Mt. Bierstadt Trip Report 07/17/2016

Peak(s):	Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet
Date Posted:	07/17/2016
Modified:	07/22/2016
Date Climbed:	07/07/2016
Author:	rob runkle

Mount Bierstadt with the kids
After last year's trip up Handies Peak, Anna asked me several times, "When can we climb another mountain Daddy?" So, I set sights on another fourteener trip; July 2016. I mentioned it to my neighbor, who had also gone up Handies with us last year. Chris was interested, and felt that his son Garrett would want to try another mountain. A plan was hatched. We would fly to Colorado on July 6th, drive to the trail head, camp near the trail head, and attempt to summit Mount Bierstadt on Thursday, July 7th. Our travels went well. We arrived into Denver around 7:30 pm, grabbed some groceries, and drove to a camp ground a few miles down the road from the trail head. By the time we got the tents pitched, and climbed into out sleeping bags, it was about 11 pm. The first night camping was actually pretty cold. Both Chris and I complained the next morning that we had gotten very cold during the night. But, neither Anna nor Garrett seemed to be bothered by the low temperatures overnight. We wrapped up camp, grabbed a quick snack to eat, hit the camp ground facilities, and drove to the trail head. By the time we finally got started, it was 5:50 am, Colorado time. The beginning of the Bierstadt trail, from the Guarnella Pass TH parking lot, is pretty easy to spot. There seems to be several places that you can grab the trail. We started our hike just to the left of the trail head bathrooms. Bierstadt Trailhead Daddy and Anna along the trail Almost immediately, as we hit the trail, Garrett started complaining about being tired and having a belly ache. I was very worried that Garrett wasn't even going to make it "off the tarmac" for this fourteener trip. His complaints were clearly legitimate, and I really didn't know what to do for him. Anna, on the other hand was blazing down the trail. Anna and I pulled away from Chris and Garrett a little bit, but we made sure to keep them within eye shot. The first mile of the hike is pretty much downhill; about 200 feet drop, down to the creek crossing. About 5 minutes into the hike, Anna and I turned around to wait for Chris and Garrett. They were only a few minutes behind. As Chris caught up, he asked me, "Did you see those moose, crossing the trail up ahead?" Anna and I had not seen the moose. It turns out that 3 or 4 moose had left the lake on the North side of the trail, crossed the trail up ahead, and were now roaming through the willows along the south side of the trail. We spent the next 10 minutes trying to get pictures of the beasts from a distance. I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like at least two males and a female, maybe more. We assumed that it was a family of Momma, Papa and baby. Them's Mooses in them Willows - a little one over to the left also We continued down to the creek crossing. I knew coming on this hike, that we would have potential for "wet feet" at the creek crossing. As the trip lead, it was my job to make sure that my team could be successful. So, I already decided that if anyone got wet feet, it would be me. Chris and I wandered north along the creek, and never really found a great crossing for the kids. We did find a spot where I could cross and not have to worry about slipping on the rocks. Our cross was a spot with a sand and pebble bottom. I took off my shoes and socks, and made the first trip across, taking my shoes, socks, and backpack. Then, I crossed back over, threw Anna into a fireman's carry, and walked her over. At this point, my feet was freezing. I rested for a few seconds to try and shake off the pain. Then, I crossed back over one more time, threw Garrett over my shoulders, and walked him across. Once, we all reached dry land on the far side, I plopped myself down on a rock, and started to dry my feet with a towel that I brought just for this occasion. Meanwhile, Chris was on his own. Chris pretty much did the same thing that I did - sans shoes and socks, he walked the freezing waters to the other side. Once we got our feet dried, and refitted our socks and shoes, we got started back up the trail. At this point, the trail finally began to climb uphill. This was a rude awakening for Anna, who was a rocket for the first downhill mile. Both of the kids started to slow down. The real fourteener hike had begun. I should mention that Garrett was starting to feel much better. I'm not sure what was bothering him, but I suspect that he had gotten some air into his belly, causing a loss of appetite, and a belly ache, as we started moving, at high elevation. It seems that some "gaseous release" by Garrett along the trail had helped him tremendously. We continued up the trail. After another 15-20 minutes, both kids were starting to feel pretty tired. We stopped for a hard break. At that