Day 101: A walk in the park

Some time ago Exile #2 and I (pre-children) drove some way up the Sea to Sky highway north of Vancouver and stopped for a walk. Just beyond the end of the car park was a sign This trail is NOT a "walk in the park." which needs its very precise punctuation because it is a walk in the park of course. When we did it it was very warm and sunny (despite being February I think) and we didn't attempt the summit - I'm quite pleased having seen the rest of the stunning pictures in the album I linked to. Our pictures from the walk are of the old-fashioned film variety and so not readily bloggable.

Anyway, today we had another walk in the park that also proved challenging. The park was the Thacher State Park (the same one we visited in the snow on Day 11). It was a glorious day, temperatures in the low 70s and unbroken sunshine. People were sunbathing in bikinis, albeit only 30 feet or so away from piles of snow at the edge of the car park. The waterfalls are all looking impressive at the moment, fed by snow melt-water - we walked a little way up this small river until Exile #4 went up to her ankle in mud on the path and decided that it wasn't so much fun. On the way back Exile #3 requested to do some paddling in the stream - we had seen a couple of groups of boys playing in it. The water was extremely cold (as snow-melt is likely to be!) and in the end I was the one who did most of the paddling - each trip across was followed by a few seconds standing on the bank unable to speak or move while the sensation returned to my feet.

Everyone had a great time - if you're worried about the absence of E5N1 from the photos, he was in a carrier attached to me when I took the first picture and lying at Exile #2's feet when she took the second. The change from a week or two ago is quite breathtaking. Choosing to have a picnic in a windy spot on top of an exposed ridge (as we did today) would not have crossed our minds even a few days ago. The warm weather is not here to stay yet, but it has been a welcome taste of summer in a spring which has had more than it's fair share of the taste of winter.