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Come along on this short, fun, and extremely kid-friendly hike!
Continue readingColorado Hiking: Mad Creek Trail to the Barn
Tag Archives: hiking with kids
See the Larches at Blue Lake + Washington Pass Lookout – North Cascades
We often detail day hikes – check out our full archive here.
If you live in Washington, it’s time to pencil in a weekend to see the larches! If you’re not familiar with larches, they’re the bright yellow pine trees in the photo above. Larches are deciduous conifers meaning they have needles instead of leaves and although they are conifers, larches are deciduous trees that lose their needles during autumn. Pretty neat!
I hadn’t seen a larch until I moved to Washington state. They are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south. Larches are among the dominant plants in the boreal forests of Siberia and Canada. In the U.S., you can find larches in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, here in Washington. In Washington, you can typically count on larches being in bloom at the end of September and the beginning of October. The vibrant color varies each year and is different depending on the time and elevation, so your best bet is to get out there early and often. Larches can grow to be big boys – sometimes reaching 150 feet tall.
If you’re looking for a nice walk with bright autumn color, any old hike will do ya, but I highly recommend hiking to Blue Lake. Note there are at least six lakes named ‘Blue Lake’ in Washington (and another Blue Lake that Kate visited in Colorado!). I’m referring to the one just off of Highway 20 in the North Cascades. Blue Lake is an amazing Seattle weekend getaway destination. This beautiful 4.5 mile out and back hike features towering granite peaks, evergreen forests, meadows and slide areas with wildflowers and foliage, and of course the most beautiful blue mountain lake.
If you’re traveling from Seattle, it will take you about two hours and forty minutes to Blue Lake. Blue Lake is a sparkly gem surrounded by sheer granite peaks and it would not be a stretch to say it’s the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen and way up there on my short list of best hikes. That’s no giveaway coming from someone who has been hiking and backpacking since the age of eight. Someone who has hiked across mountain ranges in Nepal and through jungles in Thailand, this hike was freaking amaze balls. If you’re within a three-hour radius, grab your boots, drive to Blue Lake, and start walking.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we also caught Blue Lake at the best possible time of year. Before setting out on this hike (back in 2018!), I had no idea the larches were in bloom. I actually had no idea what larches were, but now I plan weekend adventures around these beauties. You have to catch them when they change color before the needles fall. You’ll be ooing and aahing every step of the way. Just for reference, this hike to Blue Lake was during the last weekend in September, on the 29th to be exact.
Just Add Traction for an Awesome Winter Hike!
Hiking is definitely one of our favorite outdoor activities, and I happen to have two kids that are always up for a hike. We love our weekday hikes the best. The trails are relatively empty and we feel carefree to move along the trail at whatever pace feels good, even coming to a complete stop when we find spy a treasure worth investigating.
Continue readingCapital Reef Hike : Cassidy Arch
If you’d like to see more Utah adventures, click here! When we’re in Utah, we often camp on BLM land (it’s free and vast!). You can learn more about camping on BLM land in this post.
In early July, after camping near the Fremont River, we visited Capital Reef and hiked to Cassidy Arch. Want to see more pics and details from that hike? Continue reading
Winter Layers for Kids
We spend a LOT of time outside between hikes, playground visits, and nature play sessions. The one thing that I always notice at this time of year, is the drop-off in kids at these different events.
I totally get it. It can be hard to motivate to get outside once winter weather arrives. BUT, after playing through the seasons for the past few years, I’ve come to rely on a few specific brands and types of gear.
Here are our favorite laying options for winter adventures.
- Oaki rain suit: I bought these a little bit big so that they’d last for at least two years, and so far they’ve held up wonderfully. This is a water and wind-proof suit and makes for a nice thin outer layer. It’s great on rainy days, snowy days, or even just blustery days. I prefer it over snow suits because they are often super bulky, and with this suit, you can add your own layers underneath to get the insulation just right for the day’s weather.
