jardine juniper

although the weather wasn't as nice, we again went to the mountains last saturday. the closer we got to the top of the pass the colder and rainier it got. there was about a 30 degree drop in temperature from the city and the top of the pass.

we drove to the top because we wanted to go to the bear lake overlook and we wanted to see how much snow there was up around there. there's lots. lots and lots. there's a nice nature hike up there that i guess we won't be getting to anytime soon.

bear lake. i love this lake. we all do. you could barely see the lake for the stormy weather. in fact, the kids couldn't tell where the lake was at all. can you see it? it's like where's waldo.

like i said, it was pretty cold up there.

so we drove back down the canyon and decided to hike the jardine juniper trail. the full trail is a little long for our kids so we only walked part of it. the weather was a lot nicer down here. the trails were dry and it was warm enough to shed our jackets.

we don't ever hear even a peep out of this guy when we are on the trail, and no, it's not because he's sleeping - he doesn't. i guess he's just soaking it all in.

a very enthusiastic little hiker.

still plenty of snow higher up, as you can see.

ethan wants to build a house here.

maria enjoyed the smell of the sagebrush.

there has been a lot of flooding around here. this is to give you an idea of how full the rivers are. later in the summer this raging river will be a very, very small trickling stream.

our kids hiked a lot further this time. we decided to have naps first, then go out. it worked out much better that way. i think that's how we'll have to do it from now on, except today. today we can't ignore the yard and house work and maria has her last soccer game of the season this evening. i will definitely have to do a soccer post later. she's had a lot of fun doing soccer and is sad the season is over.