point, we got the kids to drink some water, and eat a little bit. Most notably, Garrett was able to eat a couple tootsie rolls. This is notable, because for the remainder of the trip, we would call tootsie rolls, "Garrett's magic power food." After the break, we started back up the trail. Anna struggled almost immediately after the break. Later in the day, I figured out that "hard breaks" were tough on Anna. After sitting down and resting, it was hard for her to get back up, and get started without going out too fast. By going out too fast, after a "hard break," Anna would be miserable, until her body got back into a reasonable pace. That usually took 10-15 minutes. It took me a few breaks to figure this out, so our initial breaks were tough starting back from. We ultimately solved the problem by taking more "soft breaks" or "standing breaks." By staying standing, we didn't get as stiff, or over-rested. And, it was a lot easier to start back from a "standing break." I should mention that Garrett at this point was "on fire." His tootsie roll energy was kicking in, and Garrett was actually leading the hike. At one point, the kids were asking, "How much longer to the top?" I said it looked like 3 or 4 more hours to the top. Anna groaned at the thought of 4 more hours just to get to the summit. Garrett said, "This hike is so beautiful. I am so glad that we have 4 hours of hiking to get to the top. I wish it were longer." Tootsie rolls? We continued up the slopes. The team cycled in and out of being tired, and out of breath, but ultimately, everyone kept trudging forward. Garrett continued to lead most of the lower slopes, and seemed to have a renewed energy for the hike. As we got closer to 12,500 feet, Anna was starting to complain about not being able to breath. We took another break, and that helped her a little. But, our hiking time in between breaks seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. It is very normal for people hiking a fourteener to hike 50 feet, stop for a breath, then hike another 50 feet and continue. So, we did that for a bit. I kept asking Anna if she wanted to go back to the car. She kept saying, "No." But, I just didn't see how she would be able to make it feeling worse and worse. At around 12,700 ft, I finally put Anna on my shoulders. I hiked with Anna on my shoulders for the next couple hundred feet of elevation gain. When Anna was on my shoulders, she definitely perked up a bunch. I kept asking her how her breathing was, and if she was feeling better, and she said, "Yes." I should also mention that we were dealing with constant winds along the slopes of Bierstadt. The winds were probably 15-25 mph, and they were unrelenting. That was definitely contributing to everyone's energy drain. Anna was also complaining about being very cold. Luckily, I had brought some extra clothes in my day pack (for me). I wrapped Anna up in her long underwear, pants, fleece and her rain jacket. As we continued up the slopes, I ultimately add my long underwear, and my rain jacket to her layers. This seemed to help her deal with the wind and cold temperatures. Since I was expending a ton of energy carrying her on my shoulders, I was pretty warm in just my nylon pants and fleece. At around 13,100 ft, Anna finally started to indicate that she might be "done." She was hesitant to say that she wanted to go down, but it sounded like she did. I walked back to Chris and asked him, "So what do you think? Wanna turn back?" Chris asked me, "How many vertical feet left to the top?" I said, "It is about 900 feet to the top." Chris did not hesitate and said, "No way I'm stopping 900 feet from the top. I would regret it for the rest of my life." So, we continued. I checked in with Anna every couple of minutes, just to make sure that she wasn't feeling any worse and that she didn't have any signs of severe altitude sickness. In fact, although, both Chris and I had altitude headaches pretty much from the start, neither of the kids ever got a headache. Anna always responded that she was feeling ok. It seems that being on Daddy's shoulders was a pretty good way to travel. Our progress was made by hiking 50-100 feet with Anna on my shoulders. Then, we would look for a big rock that I could set her down without bending over too much. I would set her down, and she would walk for 5 minutes or so. Then, I would put her back on my shoulders and we would continue. We made good progress onto the ridge, going this way. Chris and Garrett were doing great also. As we got up onto the ridge, the boulder climbing was starting to get much harder on me. I was starting to worry that I might trip and fall over with Anna on my shoulders, or that I might even get blown over by the fierce winds. The winds seems to have picked up another 5-10 mph as we mounted the final ridge. At this point, we only had a few hundred feet of elevation left to gain. As we continued up the ridge, the fierce wind really took its