Starting July with a BANG!

Wow! July started out with all sorts of adventures! We headed to Lagoon on the 3rd, and I think this was our best trip yet! No lines, beautiful weather (not too hot, and not too cold), awesome spot at Lagoona Beach, good food, and fun family. Anaya was the right height this year to go on some of the big rides, so the whole family got to ride on Wicked, Colossus, and Wild Mouse. (She would like me to point out that she did NOT scream or shut her eyes through any part of Wicked!) Here she is with some of her cousins:

On Monday, it was a little cool and windy, so we decided against sand and water, and decided to hike to the Darby Wind Cave. It was 2.5 miles to get to the cave opening, and 2.5 back. It was a really nice hike with lots of water falls, creeks and streams that we got to hop across.


Here's a view of the wind cave. It's that giant upside down triangle with white water coming out. That's snow on the right hand side. This was after we had hiked up the mountain switchbacks. We then hiked all the way around the rim off to the left to get to the cave.



We were getting a little closer at this point, but this is where things also got a little more... hmmm.... adventurous??!! When I did this hike when I was a teenager, it must have been later in the season, and a lot drier, because there was no water coming out of the cave, but this year there was quite a bit of water coming out of the cave. So after we hiked up closer to the cave, we had to climb across the waterfall, and then up the waterfall, and then through the water to get into the cave. This was too hard for McKay and Anaya, so Rik carried McKay and Kayden carried Anaya.

(The wind cave is way up above this area)

This is the coolest cave though. It starts out with that giant opening, which is where we put on our warmer gear and head lights, and hiked back into the cave where there is a small opening you can crouch and get through. We were making our way through the cave, and got to a small space, and Taisha and McKay were DONE in that small space. Taisha, who had hiked the whole hike in bad shoes and a blister, but never complained, was REALLY not enjoying the tight, cramped spaces of the cave, and McKay was cold (it's really cold in there!) Rik and Kayden wanted to keep going, so the rest of us turned around and headed back out. My plan was to get us to the big opening and wait for Rik and Kayden to help get us down the waterfall, but everyone was cold and wanted to be away from the wind and water, so Malia and I got McKay and Anaya through the water that was at the mouth of the cave, and then I carried them one by one down the waterfall, and then across the waterfall, then down past the steep part until we could sit down and warm up (it's too steep to sit up by the cave). McKay was not happy about this whole situation! He didn't like that Rik was still in the cave and that I was the one now carrying him down the mountain, and he was cold and wet. He got considerable happier when we were back on safe ground though! We were about 1/2 way down before Rik and Kayden caught up with us. They absolutely loved the cave though, even the parts you had to get on your back and slide on the ice through the narrow cracks! We all came home nice and dirty!! I was very proud of my little kids though. It was 2 hours of hiking up the mountain switchbacks, a hour or so in the cave, then 2 hours back down, in wet shoes, but they did it!

On the drive home, Rik wanted to stop and see some more waterfalls (cause he REALLY likes waterfalls!) I think this is Falls Creek maybe?

After that we stopped for square ice cream cones in Swan Valley (I'm sure they appreciated our stinky, wet feet), and headed home. 75 loads of laundry later, I think I might be getting close to being caught up!!