Church on the Mountain Top

Maid Elizabeth and I have been hiking 3 miles every day with Sir Knight joining us on the weekends.  The younger children have been begging to join us, so this morning we decided to pack up the whole family, hit the trail and have church at the top of the mountain.

Sir Knight slung on his Blackhawk 3 day pack, I, my Blackhawk Hydrastorm and Miss Serenity and Princess Dragon Snack carried their small Condor packs.  Two of us had CamelBak's and the rest carried water bottles.  We loaded up and headed down the road (about 5 minutes) to a nearby park and set off for higher ground.

Princess Dragon Snack led the way, with Master Calvin close on her heels.  We thought the younger children would get tired quickly and anticipated carrying them, but both of them did remarkably well.  Dragon Snack led the whole way (and often had to wait up for the rest of us) and Master Calvin did all of the difficult hiking on his own two legs, only when we were almost done and going down hill did he poop out and accept a ride on Master Hand Grenade's shoulders.

Chainsaw art - someone put this smiley face on the end of the log

Takin' a breather

A coyote skull?

Single file

It was quite a hike heading up the trail (almost 2 miles of steep incline) but the views when we reached the top made every step worth taking.  It was incredible!

Looking over the cliffs to the lake far below, Sir Knight led our family in corporate worship.  What an incredible thing, in the midst of God's beautiful creation, to sing His praises accompanied by creatures He created.

Normally, Maid Elizabeth and I go traipsing out of the house with little more than our hiking clothes and pedometer, but today was a different story.  Sir Knight encouraged us to take our First Line Gear (thanks Joe Nobody!) and get used to wearing it.  Wow!  What a difference 20 pounds can make when you are hiking up the side of a mountain!  I thought it was going to kill me!  (Not really, but I had to stop with irritating frequency).  I did find out that my pack was incredibly comfortable.  It wasn't off-balanced and didn't rub and I loved having my Camelbak at my left shoulder whenever I needed a drink.  It did, however, make me realize that I had better get used to carrying my pack if I intend to be able to get out of dodge with my pack on my back.

Master Calvin bummin' a ride

Helping little brother across a dead-fall

There he goes!

Princess Dragon Snack

Miss Serenity running across

We had a great day.  We plan to ramp up our adventures and head out any chance we get. Next time, we will take homemade power bars (the kids got hungry about the time we hit the peak of the mountain) and make sure everyone is carrying their pack and Camelbak.

Not only did we have a wonderful time as a family, we got to take church to the mountain top.