toll on Anna. And, carrying an extra 50 lbs on my shoulders was taking a toll on me. As I set Anna down, she finally said that she wanted to go down. I pulled her in close, and hugged her tight, trying to warm her up. We rested like that for a few minutes. We were tucked in a great spot out of the wind, and I could definitely feel Anna calming down, as I hugged her. I asked her one last time if she wanted to make an attempt for the Summit. She said that she thought she could make it. Daddy hugs are better than tootsie rolls. Actually, not only did Anna have renewed energy, she was walking on he own feet. She was scrambling up the rocks like a pro. In fact, I had a hard time keeping up with her on the final pitch. We scrambled the last 200 feet pretty quickly. I stopped us a few times for some Daddy hugging, and that seemed to keep Anna fully charged. We ultimately made the summit in about 4.5 hours. One of the reasons I was pushing so hard for the summit, instead of going down was that many people had told us that the summit had a great break from the wind, and that it was actually warm on the summit. I really wanted to get Anna a break from this wind. If we headed down, we would be pounded for another 2 hours, or more, before getting any sort of break. The summit wind break was "as advertised." It was awesome. There were several places that you could duck down out of the wind, and get some invigorating sunlight. Chris and Garrett made the summit 10-15 minutes after Anna and I did. For this hike, Anna and I had planned "something special." The previous week, Anna was playing in her princess dresses, and we thought it would be pretty funny if she wore a princess dress on top of a fourteener. So, the whole week we didn't tell anyone our plan. I was carrying her Elsa (from Frozen) dress in my pack. I knew that Anna was feeling better when she said, "Let's do that special thing." So I pulled out the dress, and Anna put it on. She looked like a mix between Queen Elsa and a serious mountaineer - with dress on, but including reflective sunglasses, hiking pants and shirt. It was awesome! Queen Elsa on the Summit Daddy with Queen Elsa on the Summit Chris on the Summit The Crew on the Summit We hung out on the summit, ate some food and drank some water. We stayed on the summit for about 40 minutes. As we started back down, even though the wind was still brutal, everyone seemed to be handling it much better. Food, water, sun and warmth had certainly re-energized out group. We scramble down the ridge pretty quickly. Everyone was in great spirits. Although everyone was doing great on the rocks, I made sure to teach them a few things like, like how to friction walk down slabs, and how to make sure that you boulder hop on the bigger rocks, whenever possible. We continued down the ridge, and back onto the trail. The downhill hiking on rocks eventually started to take their toll. Everyone was starting to run out of energy. And, even though I knew we were making progress, it never looked like the parking lot was getting any closer. Even with zero energy left, Anna and Garrett were still both walking on their own two legs. As we got back down to the creek, both kids were just about done. Everyone was talking about how their legs were wobbly. Anna and I arrived at the creek about 15 minutes before Chris and Garrett. This time, we crossed more quickly, because I wasn't worried about wet feet for the final mile hike out. Anna and I were able to get across without getting wet. When Chris and Garrett arrive, I tried to help Garrett across, while Chris de-shoed himself. I managed to keep Garrett's feet dry, but dunked my own feet in the process. Oh well. The Creek!! The last mile hike out was tough. Anna and I pulled ahead, but Anna was definitely wasted. I think that she wanted me to carry her again, but I wasn't going to do that, unless absolutely necessary. She was definitely "walking dead" though. Anna and I ultimately made it back to the trail head about 3.5 hours from the summit. Even as we walked up to the car, Anna was still saying, "I'm not going to make it." So, some of me wonders how much of her theatrics on the mountain was an act or not. Either way, she did awesome, and I was so proud of her. Once we got into the car, and cranked up the AC, Anna felt much better. Chris and Garrett pulled in about 15-20 minutes after we did. Total round trip for Anna and I was 9:40 minutes. My Garmin watch said that we had hiked 8.7 miles. The route is supposed to be more like 7.0 miles. So, I'm not sure why the Garmin was off by so much. Even with total exhaustion, everyone was pretty happy with the result. But, the team wasn't crazy enough to try and tackle another mountain the next day. We opted to head down to Buena Vista, and check out the Princeton Hot Springs Resort instead. Another mountain would have to wait until day 3... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Mount Bierstadt with the kids