- Bogs: We’ve been using bogs for the past 5 years, and again, this is a product that I love. Bogs are waterproof and come with different insulation levels. The boots are a little bit heavy, but my boys have never minded.
- Puffer: When it comes to layering under the rain suit, I opt for a puffer. We have puffers that are thin but warm, perfect for allowing the boys to stay agile and warm.
- Smartwool socks: Good wool socks are worth the money. Wool provides fantastic insulation, even when it gets wet – perfect for those days when they are too adventurous near the water. I only have a couple pair of wool socks for the boys, enough to have one pair at the ready while the other is washing.
- Sunscreen : In Colorado, the winter sunshine is no joke. When we don’t have our homemade supply on hand, we love Badger sunscreen for its equally simple ingredients.
- Wool Base Layers : wool base layers are an investment, but if you’re going to be spending a lot of time outside, there’s nothing like the temperature regulation provided by wool.
- Fleece Bottoms : We love these fleece-lined leggings! The boys will often wear them alone or as a layer under the rainsuits. These are from Primary, and if you’re interested in buying some, I have a friends and family code ( PRIMARYKATHRYND539 ) that will get you 25% off your first order.
I didn’t include a hat or gloves on this list. For hats, we’re always wearing something that I knit. When it comes to gloves, I feel like I’m still on the hunt for a perfect pair for small hands. My boys don’t love mittens because of the limited dexterity, but I haven’t found the perfect gloves yet.
Fortunately, we have our winter layers so dialed in that we can head out the door with minimal effort, but I’d love to hear from you – anything that you consider essential that didn’t make my list?
FriendRaising – Start a Facebook Group
Since the start of the year, we’ve been focusing on monthly initiatives. A theme that sets the stage for some of the posts we’ll be sharing throughout the month. In January, we focused on good habits. During February we kept those good habits going with a particular focus on taking care of our mental health. This month, we mentioned in the Monthly Welcome that we want to put the focus on relationships, and in particular, to something called “friendraising” like fundraising, but with friends, ya dig it?
The communities we love to insert ourselves into are usually built around shared interests: cooking, hiking, parents, etc. Normally we find out about these groups through friends, community calendars, our city’s free weekly paper, or the internet, and sometimes we start our own groups.
Sarah started this series by discussing how and why to start a meetup group and do a little friendraising for yourself. Today’s post is very similar in nature. I want to talk about starting a Facebook group. BUT as you’ll see, my group is NOT about hosting events…
Cub Lake Loop
Want to see more hiking and camping posts? Click here. You can find all of our Colorado-based adventures here. And you can find all of our escapes within Rocky Mountain National Park here.
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, we spent a quick 36 hours in Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend. On Saturday we took an ambitious hike – click through to see more photos and details.
Fall Hikes with Kids
Navigate our links above to see more of our hiking and camping adventures (or if you’re a lazy bum, click here).
If you’ve been following the blog or our Instgram feed for any length of time, then you know that we love a good hike. Just put us outside with a good pair of boots, a snack, and a hat, and we are ready to go!
Some of my most memorable hikes have happened in the fall. Of course, the brisk weather and colorful foliage make for beautiful memories. But there’s also something about the shorter days anticipation of a long, cold winter indoors that makes the need to get outside even more urgent at this time of year.
Mitchell Lake Trail : Summer
We like a good hike, and every once in a while we take the opportunity to slow down, take pictures, and share the adventure with you. You can check out some of our previous Colorado hikes here.
Hello from Virginia! I’m popping in to share a hike that we took a few weeks ago in mid/late July.
We hiked this same trail (and more) two times last October when there was snow on the ground and ice on the trails. You can read more about those hikes in that post, and I’m going to repost some of the general information about the Brainard Lake Recreation Area the Mitchell Lake Trailhead below.
Trail Location
The trail starts within the Brainard Lake Recreation Area, but quickly leaves that area and continues on into the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area.
