Part 3- Cedar Falls Hike

We got up in the morning and started the Cedar Falls hike--a little over 2 mile hike round trip down into the canyon to the 95 foot waterfall. Amy and I had done this a few years ago, so she stayed behind and kept Avery while I took Luke and Lindy. We started at around 7:30 am and had the whole thing to ourselves...we actually finished the hike before any other hikers even started.

Bridge on the way to the falls:

Found another cache close to the falls:

These photos just don't do it justice, it looks so much bigger when you are down inside the bowl at the falls:

The main trail stops at the pool, but there is a small, difficult trail up around the pool where you can get back behind the falls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzEnHaUcVlA

Luke loved this, and of course he had to get soaked in the falls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbgFTKt9ijU

You can see Lindy off in the distance in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMmZDGQycGQ

Avery got restless while we were gone and wanted to "hike" (another new word she learned this weekend). Amy decided to get her out of the cabin and take her part of the way down the trail while she was waiting on us. There was a wet spot where a spring had crossed the trail, and Amy slipped down and fell backwards onto a rock, hurting her back. She is doing a little better tonight but still has some sharp pains when she moves wrong.

Spring Break Part 2- Petit Jean State Park

Lindy is also on spring break this week, but she had to stay a few days and work, so we decided to go visit her and take her to Petit Jean, which is only about 30 minutes from where she goes to school (Arkansas Tech).

This is the first overlook on the way into the park:

This is the swing on the front porch of the cabin we rented. The cabin was really nice; it had a big fireplace, front porch with swing, and a good place behind it for rock climbing and exploring. You could walk right out of the door and start hiking the Cedar Falls trail.

Luke playing behind the cabin:

This is the Bear Cave hike, a short hike that we all went on.

videos from the bear cave hike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMsJXDhhsT4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lukpbbw9bw

Amy took Avery back to the car and Lindy, Luke and I took a different trail that went back to the lodge.

Next we went to main overlook of Cedar Falls.

videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAtV_TAiw7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLj9Keb6Z2E

Rock House Cave:

We also hit some more geocaches in the park, one that was in a birdhouse and one that was way up in a tree that you had to let down with a pulley system.

We did all of the short hikes and overlooks, played on the playground, went to the lake, and then Luke and I played catch before dark.

We saved the Cedar Falls hike for this morning, and it was awesome. Details and pics in the next post.

Ok after an hour working on these posts, I hope I get some comments. I promise I will start leaving comments on your blogs! This thing is not very fast or user friendly.

Spring Break Part 1

Amy and Luke are off for Spring Break this year, and I was able to take vacation for the week. We are trying to stay busy and do things close to home. Saturday I went fishing all day, and then Sunday we all went to Amy's grandmother's house. It is only a few miles from Shady Lake, so we made a trip over there.

Below the dam:

Fishing in the creek below the dam:

The tallest peak in the area, "Tall Peak", has an old CCC fire tower at the top. Normally the gate is locked so we were prepared to make the hike, but they had graded the road recently and the gate was open, so we were able to drive right up. It is one of the highest points in Arkansas with an elevation of over 2300 feet. The views up here were great; we could see Shady Lake and Amy's grandparent's farm.

There was a geocache about half way down that I stepped on. Couldn't find it for a while, but I stepped on a stick and hit the ammo can and made a thunk.

We stopped back at Shady Lake and played on the playground. I had to show Luke that I still knew how to swing.

After the Shady Lake/Tall Peak trip, we went back to Amy's grandparent's farm and took a ride to look at all the newborn calves. Avery loved this part, and waved at them the whole time. Luke is wanting to buy a calf from them to take home.