After last year's trip up Handies Peak, Anna asked me several times, "When can we climb another mountain Daddy?" So, I set sights on another fourteener trip; July 2016. I mentioned it to my neighbor, who had also gone up Handies with us last year. Chris was interested, and felt that his son Garrett would want to try another mountain. A plan was hatched. We would fly to Colorado on July 6th, drive to the trail head, camp near the trail head, and attempt to summit Mount Bierstadt on Thursday, July 7th.

Our travels went well. We arrived into Denver around 7:30 pm, grabbed some groceries, and drove to a camp ground a few miles down the road from the trail head. By the time we got the tents pitched, and climbed into out sleeping bags, it was about 11 pm. The first night camping was actually pretty cold. Both Chris and I complained the next morning that we had gotten very cold during the night. But, neither Anna nor Garrett seemed to be bothered by the low temperatures overnight.

We wrapped up camp, grabbed a quick snack to eat, hit the camp ground facilities, and drove to the trail head. By the time we finally got started, it was 5:50 am, Colorado time. The beginning of the Bierstadt trail, from the Guarnella Pass TH parking lot, is pretty easy to spot. There seems to be several places that you can grab the trail. We started our hike just to the left of the trail head bathrooms.

Almost immediately, as we hit the trail, Garrett started complaining about being tired and having a belly ache. I was very worried that Garrett wasn't even going to make it "off the tarmac" for this fourteener trip. His complaints were clearly legitimate, and I really didn't know what to do for him. Anna, on the other hand was blazing down the trail. Anna and I pulled away from Chris and Garrett a little bit, but we made sure to keep them within eye shot. The first mile of the hike is pretty much downhill; about 200 feet drop, down to the creek crossing. About 5 minutes into the hike, Anna and I turned around to wait for Chris and Garrett. They were only a few minutes behind. As Chris caught up, he asked me, "Did you see those moose, crossing the trail up ahead?" Anna and I had not seen the moose. It turns out that 3 or 4 moose had left the lake on the North side of the trail, crossed the trail up ahead, and were now roaming through the willows along the south side of the trail. We spent the next 10 minutes trying to get pictures of the beasts from a distance. I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like at least two males and a female, maybe more. We assumed that it was a family of Momma, Papa and baby.

Them's Mooses in them Willows - a little one over to the left also

We continued down to the creek crossing. I knew coming on this hike, that we would have potential for "wet feet" at the creek crossing. As the trip lead, it was my job to make sure that my team could be successful. So, I already decided that if anyone got wet feet, it would be me. Chris and I wandered north along the creek, and never really found a great crossing for the kids. We did find a spot where I could cross and not have to worry about slipping on the rocks. Our cross was a spot with a sand and pebble bottom. I took off my shoes and socks, and made the first trip across, taking my shoes, socks, and backpack. Then, I crossed back over, threw Anna into a fireman's carry, and walked her over. At this point, my feet was freezing. I rested for a few seconds to try and shake off the pain. Then, I crossed back over one more time, threw Garrett over my shoulders, and walked him across. Once, we all reached dry land on the far side, I plopped myself down on a rock, and started to dry my feet with a towel that I brought just for this occasion. Meanwhile, Chris was on his own. Chris pretty much did the same thing that I did - sans shoes and socks, he walked the freezing waters to the other side.

Once we got our feet dried, and refitted our socks and shoes, we got started back up the trail. At this point, the trail finally began to climb uphill. This was a rude awakening for Anna, who was a rocket for the first downhill mile. Both of the kids started to slow down. The real fourteener hike had begun. I should mention that Garrett was starting to feel much better. I'm not sure what was bothering him, but I suspect that he had gotten some air into his belly, causing a loss of appetite, and a belly ache, as we started moving, at high elevation. It seems that some "gaseous release" by Garrett along the trail had helped him tremendously. We continued up the trail. After another 15-20 minutes, both kids were starting to feel pretty tired. We stopped for a hard break. At that point, we got the kids to drink some water, and eat a little bit. Most notably, Garrett was able to eat a couple tootsie rolls. This is notable, because for the remainder of the trip, we would call tootsie rolls, "Garrett's magic power food." After the break, we started back up the trail. Anna struggled almost immediately after the break. Later in the day, I figured out that "hard breaks" were tough on Anna. After sitting down and resting, it was hard for her to get back up, and get started without going out too fast. By going out too fast, after a "hard break," Anna would be miserable, until her body got back into a reasonable pace. That usually took 10-15 minutes. It took me a few breaks to figure this out, so our initial breaks were tough starting back from. We ultimately solved the problem by taking more "soft breaks" or "standing breaks." By staying standing, we didn't get as stiff, or over-rested. And, it was a lot easier to start back from a "standing break." I should mention that Garrett at this point was "on fire." His tootsie roll energy was kicking in, and Garrett was actually leading the hike. At one point, the kids were asking, "How much longer to the top?" I said it looked like 3 or 4 more hours to the top. Anna groaned at the thought of 4 more hours just to get to the summit. Garrett said, "This hike is so beautiful. I am so glad that we have 4 hours of hiking to get to the top. I wish it were longer." Tootsie rolls?

