Anyone who has ever been hiking before knows the feeling of reaching your destination, enjoying the moment, and then realizing you have to travel that same distance back. Maybe it's not such a big deal if you're on a three day back packing trip with a bunch of strong adults and no time constraints, but right about the time I started to relax and enjoy myself I started to feel a sense of panic that we just might miss the boat, quite literally.
With all the whining and complaining we had on the way I was wondering how we would make it back in one piece. Was there a way I could carry Elizabeth on top of my backpack? No. Could we call a taxi for her? Nope. Lost in worry, I was brought back to reality when I heard Brandon and Elizabeth talking about heading back. Elizabeth sounded absolutely delighted at the prospect of heading back and with a light hop started prancing down the trail. What a relief. Believe it or not, she kept up a good pace with hardly a word of complaint the entire hike back. Brandon didn't seem surprised at all. Having done several long and fairly rigorous multi-day hikes in places like Yosemite with 12 year old scouts that had a tendency toward wimpiness, he said it never fails that they perk up once you're on the way home. Funny.
I was a little surprised Rachael fell asleep in the backpack because that girl can resist sleep like nobody's business - but how can you resist a rocking backpack, the warm sun, a cool breeze and the sound of ocean waves? I wanted to fall asleep right there in the grass above Potato Harbor.
The long road home.
There's the cute picnic couple again. If they were heading back, you know it was time for us to go back! Surely we had the slowest pace of all the little groups out that day!
Dad and Kate.
Elizabeth got a little extra rejuvenation from Will who let her wear his camel on the way back. We should have thought of that sooner! Just keep a nice, easy drip in her mouth the whole way and she's fine! (We also let her carry the trail mix and cherry pick the M&M's out of the bag. Whatever works!)
My kids firmly believe the number of spots on a ladybug's back determines its age. (Once they get to a certain age I start correcting them when they repeat random things that aren't true, but it's just too cute at this age!)
Couldn't resist one last group photo since we were keeping up with the picnic couple.
5 miles later we're back at the spot where Elizabeth first asked the dreaded question "Are we there yet?"
Isn't he cute? (She is too, but she gets told that all the time!)
One last shot from up above. Gorgeous!
Back to the little welcome village.
We pretty much doled out all our food to the kids to keep them motivated, but we still had one last Cliff bar! See that family in the back? They were just sitting there playing cards. What a thought! I bet they enjoyed themselves immensely. But, come on! They missed the views!
Whew! We made it!
You guys are awesome. Trent and I went with Biz and Maura, last thanksgiving. Four adults and we didn't even think about trying to make it to potato cove. We found a shaded grove and went to sleep and waiting until it was time to get back on the boat. I can't imagine doing the channel islands with four kids. You have guts!
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