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| Canyoneering | 2.00 Miles |
733 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 2.00 Miles | 4 Hrs 38 Mns | | 0.64 mph |
| 733 ft AEG | 1 Hour 31 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | I had originally planned to bring my kids to this section of WCC the very day the forest roads were closed due to the Pivot Rock Fire, so they've been looking forward to this hike for a while. Just pure coincidence that I ended up nearly in the same place both days this weekend. The condition of the roads back to the trailhead are great right now--truly the best I've ever seen them in. The last 1/3 mile or so on 142E is the only rough part, maybe not great for low clearance, but easy enough to park there and walk a little extra to the trailhead.
After parking at the trailhead, I got the kids ready, and gave them the pre-emptive lecture about jumping around on steep trails. Point trail is definitely steep, but nothing terrible if you're careful. My daughter handled it just fine, but I held my son's hand most of the way. He whined the first 1/4 mile or so, which is pretty standard for him, so I tuned him out. We got to the bottom, and the kids had a snack and played in the water for a while. There was a lot of water, I can only think of one other time I've seen more in this section than I say today. My kids laughed when I pointed out the spot where a dropped a camera in the water about a dozen years ago.
It was fairly easy to head upstream, the rocks generally weren't quite as slick as where I was yesterday, and there was a decent path through the brush. After a short distance, we got to the one spot I knew would be difficult. Normally, if the water is deep, I climb above the boulders on the north side of the creek, and pick my way around to the other side. Today, the vegetation made that option nearly impossible with little kids. I waded into the water a ways to see if I could get through with a kid on my back. Nope--too deep for too long for that to be a safe option, especially since I would have to do that twice going up and twice again coming back. I went back to the boulders and looked around there. Finally I decided I could get them through the boulders, one kid at a time. I took my daughter through first, then got my son (who has the coordination of a cooked noodle) through. Without kids, this spot would not have been difficult to get through. After that, the rest of the way to Sundance Canyon was very easy. There's always the pool of water in front of Sundance, but I waded the kids through one at a time since the water would have been well above their heads.
Once in Sundance, the kids were in awe. They had another snack, then played for a while. The trip back out went a little faster since I had already figured out where the kids would need help and they didn't stop to play as much. The climb back out was much easier than the descent. The trail was shaded by then, and the kids weren't slipping forward with every step. There was one moment of a seven year old having a meltdown about who was in charge--she informed me that I wasn't a very good hiker and maybe I should hire myself a hiking coach--which was more humorous than annoying, we made it out the rest of the way without incident. Great day with the kids, and they slept the entire way back home--which allowed me to listen to whatever music I wanted without the added bonus of their expert background critiques. |
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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