Pinnacle Peak

When my sisters were here earlier in February, they wanted to be active and get out and do something. So... I jumped online and found the closest mountains to Charlotte. We headed out to Crowder Mountain State Park to get some pictures taken. It was a beautiful, blue-sky day and the temperatures were in the 50s.
When we arrived at the park office to get maps and decide what hike we would be doing, I took some time to speak with one of the rangers and get his advice. Since we had the kids with us, he suggested the Fern trail. A small little trail that circled the picnic areas. I'm thinking... boring. So for "future hikes" I asked him about the tallest peak in the park. He described the hike to Pinnacle Peak as being strenuous, but he marked on the map that the hike didn't actually become strenuous until 2/3 of the way through. So I convinced the girls that we should give it a try. Shoot. If it became too difficult, we could always turn around! The total mileage for the hike was 1.7 miles and it was said to take 2 - 2.5 hours. And off we went...

Showing Kaiya how cool it is to wear a hat. It worked... Kaiya was soon begging to wear her hat after Aunt Bekah modeled it for her.

Apparently Ruthie didn't get the memo that we would be climbing the mountain and she wore slippers. She says they aren't slippers... you know the shoes I mean... Ugg-Like shoes that are open-backed, slip-ons. Like these:

It was interesting to say the least. As we climbed up, Ruthie had to work really hard at keeping the shoes on her feet. She had to curl her toes to keep them on. We joked that she would have to ice her toes when we got home later that evening. The first part of the hike was great. Just as the ranger said, it was an easy trail in the beginning. Then we hit the strenuous part. I don't have carriers for the kids so we were having to carry Kaleb the entire way. Kaiya was a champ and hiked about 1/3-1/2 of it by herself. And believe it or not - not a peep of whining the entire hike from her. I was so proud of her.

We kept pushing on... but you can see from the pictures, it was an uphill climb. We were determined to make it to the top. Because by the time you reach a certain point, you just have to keep going. While you have no idea how much further it is, you don't want to turn back and then find out you were just 100 feet away from the top. So we pushed through the pain. We were passed multiple times by men jogging up the mountain. WHAT? Crazy intense training.

As no reflection on the type of aunt Ruthie is, I have to mention that she did drop Kaiya on her head. So... as a result, Kaiya wasn't about to let Aunt Ruthie carry her again on this hike. Lucky Aunt Bekah was given the duty. In this picture below, I think Kaleb must be praying to God that she doesn't drop him either.

But it was so worth it in the end. We finally made it to the top and got some great pictures. We could actually see the Charlotte cityscape that was over 30 miles away.
Yes, folks... she made it to the top in her slippers...

It was great exercise... and I can't wait to go explore another hike close to us later this week. My friend Connie is flying out for a visit... so I plan to subject her to similar torture. Only... she won't be wearing slippers... And I found a hiking child backpack carrier thing for $5 at a yardsale on Saturday. So at least Kaleb will be strapped on my back. Cause seriously... I couldn't raise my arms above my shoulders for like a week after lugging him up that mountain.

And on a side note -- Is anyone else annoyed to see a Presidential Address on schedule tonight instead of American Idol? Seriously...