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Location: Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park, CA
Destination: Wapama Falls
Date: May 2011
While going through photos for our 2011 photo album I found these gems. More than any others these remind me of what it is like to hike with a two year old. In the first photo Mountain Dad is wearing the hiking pack that we assumed Big E would ride in. Big E vociferously refused complete with weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth. Once we actually got on the trail Big E would run full speed toward the 15 foot cliff that ended in the lake so one of us was constantly sprinting after him.
When Big E wasn’t trying out for the Olympics in the 50 meter sprint he was examining plants, rocks, flowers and bugs with an enviable intensity. Unfortunately for our forward progress he wanted to examine every plant, every rock, every flower and every bug we came across. Our two speeds were full steam ahead or full stop.
You know the hike is in trouble when one of the members of the party sprawls on the ground and refuses to move forward at all. This is where we decided to turn around. We had been on the trail for an hour and gotten 500 feet or so. My expectations had to be severely altered, even though I had gone into the hike not expecting much. Looking back it was a fun experience but in the moment it was frustrating. You know it’s bad when you feel like yelling at your toddler on a day that is supposed to just be fun.
