Biking and Hiking

We have had a really fun and busy first week of no school, with bike riding, hiking, and horseback riding. You know the old railroad tracks that I occasionally mention riding on in my posts? This is what it looks like through town, where it is maintained by the county. You can still ride your horses on it, as there is a small, dirt path on either side of the pavement. We will often ride our bikes, walk, run, or roller blade along the paved part. See how versatile we are? I wonder what kind of horses we would be if we were horses...does that even make any sense?The kids and I like to ride our bikes down to the flume and play in a small creek/wetland area, that is caused by run-off from the flume. There are lots of frogs and salamanders there, and this time of year, there are also lots of tadpoles. In case any of you are wondering what a flume is, it is a man-made tunnel/creek--at least around here!!-- where water is diverted from the river and is directed into a giant lake. It is all tied in to the local power company somehow, but it gives me a headache to even think of how, so I am not going to :)Looks like we are not the only family that has been down here. I should mention that besides frogs and stuff, there are also lots of deer, elk, and eagles...probably bears and cougars too!! Now I am starting to sound like Waska! Tee hee!
We forgot to bring something to aid in catching the tadpoles, and here you can laugh at...I mean see, the kids while they were desperately trying to catch the elusive tadpole. There are literally hundreds of the little suckers, but they are fast, and the kids came up empty handed every time. Just so you can see what it looks like, here is a picture of the flume. In other areas, it looks more like a giant irrigation ditch that runs through peoples fields, and behind their houses.
...And here is the mighty river were the flume begins. This is actually a picture of the fish ladder--for the spawning salmon--but it looks like it did not do so well during the floods this past fall/winter.We decided to go for a nice hike this morning, and we are lucky to have a great trail/mini mountain nearby, which is perfect for a quick hike. There are three--well actually, there are more, but we do not usually hike them--main trails that you can use to get up this mini mountain. Because it was really warm out, we chose one that is not to difficult, and that has a lot of shade. Here the kids are about 1/2 way up.Eric always has to walk/run up this old fallen log. It makes him feel "cool;"to cool to be seen with his mom and his sister!I love how the old roots make "steps" up the mountain. If you look close, you can see Katie quickly disappearing up the trail...why am I always the last one?I don't know why the kids are still smiling here, but they are! Anyone who has hiked this trail, knows how tiring it can be. It's basically a series of switchbacks that run straight up the mountain for a little over a mile. Doesn't sound to hard you say? Try it!We also went riding today, but I have to go make dinner. I will post pics from that later!