overall, denny creek is a great trek for kids: the trail head is only about an hour from seattle, the hike is under 1.5 miles each way, the elevation gain is very mild, there are way cool mountain pools and rock slides at the end, and the trail itself is mostly in the shade (one of my favorite parts about hikes in the pacific northwest!)
for their first time out all together, our troops did really well. caleb walked the whole way -- though we did bring an extra pack just in case, the girls zoomed ahead and beckoned for their parents to keep up, and dallin could not have been a more perfectly packed babe (he didn't scream to be let out even once!)
all that being said, the excursion was not without its pitfalls. literally.
we were prepared for the kids to get tired, for their feet to hurt, for them to whine about being bored or hungry, or to complain about it taking too long or being too hot or whatever else children find in their little hearts to complain about. none of which they actually did (yay!).
we were NOT prepared, however, for the amount of falling that would occur.
the exposed roots and branches and loose dirt and rocks turned out to be quite the challenge for their inexperienced feet and legs to navigate, and it seemed like we couldn't go more than ten steps without someone ending up hands down in the dirt and bleeding. each of the three older kids came home with quite the assortment of battle scars (you can see one of summer's doozies on her knee in our july 4th pic).
welcome to the great outdoors ;)
ps: shield your eyes whilst scanning these pics: it was *bright* out there!
and for our first hike to denny creek, five years and two kids ago, see here.
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