The forecast for Monday is overcast skies, but not rain! Mommy and Grandpa have the day off (Martin Luther King Jr Day), so let's get outside. We decided on the Pipeline Lakes/McKinley Lake Loop. Kid-friendly wander along a trail that is often flat logs with netting nailed down for traction. There are 5 pipeline lakes (named pipeline for the pipes that used to transport water to a small mining railroad) to see. Then the trail connects with the McKinley Lake trail with a nice up-and-down wander back to the highway. Almost 4 miles round-trip.
First signpost - 1.8 miles to the junction with McKinely Lake Trail. 2.8 miles to the McKinley Lake cabin. We're not going as far as the LAKE cabin this time.
I took about a million pictures - the terrain was beautiful and varied
in another meadow
steps and log bridges
snowy meadow (the trail was under the ice, Linc had to 'bush-wack' a bit for safety. Lincoln wore mittens for quite awhile, but when I was comfortable hiking without mine (46-ish degrees and only cold in the wind), I let him take his mittens off too.
mossy trees
and then the little lakes! There was a layer of standing water on top of the ice from the recent rain.
Nap time. Lincoln must've hiked about a mile on his own. Mr.Independent refused help - except on the icy patches, but he even picked his way across most of those. Sometimes he'd accept a hand for balance when stepping down something steep; but if going up, he'd just put his hands down and climb up on his own. He finally asked for the backpack after skating and falling on one of the lakes and getting his hands dirty. After that, he tucked his hands in his pockets and they stayed warm. Linc slept through some exploring and finally woke up when we were getting close to the junction with the McKinley Lake trail.
Grandpa at the trail junction.
The trail junction is on the hillside above a section of McKinley Lake. So we hiked down to the lake for lunch. This lake had sheets of thick ice floating on the water. So we could walk out on the ice, and even step over open water to another sheet and probably could have crossed over the lake that way, but we weren't prepared for any disastrous consequences.
James and Linc eating their sandwiches on McKinley Lake. I only brought a half sandwich (peanut butter and jelly) for Lincoln and tuna fish for the rest of us. Linc finished his sandwich, spit out his taste of tuna fish and settled for some apple slices.
Daddy-powered transportation.
This section of trail (from the junction all the way to the highway) was really soggy. Sometimes it was firm and great and the next step was two inches of mud. 46-ish degrees and a week of rain makes for some soggy hiking.
Mommy-powered transportation - James hiked him most of the way, that last 3/4 mile was to give James' shoulders a break and to up the intensity of my workout.
There are two cabins - McKinley LAKE cabin (which is at the lake end of the McKinley Lake trail) and McKinely TRAIL cabin (which is at the trailhead end of the trail). We stopped in at the TRAIL cabin to take a look. Lincoln found a deck of cards and wanted to play a game. Which meant that he handed each of us a card, one at a time.
The sign at the end of the trail - or the beginning, if you're hiking the McKinley Lake Trail. Linc finished strong by hiking from the cabin back down to the highway. Then walking along the highway to our car - the two trailheads are only a quarter mile apart, but that's a long way when your legs are short and you've already hiked more than a mile. We had warm apple cider in the car and then Lincoln napped all the way home.
