HIking: Dakota Ridge

As promised, Cole and I hiked Dakota Ridge Saturday morning. It started out a little rough - too many people, too many dogs, too much whining (and not just from Cole). So about a quarter of the way into the hike, I made Cole a deal - if neither of us whined for the rest of the hike, I would get him a special treat that he could choose. He declared Skittles and we agreed to continue our hike, whine free.

Then, of course, a minute later he tripped on rock and took a pretty good face plant. And cry he did. Not just any cry, but a whaling cry, to be heard through the whole canyon. I'm surprised the flight for life wasn't called because he sounded like he was dying. The only damage was a tiny, and I do mean tiny, scrap on his palm. So, after settling down a bit...still crying mind you...he asked "does this mean I don't get my skittles?"

I'm pretty sure he was crying, yes because he was scared and falling hurts, but also because he thought he wouldn't get his damn skittles. I wanted to offer two packs of skittles if he stopped crying and we could get off the mountain, but a little water and a napkin on his palm did the trick.


All in all though, once we got past the people and the dogs and of course our own whiny selves, we enjoyed a beautiful morning together outdoors.