I did not even realize I had the day off of work until the previous Friday, and was excited to get out and do some hiking. Originally the girls were going to Huntsville or Cullman, and both the boys were disc golfing...so my plan was to do some hiking on my own with some self reflection. But then the girls stayed home, Belle went with the Rawls to the lake, and only Sam was going disc golfing. So as what seems to be a strange new norm, we grabbed anyone left to go on this family adventure. I don't think Ruby was really excited for the hike, but with a promise to play in the water, it became more exciting.
My original plan was to take a picnic lunch in my backpack down to the falls so we could eat some sandwiches and chips in this cool location, but Ruby suggested we do a picnic at Jacks. Well, you have to admit, she has learned to camp with her dad, and that is typically our outdoorsy food of choice. So we picked up some Jacks on the way into the park, not realizing they were also having a pride hike on this day. Luckily, we didn't notice anyone too prideful on our journey.
Our picnic spot was perfect at the top of Oak Mountain looking out towards Hoover and the Galleria. We enjoyed a much better meal than cold sandwiches, then made our way over to the start of the hike. There while waiting for all of the bathroom visits, we did some geocaching and found a small cache at the main sign before you head down. I say we found it, but I really don't have the patience for geocaching, and always hope someone else finds it because I don't look very hard. Davis of course found it within minutes, as he actually looked at the app that gave a good hint. But he was a good big brother, and gave Ruby a couple of clues to help her find it on her own.
On the way down to the falls, we stopped at a couple of rock formations for Davis to climb to the top, then after some encouragement, Ruby went to the back and found an easier way up, still screaming for all to hear her scaredy cat climbing skills. We also tried to find a couple more geocaches on the way down, but they were way off the trail, and the GPS was not working very well on my phone, so on we went to the top of the falls. Davis and I went over the bridge, Ruby had her water shoes so just walked through the river, and then mom took the bridge. We knew that the falls would be great on this day due to the noise and the amount of water we saw flowing at the top. Nothing like the last time I was here with Belle and it was just a Peavine trickle.
Up the mountain to get to the trail down to the waterfall. It was slow going with Ruby and Mom, but we finally made it down to an amazing sight. I tried to find a way across without taking off shoes, and did find a way, but not one that Mom would like, but she did fine crossing after taking shoes off. I think this was my first time in the falls...as the last time was just the kids wanting to get wet. It was a hot day, so I wanted in as well, and it was VERY COLD! But it also felt very good. There were a lot of folks down there that day, but all help out and take pictures for the families. And we waited till no pictures were going on for us to climb over to go into the waterfall. Davis has no problem with it, but the cold water takes my breath, and I can't breathe. He finally showed me where a pocket was behind the falls to catch your breath, but still difficult for me...and exposes my fear of drowning which probably trumps the fear of heights.
Before heading back up the trail, we played in the flowing water downstream of the waterfall, Davis even trying to make a slide of it. Then we felt the little bites of something, it hit Belle first, then me later, but whatever it was, left us itching for awhile. The hike back up was super steep on the other side, but uneventful. Ruby did catch a little frog on the way back. Then back to the parking lot where we dried off and changed clothes. We finished with 2 more geocache searches, one taking us way up a trail and well, I was not patient enough. The second was right beside the road on the way down the mountain, near to where we ate a picnic lunch. And yes, I had already given up, when Davis used the hint and found it within seconds. But again, let Ruby search with minimal clues till she found it. We had our geocache treasures with us, so we traded some of my aliens and some of ruby's pendants for some little keys that Ruby liked in these "treasure boxes".
I just checked the blogs, and this is number 11 trip down to Peavine, beginning in 2011 with just me and the boys. I do hate this blog is backwards with the pictures, but you will see that Ruby conked out quickly on the way back down the mountain in the car. Always a fun trip, wish we would have had Sam and Belle with us. Old pics are from 2023 (the trickle), then 2021, then 2017, then 2015, then 2013, then 2011.
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