We decided to start a new tradition for the "YoungLowes". While Eric was growing up his family always went to Devils Head and cooked an early morning breakfast and then went on a hike up to the lookout tower. So since we just moved to CO we decided to give it a go for our little family. Our kiddos love to hike and climb so we knew they would love it. We found many surprises along the way.First the drive up to devils head is about 40 minutes from our house. It is a dirt road that is curvy and so Olivia got car sick. Any time we are on curvy roads she gets sick. Poor little girl! She didn't throw up, luckily, but complained about her tummy hurting.
When we got to the picnic table area we were surprised that on a labor day weekend there weren't more people there. We went ahead and got set up for cooking a yummy breakfast,
while Derick our "piro" son started a little camp fire to keep us warm. 
It was a whopping 48 degrees when we first got there. We made bacon and eggs, had orange juice, hot cocoa, and apple cider. It was all delicious!After cleaning up breakfast we loaded everything back into the truck and began our hike. Eric and I hiked this same hike when we went to CO on our honeymoon. Neither of us remember the hike as being difficult at all. Man, what 14 years of marriage and 4 kiddos will do to your body???? The beginning of the trail tells you that it is 1.4 miles up to the top. That doesn't sound so bad now does it? Well let me tell you, it isn't bad, it is TERRIBLE! I want to do this hike once a week so that I can keep myself in shape, it is a gorgeous hike but dang, when you're out of shape you can't even enjoy the scenery.
I think we have more pictures of me parking my rumpous on the benches and rocks than we have of me hiking but I'm here to tell you I hiked the whole thing!
It was refreshing to make it to the very top. Scary climbing the stairs to get to the lookout tower, but awesome being up on top and seeing the whole mountain range below, it is breathtaking.
Another big surprise was the infamous, "You're half way there sign"! Let me show you how I look at halfway, don't forget that I was barely recovered from the auto accident, and I was developing a nice cold, ugh!
On our way up to the tower the kids started finding ladybugs, not one or two of them, but MILLIONS of them. They were on the rocks in big clumps so it actually made the rocks look red. 
They were also covering a camera post and shrubs. The kids had a good time playing with them and carrying them. Climbing down the stairs was scary for me, but I just kept telling myself there was glass surrounding me. I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to heights.
Here we are at the very top of the look out tower. Can you guess whose missing? She didn't want to be in the picture. Kids will be kids!The hike down was a BIG surprise! It wasn't hard at all, you pretty much just start walking and next thing you know you're at a slight jog because it's so downhill! It was funny hearing little Zach right behind me saying, "Slow down Mom it's hurting my tummy". Poor kid!
All in all it was a great Labor day, we labored much and enjoyed the day!
4 comments:
What a beautiful hike!! Glad you guys had a great time. :-)
What a fun tradition! You guys look great and it looks like you had a blast! Those lady bugs are awesome.
How come you guys do all this fun stuff now that you moved? What the what :) We miss you.
Looks like you had a blast! Looking at the pics makes me really miss you guys! We were camping in Utah over Labor Day and had a fun time too!
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