Those of our family members who could get to Pipestem for a fun Memorial Day Weekend had a great time. The weather was great. It was warm and not rainy or too hot for a lot of hiking. The young kids went horseback riding and swimming. The parents and grandparents did a lot of fun hiking with the kids. Jenny wasn't feeling well, so she enjoyed this time to rest while we were on the hills or along the river.
This is when we went on the hike which is above our lodge. It was a gradual climb starting off and most of the way up, but oh what a trip down. It was so steep. It was kind of like crossing the river last year when we didn't know what we were going to have to face. Parents were holding onto little ones while barely holding on themselves. Dad had two hiking sticks working hard to keep him from sliding, and thanks to Jason I got down safely.
Jarin was a trooper. He went all the way--kind of slow like Grandma, but he made it.
The picture below is the beautiful meadow at the top of the climb by the cabin. It was like the calm before the storm. Such a flat and green spot hiding the craggy, narrow decent below.
They are still newly weds!
The river hike was so much easier this year because we were prepared. We knew what we needed as far as supplies to make it easier to get across. We had walking sticks for balance and water shoes along with back packs to hold our hiking shoes. There hadn't been a rain storm the night before so the water level was lower and the water was clear in order to see the rocks which made our footing more secure. It was fun instead of so challenging. We got challenging with the cabin hike.
Leaving is the hard part. It's a lot more fun to bring all of our stuff down the hill in the tram than to load and take it all up when it's time to leave.I doubt that any one else who stays in the River Lodge brings as much stuff as we do. The workers on the tram said that they had never seen a micro wave before. Well, they've seen one two years in a row now along with many more things for the first time. It works for us!
