few of the extra calories. We watched two or three movies in bed while surfing Colombian adoption blogs and homeschooling materials. Adam finished our Zion t-shirts for our upcoming excursion. It was perfect.

Thanks Adi for always knowing what this time of year means to me…you always handle it with perfect sensitivity and love. 

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