Parker's still not afraid to get dirty.
Our first day in the Santa Fe National Forest, we did a hike in Los Alamos called the Mitchell Trail, that leads up to a cool natural arch.
Sybil has taken on some pretty difficult hikes on this trip, not without a sometimes significant amount of whining and foot dragging. As soon as we got to the hand over hand climbing on this hike though, she was stoked to be doing it.
Hudson with full bat ears on our breezy hike.
It was nice to see smiles after all the whining.
That night we were fortunate to be joined at our campsite by Lindsay, Travis, and their 2 kids, Henry and Charlotte. It was so fun to camp with friends! We played nature bocci ball, swung in socially distanced hammocks, and laughed late into the night (or at least 9:30 pm). Good people and good times!
The next day we did a short hike to some very cool waterfalls and swimming holes along the East Fork of the Jemez River.
Sybil and Henry in the shallow pools of the Jemez River.
The next day we did a beautiful hike, Las Conchas, which follows a stream down a valley rimmed with rock outcroppings.
Sybil frolicking along the stream.
I happened upon this beautiful moment after we ate lunch while watching rock climbers scale the walls of the canyon.
Our last hike was to the San Gregorio Reservoir. The lake itself wasn't much to look at, but the 1.2 mile hike to get there was through a beautiful forest of ponderosa, aspen, spruce, and fir trees.
A murky peek into our nightly bathing ritual. We would warm water up to bathe, and often the water was so dirty after one kid that we would have to warm up a whole new pot of water for the second one. This is what the water looked like after Parker's bath on our last night of camping.
Campitulate kəm'piCHəˌlāt - (v) surrendering or ceasing to embark on more camping due to overall lack of sleep, filthiness, or other various discomforts.
After 20 days and nights in the national forests of New Mexico we decided it was time to head home and provide an environment more conducive to sleeping for Sybil and Parker. The solitude and beauty of the outdoors exceeded our expectations in terms of time together, mind reset, and as an escape from the worries of the pandemic, however, the girls were just not getting enough sleep. Parker was averaging about 4 hours less sleep per day while in the woods than she would normally get at home, and Sybil was losing between 2 and 3 hours. We were torn because just as we started to discuss the inevitability of returning to Austin all of the media were reporting how the pandemic had surged back aggressively in Austin and Houston after the initial reopening of restaurants and bars. We started the trip with Austin in a state of optimism because of the reopening and have returned with Austin back in lockdown and fear that the pandemic is not even close to being resolved.
Despite the apparent increased risk and stress of living in a big city, it is nice to be home and catch up with friends and family. If it gets too much, we now know of some stellar locations just an 11 hour drive away in New Mexico. Let us know if you want to join us because there is plenty of space out there!
No comments:
Post a Comment