We continued up the slopes. The team cycled in and out of being tired, and out of breath, but ultimately, everyone kept trudging forward. Garrett continued to lead most of the lower slopes, and seemed to have a renewed energy for the hike. As we got closer to 12,500 feet, Anna was starting to complain about not being able to breath. We took another break, and that helped her a little. But, our hiking time in between breaks seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. It is very normal for people hiking a fourteener to hike 50 feet, stop for a breath, then hike another 50 feet and continue. So, we did that for a bit. I kept asking Anna if she wanted to go back to the car. She kept saying, "No." But, I just didn't see how she would be able to make it feeling worse and worse. At around 12,700 ft, I finally put Anna on my shoulders. I hiked with Anna on my shoulders for the next couple hundred feet of elevation gain. When Anna was on my shoulders, she definitely perked up a bunch. I kept asking her how her breathing was, and if she was feeling better, and she said, "Yes." I should also mention that we were dealing with constant winds along the slopes of Bierstadt. The winds were probably 15-25 mph, and they were unrelenting. That was definitely contributing to everyone's energy drain. Anna was also complaining about being very cold. Luckily, I had brought some extra clothes in my day pack (for me). I wrapped Anna up in her long underwear, pants, fleece and her rain jacket. As we continued up the slopes, I ultimately add my long underwear, and my rain jacket to her layers. This seemed to help her deal with the wind and cold temperatures. Since I was expending a ton of energy carrying her on my shoulders, I was pretty warm in just my nylon pants and fleece. At around 13,100 ft, Anna finally started to indicate that she might be "done." She was hesitant to say that she wanted to go down, but it sounded like she did. I walked back to Chris and asked him, "So what do you think? Wanna turn back?" Chris asked me, "How many vertical feet left to the top?" I said, "It is about 900 feet to the top." Chris did not hesitate and said, "No way I'm stopping 900 feet from the top. I would regret it for the rest of my life." So, we continued. I checked in with Anna every couple of minutes, just to make sure that she wasn't feeling any worse and that she didn't have any signs of severe altitude sickness. In fact, although, both Chris and I had altitude headaches pretty much from the start, neither of the kids ever got a headache. Anna always responded that she was feeling ok. It seems that being on Daddy's shoulders was a pretty good way to travel. Our progress was made by hiking 50-100 feet with Anna on my shoulders. Then, we would look for a big rock that I could set her down without bending over too much. I would set her down, and she would walk for 5 minutes or so. Then, I would put her back on my shoulders and we would continue. We made good progress onto the ridge, going this way. Chris and Garrett were doing great also. As we got up onto the ridge, the boulder climbing was starting to get much harder on me. I was starting to worry that I might trip and fall over with Anna on my shoulders, or that I might even get blown over by the fierce winds. The winds seems to have picked up another 5-10 mph as we mounted the final ridge. At this point, we only had a few hundred feet of elevation left to gain.

As we continued up the ridge, the fierce wind really took its toll on Anna. And, carrying an extra 50 lbs on my shoulders was taking a toll on me. As I set Anna down, she finally said that she wanted to go down. I pulled her in close, and hugged her tight, trying to warm her up. We rested like that for a few minutes. We were tucked in a great spot out of the wind, and I could definitely feel Anna calming down, as I hugged her. I asked her one last time if she wanted to make an attempt for the Summit. She said that she thought she could make it. Daddy hugs are better than tootsie rolls. Actually, not only did Anna have renewed energy, she was walking on he own feet. She was scrambling up the rocks like a pro. In fact, I had a hard time keeping up with her on the final pitch. We scrambled the last 200 feet pretty quickly. I stopped us a few times for some Daddy hugging, and that seemed to keep Anna fully charged. We ultimately made the summit in about 4.5 hours. One of the reasons I was pushing so hard for the summit, instead of going down was that many people had told us that the summit had a great break from the wind, and that it was actually warm on the summit. I really wanted to get Anna a break from this wind. If we headed down, we would be pounded for another 2 hours, or more, before getting any sort of break.

