McKayla is my niece. She is seven and this was her first backpacking adventure. Her parents and little sisters couldn't come, but they let McKayla and 4-year-old Carter go adventuring with us and their extended Simpson family.
I noticed a lot of wonderful things about McKayla this weekend. The hike was steep (down into the lake and steeper on the way back up to the car!) and long (2.5 miles) for a first-time backpacker. McKayla was so energetic and excited about everything. She looked for beautiful rocks along the trail. She noticed flowers and pretty views. When she tripped, she didn't cry or complain, she laughed and got back on her feet to hike some more.
Her backpack didn't fit quite right - the hip belt kept pushing her pants down and she'd have to stop and hike her pants up again, and again, and again. (That is how a hip-belt behaves when you don't have any hips). I made her a belt using some rope and we kept hiking. Her shoulders got tired and sore from carrying most of the weight (silly non-useful hip-belt again!), but she always put her pack back on when it was time to hike.
McKayla loves to sing. She kept Uncle Neil busy with campfire songs and sang along after the first chorus.
She was (mostly) patient while Opa prepared a fishing pole for her to use. I don't think she had any nibbles, but I could see her exploring the shore and enjoying her time with family in the outdoors.
McKayla shared a tent with us. She was the first kid awake and had her sleeping bag stuffed before she left the tent. That impressed me - I didn't ask her to do that, so she must have learned to clean up her gear from other camping trips. She was also very helpful during camp clean up. Always ready to do anything we asked her to do. Of course, we also saw her climbing rocks and poking sticks in the fire with the little boys.
We also discovered that the shallow warm water in Hidden Lake is perfect for tadpole collecting. The kids spent hours poking around in the mud and scooping the wiggling tadpoles and occasional frog into their collection bin. The mud near shore is super soft and often the kids' crocs or flip flops would get stuck in the mud. Really early into playing in the water, one of McKayla's crocs got stuck deep in the mud. They do float, so we hoped that it might 'pop' back up. No such luck.
From then on, all the kids had to leave their shoes on shore while 'tadpoling'.
When the mud wasn't disturbed, the water would clear up after a while. I asked the kids to avoid the area where McKayla's croc disappeared - in hopes that when the water cleared, we'd be able to spot the red plastic shoe. No such luck.
Finally, I jumped into the water and dug around with my feet. McKayla and I dislodged sticks, rocks, lots and lots of mud and disturbed a lot of tadpoles. I hoped to dislodge the shoe & have it pop back up to the surface. No such luck.
At dinner time, we gave up & McKayla had to wear her hiking shoes around camp that night.
In the morning while we were breaking up camp, we decided to go back down to the lake for one more last-ditch effort to find McKayla's croc. As I dug around in the cold mud with my bare feet, I worried that we'd have to leave without her shoe. She's the oldest of four kids and finances at home are a tight, so I also felt sick about losing a perfectly good shoe - one that probably couldn't be replaced with ease. I silently prayed that we'd find her shoe and I dredged through all the same muddy places that I'd searched the night before.
McKayla and the boys came down to the shore to watch my mud-dance. They were forbidden to get in the water because it was time to clean-up camp and hike back out. McKayla suggested that we say a prayer. I sat down on the closest big rock (the one McKayla & I are standing on in the final picture) and folded my arms. The little boys settled onto rocks on the shoreline and McKayla offered a prayer that we'd find her shoe.
I thought it would be so fantastic if we did find her shoe. Such a neat opportunity for faith to grow in these small people. But I also didn't want to hold my breath. I could have. I was still sitting on the rock and digging around a little while I sat, but I didn't think she had lost her shoe anywhere nearby.
'POP!'
Less than 30 seconds after McKayla prays for Heavenly Father's help in finding her shoe, her shoe appears. Floats right up to the surface next to the rock. We laughed, exclaimed over the very muddy shoe, said a prayer of gratitude, washed the muck off her shoe and called for Uncle James to take our picture. I always want to remember the lesson on faith and prayers that I learned from my beautiful niece. Thanks for being such a wonderful example McKayla!