Brainard Lake Recreation Area is open to vehicles from June – October, but the exact opening and closing dates vary each year based on the weather. The entrance fee is on a sliding scale from $1 if you’re walking to $10/car, BUT you can access this area for free with a Nation Parks annual pass. When the area is closed during the winter, you can still park at a lot near the entrance and then enter the area by foot/ski/bike.
During the summer months, you can drive into the area and park at a number of lots. There’s a day-use lot near the main lake that often has spaces, and then there are two smaller lots near the Long Lake and Mitchell Lake trailheads, but in our experience, both of these fill up fairly early and remain packed throughout the day.
If possible, park at the Mitchell Lakes Trailhead and you’ll be able to quickly access the trail, if the lot is full, you’ll have to park in one of the other lots and walk over to the trailhead.
On this particular day, the Long Lake and Mitchell Lake parking areas were full, BUT we brought bikes! It was an easy ride from the day-use lot over to the Mitchell lot, and then we locked the bikes up by the ranger shed at the start of the trail.
Trail Overview
The hike to Mitchell Lake is just under a mile, and it’s another 1.6 miles to reach Blue Lake. These are both out-and-back destinations, making the round-trip hike to Mitchell approximately 1.8 miles and the hike to Blue Lake five miles. The altitude at the trailhead is approximately 10,500 ft, with a gradual climb of just 200 ft to Mitchell Lake and then reaching a final altitude of 11,300 ft at Blue Lake.
On this particular hike, we only made it to Mitchell lake, but last fall, we made it all the way to Blue Lake (on our second try!).
This is a popular, well-worn trail that is easily visible when there isn’t much snow on the ground, and was relatively well marked with flashes on the trees..
Near the base of the trail, hiking is relatively easy with that slow, gradual climb to Mitchell Lake. There is one large stream-crossing over a short wooden bridge, and then another crossing over a wider stream with fallen logs used as the bridge. In other segments, planks are used to keep hikers out of boggy areas.
If you go beyond Mitchell Lake, there are some steep areas where climbing the rocks is similar to climbing a steep set of stairs, with an increase in the portion of steep climbs as you approach Blue Lake.
Last fall, there was some snow on the trail that had been tramped down and turned to ice, making some areas slick. This summer there was no risk of snow on the trail, but there were plenty of mucky spots and mud puddles.
Hiking with Kids
Last fall I said that young kids (4 to 8 year olds) should be able to hike to Mitchell Lake with minimal help but would likely need help making the full trek to Blue Lake. Older kids 8+ should have no trouble with the full hike. Those estimates were based upon the kids we saw on the trails as we hiked. Seeing 4 year-old Alex run along the trail to Mitchell Lake this summer, I think that we were right on target with the lower range.
One big difference between our October and July hikes was the muck! As you can see, we had (almost) no reservations about letting them go wild.
Dressing for the Trail
At this time of year (and almost any time!), it was really helpful to dress in light layers. Since it was summer, our base layer consisted of tank tops and shorts for the boys, with a hoodie for more coverage.
I think the key to relaxing on this hike was recognizing that there was going to be muck and being prepared to let the boys play in it with wild abandon. Both boys wore their water shoes, which were perfect for this short hike. We let the boys get wet, jump in mud puddles, and generally disregarded the rules of hiking concerning good socks and dry shoes. If you’re going out for a longer hike and have kids with sensitive feet, water shoes may not be appropriate.
And don’t forget sunscreen! While there are some segments with plenty of shade, there is a lot of sun shining on much of the trail.
If you’re in the Boulder area, this hike and the whole Indian Peaks area is definitely worth your time. Just know that everyone else loves the area too, so try to get there early before the lots fill up. Good luck!
On this hike we realized that by 2pm on a summer afternoon the lots are starting to open up. If you’re going for a short hike like this one, that’s still a great time to head out, with the added benefit that you won’t have the strong mid-day sun shining on you.
Even so, facing the crowds is totally worth it to hike (or re-hike) the trails around Brainard Lake. This is such a beautiful area, and it’s such a pleasure to see the trails change with the seasons.