The summit wind break was "as advertised." It was awesome. There were several places that you could duck down out of the wind, and get some invigorating sunlight. Chris and Garrett made the summit 10-15 minutes after Anna and I did. For this hike, Anna and I had planned "something special." The previous week, Anna was playing in her princess dresses, and we thought it would be pretty funny if she wore a princess dress on top of a fourteener. So, the whole week we didn't tell anyone our plan. I was carrying her Elsa (from Frozen) dress in my pack. I knew that Anna was feeling better when she said, "Let's do that special thing." So I pulled out the dress, and Anna put it on. She looked like a mix between Queen Elsa and a serious mountaineer - with dress on, but including reflective sunglasses, hiking pants and shirt. It was awesome!

We hung out on the summit, ate some food and drank some water. We stayed on the summit for about 40 minutes. As we started back down, even though the wind was still brutal, everyone seemed to be handling it much better. Food, water, sun and warmth had certainly re-energized out group. We scramble down the ridge pretty quickly. Everyone was in great spirits. Although everyone was doing great on the rocks, I made sure to teach them a few things like, like how to friction walk down slabs, and how to make sure that you boulder hop on the bigger rocks, whenever possible.

We continued down the ridge, and back onto the trail. The downhill hiking on rocks eventually started to take their toll. Everyone was starting to run out of energy. And, even though I knew we were making progress, it never looked like the parking lot was getting any closer. Even with zero energy left, Anna and Garrett were still both walking on their own two legs. As we got back down to the creek, both kids were just about done. Everyone was talking about how their legs were wobbly. Anna and I arrived at the creek about 15 minutes before Chris and Garrett. This time, we crossed more quickly, because I wasn't worried about wet feet for the final mile hike out. Anna and I were able to get across without getting wet. When Chris and Garrett arrive, I tried to help Garrett across, while Chris de-shoed himself. I managed to keep Garrett's feet dry, but dunked my own feet in the process. Oh well.

The last mile hike out was tough. Anna and I pulled ahead, but Anna was definitely wasted. I think that she wanted me to carry her again, but I wasn't going to do that, unless absolutely necessary. She was definitely "walking dead" though. Anna and I ultimately made it back to the trail head about 3.5 hours from the summit. Even as we walked up to the car, Anna was still saying, "I'm not going to make it." So, some of me wonders how much of her theatrics on the mountain was an act or not. Either way, she did awesome, and I was so proud of her. Once we got into the car, and cranked up the AC, Anna felt much better. Chris and Garrett pulled in about 15-20 minutes after we did. Total round trip for Anna and I was 9:40 minutes. My Garmin watch said that we had hiked 8.7 miles. The route is supposed to be more like 7.0 miles. So, I'm not sure why the Garmin was off by so much. Even with total exhaustion, everyone was pretty happy with the result. But, the team wasn't crazy enough to try and tackle another mountain the next day. We opted to head down to Buena Vista, and check out the Princeton Hot Springs Resort instead. Another mountain would have to wait until day 3...

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

boudreaux	Moose on the Loose! 7/20/2016 9:18am Congrats Anna and Garrett on a fine climb! I'm thinking these kids might be tougher than their Dads! Nicely hatched plan Rob getting the neighbor to come along! Mine think I'm a little crazy! Never had the pleasure yet of seeing the moose, scary and exciting at the same time! I noticed the parking lot was very empty, wow, don't see that very often, even at 5:50 am. On June 26th, some of my friends had a difficult time getting across the creek coming back. Actually very funny watching their awkward balancing act as they teeter on the brink of a cold dunking.
rob runkle	Again? 7/22/2016 10:22am The key is will they come with me again? I've lost several climbing partners over the years (one and done folks). Maybe I'm too intense? HAhaha. Hiking with the 9 yo tamps that down a bit. I think the adults could have gotten across the creek in several spots. But, I was trying to find spots for the kiddos also. Their legs just aren't that big. My kids (and also neighbors) take "creek walks" a bunch in Ohio. In fact the park behind our house has a nice creek running through, and the kids love to walk down the creek bed, more than hiking the forest. So, they are pretty stable on the rocks, and i think that helped a bunch. But, the creek crossing spots were just too wide for 3 foot folks.
inthemaze	Excellente! 8/10/2016 9:20pm As a mom who has done that carry/walk thing with my children, I salute you! Nice work. Love the princess dress pics. - https://www.amazon.com/Do-Princesses-Wear-Hiking-Boots/dp/0873588282

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