Independence Lakes

We Hiked up to Independence Lakes this year for part of the Pettingill Reunion. Stephen showed up this year and I am so glad he was able to be with us even though he hated it, lol. We were only planning on having Zander go with us on the hike, but as I was saying goodbye to Lucas he threw a fit and begged to go with us, so we took him....on a 6.5 mile round trip hike....with a 4 and 5 year old....almost all uphill.

of course we were the last ones in our group along with Brad and Heather. I'm so glad Brad stayed behind to bring up the rear so I wasn't left alone with Lucas. But I have to say that Lucas was a rock star the whole way up. He walked a little slow, but with his four-year-old little legs he did better than me! And to be honest, I'm glad Lucas came so I had an excuse of why I was the last one to get there. Heather had a bag of gummy bears that she used as "bait" to get Lucas to walk. she'd put a few in her hand and hold her hand back as she walked ahead of Lucas to make him walk faster. He had to catch up to her to get the treats. Genius! There was only one time a little passed half way up that Lucas whined because he was tired. He walked a mile and half before Brad carried him on his shoulders for about half a mile, then he walked the rest of the way. The rest of the group had been at the lake 30 minutes before we arrived, so I'd say we did a pretty good job.

We ate lunch then played a while before heading back down the mountain. At this point the boys were dead tired especially Lucas. He kept trying to fall asleep and both boys complained almost the whole way down. Stephen took turns carrying both the boys at least half of the hike. We were done by the time we got back to camp. I do have to say how proud I am of the boys for hiking the lake; that's a huge accomplishment for them!