Murphy Family: Hiking with Friends

I am most definitely in love with the Northwest in the summer time. There is no better place to be. I love the cool sun and the fresh air of the mountains. I love how easy it is to drive a bit up the freeway and you are quickly out of the city, away from massive parking lots and stores. I love mountain lakes and the forests. I would hike every day if I could. Thankfully Pat and I share the passion and Lucy is loving it as well. She is a fearless baby and even tries to scale the large boulders in her path.

This past weekend, our friends Erin and Neil were visiting. As always, it is so good to spend time with them for so many different reasons. They stayed over Friday night and then we headed out for our day hike on Saturday morning. Erin and Neil are moving up to Calgary. It was so good to spend that time with them but a sad reminder that we will miss them very much. Lucy absolutely loves them both. It is stunning to watch them together. Lucy is a complete shy baby around everyone but Erin and Neil have completely won her over. Lucy doesn't care if I am around or not. Erin and Neil are just as "safe". We call Erin the baby whisperer. Somehow she is able to relate on Lucia's level and completely engage her. I love watching it. Erin will be the best mom someday and, of course, Neil an awesome dad too. Anyway, Erin taught Lucia how to high-5 on our hike and she absolutely loves doing it now.

So, back to the hike. We hiked up to Heather Lake which is a 4.6 mile hike up to and around the lake. It was a beautiful day with cloud cover in the morning and clearing while we were up at the lake. It is a nice quick hike to such a great spot. Lucy was too cute and a trooper. She fell asleep for nearly the whole trip down the trail. Love that cute face smashed up against the baby carrier! More hikes to come!

Starting out the hike in the woods. There were some seriously old trees on this hike. Unfortunately, a number of them were cut down some time ago.