on day three, i was prepared. i checked the maps. the bus schedule. read trail reviews. and had a plan.
firstly, we took the bus from our campsite to the visitor center. we had 15 minutes until the next bus would take us to jordan pond, so we decided to make a dash in and get isaac his junior ranger badge. (at first he didn’t want to do it, but i after anna did hers, he came around).
we made it to the stop just in time to catch the bus to jordan pond, where we made a bathroom stop and then hit the trails. before we were very far, we spotted this friendly fellow.
we got off to a slow start because the kids wanted to stop and play in all the shallow, rocky spots. not that i minded the view.
the trail was 3.4 miles, with very little elevation change. the first half is nice and gravelly and wide. with lots of cool spots to stop and take beautiful pics.
like i said. lots of stops.
hazel walked some, but after several frustrating stumbles, she let me put her in the backpack for awhile.
monkey children.
we stopped for a snack after completing approximately half a mile. maybe a mile. certainly not longer than that.
hazel got a second wind and got out to walk a bit.
finally, we made it to the other side of the lake. we weren’t quite halfway, but we were re-energized.
we pressed on.
we came to a cute little bridge that goes over the stream that feeds out of the lake.
several pictures were in order.
the annababy is always up for a picture. 🙂
the second half of the trail was a little more rocky. on the first half of the hike, we were stopped by quite a few people who wanted to let us know that the second half was “very hard” and that they were worried about me taking the kids on it. i wasn’t sure what to expect, but figured our worst case would be to turn around and walk back. it turns out, the path wasn’t too bad at all, nothing like climbing the rocks at the lighthouses.
back in the backpack, hazel gave in to a nap.
the kids LOVED the rock hopping part of the trail.
and then, the worst part. the boardwalk. maybe because we were tired at this point. but mostly because they were narrow and the two boards sort of forced my gait funny. anna fell off and scraped herself up pretty good. and i had to listen to isaac give a detailed report on the stability and condition of each section of the boardwalk.
back at the start, i took one more pic of the breathtaking view.
and anna played long enough to accidentally get all wet.
we made our way to the bus line at exactly the same time as everyone else who wanted to go back to the visitor center. i had to stand for the first leg of the journey. and then i messed up the schedule, because they run fewer buses in the fall and we had to wait for a bit for the bus to take us to our campsite. when it arrived, it was already packed full. thankfully, a nice lady and her hubs moved so i could sit with the girls and isaac stood. which he thought was hilarious and had everyone cracking up around him. a bunch of people got off at the first campsite and we were finally able to all sit and relax. i can’t remember what part of the trip this was, but i snapped this sweet pic of the boy and hazel.
we were totally exhausted. and since i had told the kids that they could play the ipad for however long the hike took us, they got busy with their two and a half hours of screen time and i read a book. and then we all went to bed extra early.