So, I signed the children and myself up for the Santa Clara County Park's Healthy Trails Challenge! It sounds a bit intimidating, but it really isn't. What it is is FUN! Well, we've only just begun but I know they will like it!
We were given a guide book with all the Santa Clara County Park and Trail names and maps. We are then challenged to hike, bike, walk, etc. on just five trails out of the entire book. See... not so intimidating, right? We are also given the choice to either venture out on our own or attend a ranger led hike. Since it's our first, I thought it best to go at our own pace. There are a few events that might be interesting to attend as a larger group (which will encourage my 3 to follow along better).
Today we started with an easy hike, a trail that we are very familiar with -- Vasona Lake/Los Gatos Creek Trail.
They stopped to check out the view using these binoculars (E brought his own too!):
They spent quite a bit of time here. They also packed their own snacks, so they stopped to have a bite (or in MD's case 2 or 3!):
Then we reached the half way point! (This is where the dam is)
We were given a guide book with all the Santa Clara County Park and Trail names and maps. We are then challenged to hike, bike, walk, etc. on just five trails out of the entire book. See... not so intimidating, right? We are also given the choice to either venture out on our own or attend a ranger led hike. Since it's our first, I thought it best to go at our own pace. There are a few events that might be interesting to attend as a larger group (which will encourage my 3 to follow along better).
Today we started with an easy hike, a trail that we are very familiar with -- Vasona Lake/Los Gatos Creek Trail.
They stopped to check out the view using these binoculars (E brought his own too!):
The entire loop around was 3 miles!
They did well, considering MG and MG rode their bikes. (Looking back I found it quite amusing that MD rode his bike like he was late to some appointment. His motto is "need for speed." While MG rode her bike like she was in no hurry what so ever. She rode with such ease. She seemed so prim and proper on her bike.) E had to follow along on his scooter. I thought he kept up fairly well. (He complained a few times but kept chugging along in the end when he had no choice.) I walked. But let me tell you, walking while the others were on wheels... made me wish I could ride a bike. This might be my main motivation to learn how to ride a bike soon!
I'm looking forward to the next hike already! (oh, did I tell you that they will receive something "special" once they finish this challenge? I'm not sure what it is... but we'll see! It's sponsored by Kaiser Permanante and Santa Clara County Park. So it has to be something healthy! After we signed up we were each given a bandanna (which we used to wipe off sweat during our hike!) and a whistle (which MG got to keep since E has one built into his camel-back and MD has 3 in his!)
Looks like you'll have to learn to ride a bike soon! Great pics, Steph!
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