First Hike

The other day Conner was sleeping on the couch.  Cali and Graci weren't here, so there was nobody except me to speak Chinese wit.  My limited capabilities didn't excite him very much, so he took a nap.  I'm trying to get in shape for a big hike with Taylor and Parker this summer, so I thought I'd take
Conner on a smaller hike.

I woke him up from his slumber.  Once he was coherent I tried to tell him in Chinese where we were going.  I didn't know the word for hike, so I told him we were going for a walk.  We got ready and set out, driving about five minutes from our home to the base of a precipice I've been wanting to climb.  We set off into the wilderness.  There was no trail, thick grass, lots of large rocks, and a highly sloped surface for much of it.  I was very impressed with Conner.  He held on to my backpack and kept up very well.  He only stumbled a couple of times, no more than someone with sight might have.

It was a great bonding experience.  We talked quite a bit.  He kept saying how tall this hill was and how many big rocks there were.  At one point he asked me if I had ever been here before.  When I said, "no," he was clearly shocked.  He said something that I'm sure translated roughly into, "What kind of crazy family have I been adopted into?!?"

We kept at it and made it to the top.  This is a picture of our destination taken from the front porch of our home.  Together we climbed up to the saddle on the left.  Conner waited there while I climbed up to the peak between the two saddles.

Overall I think he enjoyed it.  I told him how beautiful the views were.  We stopped often to listen to different sounds, to feel the wind and smell the smells and to enjoy the silence.  I asked him several times if he liked it and he said yes.  On the other hand, I asked him several times if he wanted to do it again and he said, "No, no, no, no, no!!!"  He's such a sweet kid.

View from the top

I took this from the top of the peak, looking down into the saddle where Conner waited.  Just to the right of the center you can see a small black dot.  That's him:)

A little shout out to Tiff:)

We made it!!!

Later that day when Grace and Cali came home, Conner told them all about it.  Graci started cracking up and I asked her way.  Barely able to contain her guffaws, she got this out.  "You asked him…(giggle)…if he wanted…(more giggles)…to go on a short little walk…(uncontrollable giggles)…then you took him…(doubles over in laughter)…way up this huge hill!  (Can't stop cracking up.)

It was about 3 miles round trip with a 1000 foot elevation gain.  I guess they had a point:)

-Jer