Skip to main content

Hikes with Kids: Lower Falls Trail (Golden Ears)


Recently we've had great weather and Stefan and I have decided it's time to get the kids back into hiking. For the last month or so we've had over 90-100 degree temps, and very few people (including us) have air conditioners in their homes. It just doesn't normally stay that hot for so long--a few days, yes, a month? No. We're not remotely interested in doing hours of strenuous work in the dire heat, we want to be in the water.

As the heat broke about 10 days ago, we decided we need to get a few more hikes on the calendar before the summer is over. I actually love hiking in the Fall, and don't mind the rain a bit. The tree covering is so dense you barely feel rained on, just a bit damp--even through the winter, but the views are only spectacular in the summer with clear skies.


We have to keep the hikes age and ability appropriate for our kids, and so that means roughly 6-7km is the longest stretch we can go with them in tow. That's fine, since you can barely throw a stone up here without hitting a hiking trail. Last weekend we found a hike near us, about a 30 minute drive away, called the Lower Falls trail of Golden Ears mountain. The entire mountain trail from bottom to peak is a 12 hour hike, but this popular trail with the campers (Alouette lake) is only two hours or so up and back, and you get to peak at the Falls!


This, to me, is not really a hike, it's a nature path. The website said easy, and I was amazed that this got the same rating as Quarry Rock. QR was much more technical, nearly straight up, with a lot of root systems and boulders everywhere. This...was a gravel path with a bit of an incline. Ani struggled on this but the only thing I can think of as why (since she ran down the QR trail!) is that she didn't really eat a lot of food the night before. We take more snacks and water than we think we'll need and take breaks when the kids need it, and we almost always run out of water except Lukka's backpack bladder, so we know they're working hard!


The views on this trail are pretty incredible. This area in the photo above was a popular swimming destination. Those little specks on the white rock right before the treeline are people about to jump in! It's very shallow and very clear here, and we didn't spot a single fish. Grabbing this picture was actually a bit of a hassle, since there must have been a bee nest nearby--they wouldn't stay away from me.
The mosquitoes were really biting up here, too, but if you keep moving you're not bothered by them. We sprayed everyone before we left the parking lot but it didn't seem to do any good (and yes, I use deet in these woods!) because if you stop for a break, they're everywhere.


The biggest tip for hiking this trail is GO EARLY, especially if you're on a weekend. On our way back down we couldn't believe how many people were heading up. Those falls you see in the background would have been so crowded with people and dogs. We passed probably 100 people or more heading back down, around 10:30AM. Go early to avoid bugs, heat, and crowds, and you'll enjoy the cool morning hike, and you'll actually get a parking spot!

We're heading up to Squamish with some friends this weekend for a hike, so another post of hikes with kids coming soon!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

July Reads

Birch Bay Sunset, rainbow hues July has been hot out here. When you live in the top story of an apartment building, and there's no air conditioning, it can feel just over the needle of uncomfortably warm when the day is above 76 degrees. We've kept blinds shut, windows open, and a fan continually blowing as it's perched in our living room window well. Just about the only thing I feel like doing after a long day is laying on the couch straight in the fan's air circulation path, and read a good book. I had some unique picks this month. * #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso  This book was just plain fun to read. Amoruso developed the iconic ebay store NastyGal way back when vintage selling on ebay was a thing. Now she's a millionaire with a kicking website that she started from scratch and didn't owe a dime to anyone else for. It's a great 200 pager with stories on dumpster diving for daily food, entrepreneurship tips, and being the backwards kid that no one t

Home School Activities: Board Games We Love

My children have recently become enthralled in the world of board games. I was never a board game player. Sure, I remember long summer hours (days? it seemed like it..) spent around a Monopoly board, but I was never one to suggest to get out the cards, or a game. As my children have grown and they are now able to do activities with me, I started noticing that they really took to puzzles (when done all together) and the one or two board games I happened to have kept in the storage room. They were always asking to play Candy Land and so I figured I should branch off a bit. Over the course of the last year, I have found GREAT games, even ones that I love to play alongside them. The amount of 'teaching' they have gotten through games is jaw-dropping. Counting, team-playing, math related patterning, are just some of the skills I've watched develop. I asked before Christmas on facebook what my friends and their own kids loved and I was thrilled with the response. We have found ov

Top 10 Books of 2017

early sunset in Ft Langley  I love reading all these "Top 10" lists of favorite books read throughout the year, so I'm adding my two cents.  I'm involved in a Book Club that I love with women from our church, a small group that meets every week and goes through a book every few months, my own list, books I'm reading aloud to the kids and  books I'm reading for educational purposes (think professional development). I took a look at all of those combined and this is what I got, in no particular order:  *  The Problem of God  by Mark Clark - I loved going through this academic apologetic book with my friends from church. It led us to great discussion, and good food for thought. I listen to Clark's sermons every week and so knew I'd probably love his writing style, too. If you have objections to Christianity, or are feeling confused about what to believe, this is a great primer.  * You're Smarter Than You Think  by Dr. Thomas Armstron