Day 5

Today didn't go exactly as planned. In the middle of the night, Grant awoke saying that his tummy hurt and that he was about to vomit. He had broken out in a cold sweat. I figured vomiting was imminent and I went ahead and gave him some nausea medicine. He went to bed but moaned all night. In the morning, we got up and I noticed Harris was sitting in his bed looking sad. I asked him what was wrong and I noticed he was covered in vomit. i guess he was embarrassed and didn't want to wake us up or something. He had also coated Alex's ear in vomit. Needless to say, the kids were tired and not in the best mood. Nonetheless, we decided to go ahead with todays planned hike. Getting these tired and cranky kids ready was a chore, but we made our way towards the mountains for the hike. According to the internet, one must turn off of the main highway onto a logging road and head into the National Forrest for the trailhead. It is a 2 mile trail up a mountain to an Alpine Lake called Spud Lake. The internet said that high ground clearance vehicles are suggested. The first part of the road was just a typical muddy dirt road. Things then changed for the worse. The road turned into a narrow winding, steep drop-off road that wasn't even really a road and more of a rock alley. We inched along in the Toyota and 3 mph for the 2 more miles to the trailhead. The Sequoia slowly and methodically climbed over the sharp rocks, while I prayed one of them didn't puncture a tire. I figure a Toyota is as third world tough as any and on we trudged. We finally reached a clearing where the trees gave way to a meadow and a marshy area replete with beaver dams and water lilies. We stopped for a bit and took some pictures. We proceeded up the trail. It was quite muddy from all the recent snow melt and very rocky. The trees gave way to a series of picturesque beaver ponds. One could see the beaver dams and beaver homes. The children were quite miserable as they were tired from the night before I suppose. Nate insisted on using two walking poles and trudged his way up as well. Their irritability soon changed to joy as we reached our destination. Spud Lake was gorgeous. Nestled in the trees, it is ringed by snow capped peaks and there was still snow on the ground. The kids were elated and of course immediately began a snowball fight. Amy and I found a spot on a flat rock and served them lunch sandwiches and then allowed them to go and play in the snow. I decided to find a flat rock and meditate. This was as good a place as any to lose myself in everything and reflect and see what came. As I relaxed and breathed with my eyes closed I noticed the richness of the world around me. So many sounds, so much life. I heard the birds make their multitude of different sounds celebrating the arrival of spring, the excited exclamation from the family across the lake as they managed to catch a fish, the sound of the wind, the creaking of the trees. All of these sounds funneled into my ears and my awareness and mixed with the deep thoughts that can only come with meditation and several things seemed right in the world again. I heard the sound of a horsefly buzzing and felt every bump and test of my flesh and noticed all these things and then noticed the annoying searing pain as he pierced my flesh. This was as good a time as any to leave this wonderful mental space and make our way back down the hill. We found the kids engaged in snowball antics and they ambushed Amy and I with several well placed freezing cold orbs. The hike back down wasn't nearly as bad as the downhill pace allowed the children some aspect of rest. We were almost to the end as I had hung back a bit with Harris. As I stepped off the trail to avoid some mud, I heard an unmistakeable rustle and rattle and then I heard Harris yell SNAKE! As jumped away like a scalded dog as the serpent slithered back into the brush. I don't particularly care for snakes, especially ones that can ruin a trip. The adrenalin from that instance made the last bit of the hike go by in a flash. We loaded up and headed back down the logging road, this time making the best of it by playing some fun music and singing with the kids. They claimed I was making the Sequoia dance as it rocked too and fro whilst negotiating the treacherous granite rocks. The plan was then to stop at Purgatory ski resort where they have this slide that winds down through the ski area, kind of like a louge. Grant had wanted to do this slide since we ran out of time the last time we were out this way. Much to our dismay, the slide was not yet open for the summer and wouldn't be until next week. Now we had cranky and disappointed kids. I decided to try and salvage the afternoon. I suggested we try fishing at the lake at our campground. I stopped at a convenient store to pick up a fishing license and some earthworms. We headed back and made meatloaf and potatoes for dinner. The recent flooding had unearthed some potatoes in the garden back home and I had snatched some before we left. While we cooked, Grant used some old cans and sticks and made a toy raft that they would sail on the lake. It reminded me of storied my father told me about making toys in the Barbados of his childhood. We ate the heart meal and then headed down to the lake. Old fashioned bobber fishing was the plan of the day and I showed the kids how we would rig the line for such a task. Fifteen watchful minutes later, Harris's bobber disappeared underneath the surface. We set the hook and reeled it in....nothing but algae. Another fifteen minutes passed and Harris bobber disappeared again. This time when we reeled it in a speckled trout was on the end of the line. Harris was thrilled. It was his first fish caught. It would be the only fish caught as we wrapped up and put some very tired kiddos to bed. Tomorrow we pack up and head to Pagosa Springs. Spud Lake A portion of the logging road Harris and his fish