A very mild (60 degrees!) January day got us out for our first family hike of the year. By family I mean we took the WHOLE family, dogs too. We don't always bring the dogs, because lets be honest, they are not trained very well. They are hunting dogs and pull on the leash and tend to bark at other people and dogs. And, our dog Mollie is going blind. We learned yesterday that she does have some sight left because she saw other people and dogs and barked and whined at them. But she did great on the trail and Bailey, our other Brittany (Oh yeah, they are both Brittanys) loved it and was very well behaved.
Our destination was the Pickle Springs Conservation Area which is about 5 miles east of Farmington, MO on highway 32. There is one hiking trail at the conservation area that is a rugged 2 miles long. It took us about two hours as a family to complete it that is with stops for photos and lots of climbing around. It is a great trail with lots of opportunity to climb on rocks and check out the waterfalls. The waterfalls and the springs from Pickle Creek were semi frozen and formed some beautiful icicle's. The trail is very rugged with tree roots and rocks and was slippery and muddy yesterday from the thaw. However, it is my favorite type of trail, I don't want a paved path through the woods, I want to feel like I am away from civilization. With that being said, it is a very busy trial, especially on a nice day. There were lots of other people and dogs out. Another note about the area, the parking lot is very small, it only fits about 20 vehicles and we almost didn't have a place to park. If you are an avid hiker and are going to make the trip, Hawn State Park is also nearby. We haven't tried those trails yet, but we did check out the area for camping and saw many trail heads there as well. Those will surely be on our list for later this year!
Difficulty = 2.5
Blake's comments - "it was medium hard and fun!"
Leah says, "it was medium hard and a lot of fun!"
Mileage logged = 2 miles
Links:
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places-go/natural-areas/pickle-springs
http://www.mostateparks.com/park/hawn-state-park
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| Blake and Leah at the entrance to "the slot". |
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| Many of the waterfalls are easily accessible from the trail. |
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| A rare photo of me! |
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| Blake at the "double arches" |
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| There are cliffs to watch out for. Definitely beware of where your children are. Especially adventurous 6 year olds! |
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| She had to be like big brother! |
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| Not quite Arches National Park, but spectacular in their own right. Missouri has awesome geology! |
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| I DO NOT pose my kids. They actually do this stuff on their own. |
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| Bailey had a blast! |
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| One of the rocks that Blake climbed on that made me a little nervous. :) |
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| Leah was getting tired by the end. Here she is holding up a tree. |
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| They were being so sweet. Blake was helping Leah because she was wore out. I need to pull out this photo when they are teenagers! |
