Sarah and I did another hike with my nephew, Avery. This time, we hiked the three-mile Rock Shelter Trail, a longer and more difficult trail than we have done with him in the past, and probably the longest hike he has done. Here’s a map.

View 2009-10-25 Rock Shelter Trail in a larger map

The hike started on a fire road, and went downhill for a while before turning to a narrow trail and descending more steeply. We taught Avery how to follow the blazes on the trail, and he turned it into a game to see how many blazes he could find.

Once we reached the bottom of the ravine, the trail followed a creek, crossing it many times. We tried to catch some frogs, but they got away from us.

Avery did, however, find part of an acorn — which is almost as exciting as a frog.

After following the creek for a while, we reached the Rock Shelter. Avery scrambled up to the top and coronated himself King of the Forest.

We hung out in the “Rock Shelter” for a while.

I believe Avery and Sarah were singing a song in the following shot. In fact, I think the dog is singing, too.

We sat to have a snack. Problem with that was, Rob was very interested in what we were eating, as can be seen here.

We moved on, following the creek a little longer. Then, the trail climbed rather sharply, for a while. But everyone did very well, and no one complained.

We passed a pond, and soon were on another fire road, on flatter ground.

More songs were sung; I believe there was one that never ended, followed by (paradoxically) a few others. Maybe something about a leaky bucket.

I loved this hike. It’s great to spend some quality time with my nephew; and as he gets older, there are more and more things we can do together.

On our way home, we stopped at the Musgrave Orchard to buy some fresh cider. Followed by dinner at mom’s house, and then pumpkin carving. It was a wonderful, full day.

File under: Family, Hiking