Maybe it’s been this awesome stretch of sunny weather in Seattle, or the fact that our guys just need to be completely worn out every day or they’ll destroy our house but we’ve been whole-heartedly embracing hiking on the weekends. The hubby is even determined that we’re going to go backpack camping with the kids next year so one day I came home to find out he bought a 4-person backpacking tent (to add to our other 4 tents he’s collected. Thank you REI coupons!) and hiking backpacks for the kids.
He decided to take some of this new gear on the Denny Creek Hike because along with all that camping gear he also bought this book: Best Hikes with Kids: Western Washington and Cascades. Last year we hiked and camped near here with friends but we never made it to the Denny Creek Hike which is famous for some rock waterslides. The hubby was also excited to show the guys what it looks like when you hike below a highway too.
Hikes are great for getting fun pictures of the family.
This one scared me just a little bit because there was a huge drop before the bridge.
We always try to stop for snack just before we think the guys are getting hungry and tired. We each carry our own snack so that I no one can eat all of the m and m’s out of the trail mix.
The highway on the hike blew us away. It was like seeing something from the Hunger Games.
And the waterslides were neat too. They weren’t really slippery enough to actually slide this time-we saw some cool kids trying but they weren’t getting much speed. It was also quite early in the day when we got to the waterslides, and the cool morning breeze made the chilly water seem even more icy cold.
But the cold air didn’t stop us completely. We had a few missed landings that resulted in ‘slightly wet-kid’ syndrome. The guys also liked finding things in the forest like sticks and leaves to send down the waterslides to see how fast they would go. We saw people bringing inner tubes and other pool toys as we hiked back to our car and we were curious if we should have brought some of those things too.
The hardest part of the hike was finding a good place to go to the bathroom. But with all the neat things to see and being under 3 miles round-trip, it was a great hike for 4-almost-5 year old hikers.
(PS. here’s another great hike if you’re looking for family-friendly hikes near Seattle.)
PPS. our pre-kid tradition when we went hiking near here was to stop at the buffet at Pabla Veggie Cuisine, but the guys are not the biggest fans so we’ll have to try something new next time.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)